Christy Langer, Reprise, resin, fibre glass, oil paint, styrofoam, string, horseshoe nail, & wood, 2009
April 24 – May 27, 2012
Opening: Thursday, April 26, 7 – 9 p.m.
LIVING ARTS CENTRE
4141 Living Arts Drive,
Mississauga, ON L5B 4B8
T: 905.306.6161
E:cole.swanson@livingarts.on.ca
www.livingartscentre.ca
Hours: Tue – Sat: 10 –4, Sun: 1 – 4 p.m.
Effigies positions the art object as an expression of the unbridled human psyche. Artists Joel Alexander, Aleks Bartosik, Christy Langer, and Srdjan Segan create archetypal works as a reaction to complex contemporary social and political issues. Like our Palaeolithic ancestors, each artist reconciles their own personal desires, tragedies and traumas through the ritual construction of physical objects and characters. Curated by Cole Swanson.
An installation of Srdjan Segan’s Long Stretched Figures is held in the LAC Atrium. A refugee from the former Yugoslavian Republic of Croatia, Segan fled his war-torn home in search of political respite. After studying anatomy and illustration in Serbia, he moved to the Ontario where he developed this reactionary collection. Standing over 30 feet tall, Segan’s giants are a metaphor for human perseverance in the face of war. Alongside traditional materials, he uses coffee to remind us that violence is an everyday reality for communities around the world. His figures are therefore victims and victors of difficult circumstances; they remind us of humankind’s capacity for creation in an environment of overwhelming destruction.
The Gallery include artworks that communicate personal struggles and unhindered desires. Joel Alexander’s mixed-media glass sculptures containing natural artefacts like branches, feathers and quills harvested from city spaces reflect a desire to strike a balance between urban and rural life. Aleks Bartosik’s Guardian Beast large-scale papier-mâché and drawing performance merge identity-based narratives with fantastical mythology. Finally, Christy Langer’s lifelike animal sculptures revisit historical artworks and archetypal imagery to reposition the past into the present.
Segan’s installation will be accessible in the Living Arts Centre Atrium daily from 6 am – 12 am. A drawing performance by Aleks Bartosik will be held during the opening reception at 7:00pm on Thursday, April 26.