Darkness at the edge… / Group Exhibition curated by Thom Sokoloski
With a downpour of rain outside of the exhibition walls, it proved to be a dream-like escape from the dreary outdoors.
Installation shot on the opening night: Main Gallery. From left to right: Heather Smith, The Woods Behind My House (2012), Ronald Gonzales, Black Figure Study (2010), Jennifer Laivint, Crawl to Stand (2013).
The curator’s statement regarding the theme of the show included a discussion of liminality, ambiguity, and distortion that occurs in life and dream. However, his desire for the “36 selected works would conjure up each artist’s response to liminality but also provoke a momentary mirror into each of our own” was not fulfilled in my experience. For clarity’s sake, there were two main rooms; the north gallery (which was pitch black and required the participants to use a flashlight to navigate the space); secondly, the main gallery, was dimly-lit and lined with black cloth (like the back room).
Shannon Griffiths, Glipse Prototype, May 2013 (2013)
The bustling crowd on the opening night in the Main Gallery
I greatly preferred the back space because it provided for exploration and had many elements of surprise.
Gordana Olujic, The Blackbirds Singing at Dawn (2011)
Sarah Casey, Mumur (2011)
One artwork in particular caught the eye of many participants was Morgan Chirvers’ Particulate Pulse (inertness is a relative matter) hanging from the ceiling in the North Gallery. Similar to Kira Varvanian’s The Woman in Red Stockings, Chivers plays with the participants exploration of the pieces and watching the artwork transform as we shone flashlight on the pieces. Chivers Particulate Pulse unlike the other pieces had physical vulnerability/fragility, it was accessible (providing each viewer a sense of wonder and playfulness) and had a sense of ambiguity with the thin, snowflake-like quality of the glass which was supported by the neon/xenon/electricity filled glass tube.
Morgan Chirvers, Particulate Pulse (inertness is a relative matter) (2013).
Kira Varvanian, The Woman in Red Stockings (2011)
Overall, the show as a whole had its share of disappointments due to a lack of connection with darkness, edginess, the dream-world and liminality. However, there were many redeeming qualities, particularly the pieces and the atmosphere in the north gallery.
By: Leanne Simaan
*Note: The exhibition is on display June 13 – July 7, 2013 in Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts at 984 Queen W, Toronto. Gallery hours: Wed – Sat: 12 – 6, Sun: 12 – 5 p.m.