Opening Reception: November 14, 2013, 7 – 10 p.m.
Gallery 1313
1313 Queen Street West, Toronto
We stopped by Gallery 1313 on November 14th for the opening of a group show by five artists with the theme, “Liminality”, meaning, ‘threshold’. ‘The liminal stage shapes and gives birth to new societal structures, cultural traditions, institutions and customs. Each artist sought to shed light on these malleable moments where we are approaching the precipice of personal and collective change.’
From left to right: Artists Margie Macdonald, Myra-Anne Boyle and Julie Vetro
Megan Morgan’s work dealt with two parallel journeys of Canadian pioneer, Susannah Moodie and slave, Mary Prince. Her photographs of an imagined Moodie and Price as equals are moving and convey a sense of imagined friendship between these two very different women. Morgan is interested in drawing attention to issues of race and identity.
Megan Morgan, Mary and Susanna, 2013
Margie Macdonald’s piece was an installation of a robotic figure crouched down behind a wall of bricks. The figure’s head moves randomly and you feel a real sense of apprehension. Macdonald’s art focuses on borders, real and imagined and the invisibility of minorities and the undocumented.
Margie Macdonald, In Between, 2013
Julie Vetro’s piece deals with the idea of fear and how this can dictate our choices. A large outhouse installation was housed in its’ own small gallery room. Accompanying video of outdoor sounds, images and photographs of convey a sense of both danger and familiarity.
Julie Vetro, Landscape of Fear, 2013
Bridget Rowe’s paintings depict large, sweeping landscapes of places here in Ontario as well as Dubai and Hong Kong. Rowe has lived in all and illuminates the bridge between the idea of, ‘home’, yet living elsewhere and what this means for relationships.
Bridget Rowe, Stanley Bay, 2013
Myra-Anne Boyle’s large, abstract paintings are a mixture of soft palettes, motion, barely perceived body parts yet also feel cool and warm with motion seemingly interrupted and sluggish. Boyle writes briefly about the paradox of illness as being both the leaving and entering of a new space.
Myra-Anne Boyle, Untitled 1, 2013
The show runs until November 24th at Gallery 1313, 1313 Queen Street West, Toronto. Gallery hours: Wed – Sun 1 – 6 p.m.
Text and photo: Celeste Ringrose