“David in his mother’s arms”, from the book Invisible No More: A Photographic Chronicle of the Lives of People with Intellectual Disabilties. ©Vincenzo Pietropaolo
October 1 – 30, 2011
VERNISSAGE AS PART OF SCOTIA BANK NUI BLANCHE
OCTOBER 1 : 7 pm-7 am October 2.
Carlton Cinema Gallery,
20 Carlton Street (at Yonge)
Toronto, ON
http://www.abilitiesartsfestival.org
T: 1-888-844-9991 ext.115
Gallery Hours: 1 – 11 pm
I See What You Mean is an interactive exhibit which juxtaposes a series of portraits by one of Canada’s most acclaimed documentary photographers, Vincenzo Pietropaolo, with portraits and self-portraits by gallery visitors. In addition to contributions of the general public, Abilities Arts Festivals will engage and elicit the participation of communities portrayed by Pietropaolo in his most recent series, Invisible No More, a photographic chronicle of people with intellectual disabilities commissioned by the canadian Association for Community Living.
Contributions by exhibit visitors will enrich, inform and engage with the photographic conversation initiated by Pietropaolo. Gallery visitors will be supplied with tools and resources to generate their own portraits and self-portraits through Polaroid prints, digital and webcam photography, and pencil sketches will which will then be pinned/ projected onto the walls, ceiling and floor of the gallery
Vincenzo Pietropaolo is a documentary photographer based in Toronto. Best known for his empathetic social documentary photo essays, he has completed major projects on Italian immigrant life in Canada, religious street rituals, migrant farm workers, health care, political protest, the labour movement, immigrant gardens, urban social issues, and architecture to name a few.
Characterized by a simple and direct approach, Pietropaolo’s photography typically reveals individuals and groups overlooked by history books. His work has appeared nationally and internationally as feature exhibits, in books and magazines, on television, and in the collections of the National Archives of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography.
Invisible No More is a photographic chronicle of people with intellectual disabilities, those withDown syndrome, autism, or who are “otherwise-abled.” This portrait is a narrative and celebration of individuals who might live down the street from us, but we hardly know; girls and boys, men and women who by their “different” behavior and physical looks make us feel uncomfortable. Individuals who, in Pieropaolo’s words, “make raindrops, dance with wheelchairs, walk in the park, perform piano concerts, work for a living, and navigate through all the traffic ahead
Abilities Arts Festival is a registered charitable organization. For almost ten years, Abilities Arts Festival has been a leader and catalyst bringing together artists with disabilities and a diverse public through a wide range of performance, media and visual arts events. Since 2003, it has employed hundreds of professional artists with disabilities, welcomed audiences in the tens of thousands (collectively) and inspired the next generation of artists through its youth programs.