Chateau Mathieu, a private residence in Normandy, France was built in the latter part of the 18th century. In June of 2009, I and five other colleagues had the opportunity to work at the chateau in a two-week experimental residency to research and create new contemporary artworks that responded directly to the history of the site.
My particular interest was in the matrilineal legacy of the chateau itself. I wanted to explore ideas of the private and public as they applied to women during the Victorian era. Within wealthy families, women were, for the most part, relegated to the private sphere of the home where they spent their time embroidering in the sitting room and entertaining guests at the piano. At the same time, their poor rural counterparts were moving to the city and becoming part of the public workforce instigated by mechanization, mass production and the industrial revolution. Through the use of embroidery as well as the use of rich fabrics referencing the opulent domestic interiors of these “ladies of leisure”it was my intention to speak to these women’s isolation, lack of agency and stifled creativity through subversive means. I created pieces to specifically install in various locations in the chateau. As well, over the course of the residency I created a number of site-specific works on the grounds of the chateau that I sometimes refer to as “exterior decorating”. I have presented these experimental works here in the context of various chateau locations.
A collaborative bookwork based on this residency is currently in progress and a culminating exhibition will be presented at the Esplanade Art Gallery in Medicine Hat, Alberta in the fall of 2012.
March 20 – April 18, Trustman Art Gallery at Simmons College
fourth floor, Main College Building, 300 The Fenway, Boston
Opening Reception March 25, 5 to 7 pm (Simmons Choir performs at 6pm)
In this mixed-media installation undertaken in collaboration with the Simmons community, artist Robyn Love seeks answers to the question, “Have you ever made a decision with an unconditional yes?” Combining her knitted and crocheted aphorisms with text, objects, and artwork contributed by faculty, staff, students, and alumnae, the exhibition is both inclusive and provocative. Transforming the gallery’s center into a temporary “living room,” Love will host periodic knit-togethers during the course of the installation. A knitted trail pieced together from communal donations leads visitors to the “living room.”
Love explains, “I am hoping to encourage people to look a little deeper at some of their ideas about themselves. I think if we really consider why we make our choices, we can take responsibility for them and that gives us a lot of freedom. Also I hope that the process of creating this exhibition together will generate a renewed sense of community at Simmons.”
Love will be in the gallery – in the living room – from Monday to Thursday, March 22 – 25th, working and talking with visitors about the idea of unconditional yes.
The Art Gallery of Alberta is proud to present the North American premier of Janet Cardiff and George Bures Millers installation: The Murder of Crows, their largest sound installation to date. The work has been shown in Sydney, Berlin and Brazil, but comes to Canadian audiences for the first time as part of the AGA’s opening exhibitions.
The work will occupy the entire third floor of the new Art Gallery of Alberta. Consisting of 98 speakers, The Murder of Crows is a complex interweaving of voice, music and sound that have generated a profound physical impact on the listener. The work has been conceived in acts, but one whose images and narratives structures are created by sound alone. The three-part work, composed in collaboration with Freida Abtan, Tilman Ritter and Titus Maderlechner, is 30 minutes in duration.
January 8 to March 7, 2010 | opening reception: Friday, January 8 from 7 to 9 pm
Allyson Mitchell’s newest installation presents an epic gathering of figures, each one a monumental symbol of female brains, brawn and sexuality-a community of Lady Sasquatchs. The free standing, sculptural works by this Toronto-based artist marry feminist theory with her favourite material, fun fur. This curatorial project presents the artist’s realignment of feminine representation in which she symbolizes the mythical feminine as something not easily captured or domesticated, or harnessed to sell, yet undeniably powerful and attractive. Organized and circulated by the McMaster Museum of Art. Curator: Carla Garnet.
Inspired by natural cycles of creation and destruction, John Grade’s abstract sculptures reference the formation and erosion of landscape. Bloom: The Elephant Bed reflects the artist’s fascination with microscopic organisms (called coccolithophores) whose limestone shells formed the chalky White Cliffs of Dover in the United Kingdom. Geologists call this exposed layer of calcium, laid down over 200,000 years ago, the “Elephant” bed. READ MORE
Garland #21 (stepping and stitching), a new piece commissioned for the exhibition Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution will be kick started with a performance on Friday 23rd October at 7pm, at the Waterhall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Garland #21 is the latest in a series of interactive installations started in 2006 by artist Shane Waltener, involving members of the public in weaving, knotting and stitching. With his new piece, a series of choreographic sequences have been developed, linking movements associated with stitching and dancing. These are the basis for the performance which stands as an invitation for members of the public to contribute to the piece, and reflect on crafting as a ritualised and communal activity. The piece was devised by the artist in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Cheryl McChesney Jones.
Re-Surface private view august 13, exhibition august 13 – september 5
Tenderpixel is pleased to present Re-Surface, Marina Kassianidou’s first solo exhibition in London. In Re-Surface Kassianidou amplifies the historic traces of the gallery space’s past inhabitants, and responds to each surface, referencing patterns and echoing scratches, dirt and stains in the actual gallery space. The placement of the works re-activates elements already existing in the gallery space–galvanizing their historicity as palimpsests are revitalized and elements are reconfigured and reinterpreted.
Investigating notions of texture and surface, Marina’s installation includes ‘pseudo-hidden art,’ such as the placement of linoleum pieces on a similar floor–oscillating between being a piece of art or a piece of floor, between presence and absence.
Kassianidou is an artist and writer based in Limassol and London. In 2005, she obtained an MFA at Central Saint Martins. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design. Her work/writing has been exhibited and published internationally.
We look forward to seeing you at the exhibition.
Tender Wishes, Etan, Sunshine and Jess For Press enquiries, please contact Sunshine Frere at the gallery on 020 7379 9464 / 079 1434 7777
City of Craft Toronto Installation Programming Call for Proposals Deadline: August 31, 2009
City of Craft is looking for crafty artists and artsy crafters to create installations for this year’s City of Craft 2009, which will take place both in and around The Theatre Centre during the weekend of December 12-13, 2009. This year’s installation programming will be greatly expanded to include more installation artists and even more fantastic Queen Street West venues. For this year’s installations we hope to include a wide range of crafty approaches, which reflect the diversity and conceptual richness of contemporary craft practices. Several venues will be available to artists for City of Craft installation programming this year, from Queen West galleries, storefront windows and public spaces to the nooks and crannies of City of Craft’s fabulous and historic venue, The Theatre Centre. Some ideas for proposals could include (but are certainly not limited to!) the exploration of:
Poplar Gallery.Online
CARE Canada
