Consumed - CCP Thesis Exhibition curated by Emily Cluett

Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 11:00am to Saturday, April 8, 2017 - 6:00pm

Opening Reception: April 5, 7:00pm to 10:00pm

Open daily from 11:00am to 6:00pm

Consumed presents interactive, instructional food-based artworks by Basil AlZeri, Diane Borsato, Mark Clintberg, Myung-Sun Kim, Sooyeong Lee, Max Lupo, Peter Morin, Lisa Myers, and Dana Prieto. Visitors are invited to enact the newly conceived and reimagined rituals put forward by these artists with food and supplies offered in the gallery space. Building on the histories of relational aesthetics and multi-sensorial engagement, Cluett believes that “[t]his thesis achieves a new understanding of the nuanced complexities of mealtime rituals and suggests that current approaches to eating may be in need of some adjustment.” Artist’s multiples of the instructional works are also available for visitors to take home and experiment with in other environments.

Please direct inquiries to curator Emily Cluett at ocadu.consumed@gmail.com.

Venue & Address: 
Graduate Gallery, ground floor, 205 Richmond Street W
Website: 
http://www.ocadu.ca/academics/graduate-studies/criticism-and-curatorial-practice.htm
Email: 
ocadu.consumed@gmail.com
Cost: 
FREE
illustrated image of plate with food and cutlery

Poetics of Trash - IAMD thesis exhibition by Sandra Van Ruymbeke

image of a piece of garbage on black background - exhibition poster
Tuesday, March 28, 2017 - 1:00pm to Saturday, April 1, 2017 - 7:00pm

The Poetics of Trash explores trash and spatial ruin sites by employing media of sculpture, video, photography and assemblage. Based on the premise that trash, in western culture is constructed to be marginalized if not also to be completely invisible, the installation emphasizes visualization and the creation of an immersive experience. One of the pieces, entitled Poetic Under World of Trash (2016), shot at a scrap metal site consists of a slow-motion video of a large pile of discarded industrial waste. The meditative pace of the images give the affect of being underwater or in an otherworldly dimension. Other artworks include a monumental pile of trash brought into the Graduate Gallery and back-lit photographs of hyper-detailed images of trash.  The installation upends preconceived notions of trash revealing the performative qualities of the material, opening new ways to reconceptualise and ruminate on back-end production and the potentiality of garbage.  

Opening Reception: Thursday March 30 from 6:00 - 9:00 pm

Exhibition open hours:
Tuesday, March 28, 1:00 - 7:00 pm
Wednesday, March 29, 1:00 - 7:00 pm
Thursday, March 30, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Friday, March 31, 1:00 - 7:00 pm
Saturday, April 1, 1:00 - 5:00 pm

Venue & Address: 
Graduate Gallery, ground floor, 205 Richmond Street West
Website: 
http://www.ocadu.ca/academics/graduate-studies/art-media-design-masters.htm
Cost: 
FREE

Reciprocal Encounter: CRCP Thesis Exhibition

Thursday, March 9, 2017 - 7:00pm to Saturday, April 1, 2017 - 5:00pm

Reciprocal Encounter is an exploration of art that asks for more than to be looked at. The exhibition and companion publication represent a tracing of the curator and artists’ memories, connections to land, and sensory experiences of making and looking. The nine artists involved in the project work in various media including animation, installation, photography, and fibre. Selected works include a public art project that fills Toronto with colour and question relationships to the Indigenous histories of Toronto, light-based photographic installations, and sensory work that draws connections to a small island in Eastern Ontario. 

The exhibition opening will coincide with the launch of a publication that explores a history of the senses in art and features the work of the nine artists involved in the exhibition, acting as a mobile, handheld exhibition of the artist projects and the work of two audio artists on a limited edition mixtape. 

Artists

Emma Aurelia

Robert Canali

Kristel Jax

Michael K. Newton

Amanda Roberton-Hébert

Eli Schwanz

Anna Snyder

Carson Teal

Nick Vo

Curated by Tori Maas

Venue & Address: 
Bunker 2 // 450 Dufferin Street, Toronto, M6K 2A5
Website: 
http://torimaas.com
Email: 
tori.maas@gmail.com
Cost: 
free
reciprocal encounter poster

HEATHER NICOL’S CORDIAL EXHIBITION EXPLORES NOSTALGIA AND HOME

Heather Nicol, Three Butterflies, image provided by Heather Nicol
Heather Nicol at work. Image provided by Heather Nicol
Works from the Cordial exhibition. Image provided by Heather Nicol

“It’s about the fragility of what we think is important, especially when the objects break, or are broken. And in the digital era, there’s still a strong desire for the tactile.” Heather Nicol

Heather Nicol's MFA thesis exhibition, Cordial, held at the OCAD University Student Gallery during Grad Ex reflected on themes of social histories, familiar objects and domestic traditions.

A culmination of two years of study in the Interdisciplinary Master’s in Art, Media and Design (IAMD), Cordial rethinks familiar objects and their social relationship to people. A collection of glass stemware filled with colourful liquids toasts togetherness, collaboration and family. Wallpaper samples on plywood panels adorned with unique artifacts and heirlooms — everything from butterflies and old lace to china cups and picture frames — celebrate nostalgia and traditions, while at the same time positioning the objects on display as feminist reclaimations.

During her formal thesis defense on May 2, Nicol described her established career as an artist and curator, the 22 years she spent in New York City, and the shift in both her life and artistic practice that led her back to university to study again and approach her work in a new way. 

“The last ten years of my life have been intensely domestic,” Nicol said. “I moved back to Canada, I’ve been caregiving to children and other people in my life, and discovering the dozens and dozens of invisible gestures that create a home. It’s brought me closer to materials than before.”

Nicol, who experienced the Mad Men style domesticity of the 60s as a child, and later the women’s movement in the 70s as a teenager, observed there’s a sense of ambivalence and fragility in domestic objects. In the slow, labour intensive and passionate process of creating the works in Cordial, she realized this ambivalence remains, even though our gender roles have changed, as has our connection to the material as we move further into the digital realm.

“We want to create a sense of home, and we use objects for their stabilizing effect,” Nicol said. “If you think of the biography of a teacup though, it may be part of a set initially, but over time it’s separated as things get lost or broken. There’s a lifecycle of things and uncertainties involved, and I wanted to play with that.”

Nicol is a President’s Scholar at OCAD U and is well-known in the Toronto arts community for her sculpture and installation using tactile materials like fabric, fur, beads, glass and paper together with theatrical devices including sound and light. In addition to her grad studies at OCAD U, she also holds BFA in Visual Art from the School of Visual Arts and an MA in Arts Education from New York University.

Her goal with her work, including Cordial, is to have a conversation with people from different generations and backgrounds. Her work examines the patterns in our lives, and the social relationship of objects to people.

Learn more

View Cordial at the OCAD U Student Gallery 
52 McCaul Street, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. through May 6

Being in the Port Lands

Monday, July 1, 2013 - 4:00am to Saturday, August 31, 2013 - 4:00am

Thesis Exhibition of Interdisciplinary Master's Student Lisa Binnie

Please join the IAMD Program and the Graduate Studies Department in celebrating the IAMD Thesis Exhibition of MFA Candidate Lisa Binnie.

Throughout spring and summer 2013, graduating candidates from the IAMD program will present their thesis work in galleries and public spaces across Toronto. These exhibitions explore a wide variety of interdisciplinary subject matter and media including, drawing & painting, sound art, video, performance, health design, photography, furniture design, sculpture and installation.

Venue & Address: 
Various outdoor locations Toronto Port Lands Toronto, Ontario

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