This Week

Two shows I'm involved with in some capacity are opening this week.  On Wednesday, Ancestry and Artistry: Maya Textiles from Guatemala opens at the Textile Museum.  I've worked as Curatorial Assistant on this (amazing) project on and off since 2011, so this is huge deal.  Still more work to do before Wednesday, but the show is shaping up beautifully.

James Gardner's FRANK is a window installation at Gallery 1313 and will mark the first installation I programmed for the gallery's window box.  This one opens the next day, Thursday the 30th, from 7-10pm.  From the release:

FRANK is an ever-evolving entity of insulation foam. He has been built up, cut apart and stuffed into rooms and awkward spaces again and again, and will continue to be again and again. The sculpture in its many incarnations is an experiment in the language of abstract sculpture and undermines conceptions of a finished and static work of art.  FRANK aims to achieve a complexity of form and colour through a constant reworking of material and by visually exploiting and developing the affects of duration and exposure on an unstable medium.

James Gardner is an artist and member of VSVSVS, a collective and artist-run centre based out of a warehouse in the portlands of Toronto.


Action!

Kim Stanford at Gallery 1313

Wanted to plug my friend Kim's upcoming show at Gallery 1313 here.  I wrote an exhibition text for the window box component of her show, that will be available on G1313's website after the show opens.  Congrats, Kim!

Kim Stanford
Dirty
Process Gallery
May 15th - 26th 2013


Reception: Thursday May 16th, 7-10pm

Gallery 1313 is pleased to present a new installation exhibition by member Kim Stanford entitled Dirty.

Stanford's inspiration for this series of works developed through her frustration with picking up others' dirty socks multiple times a day, and continues her investigation into how a monumental repetition of tiny mundane moments informs relations with self and others. Through material exploration and repetition, Stanford mutates a small familiar object - used socks - into larger, absurd work that both attracts and repels, and opens a conversation about the universal dialectic between the taken-for-granted and a search for meaning.

Stanford studied visual art at the Toronto School of Art (TSA) and OCADU, as well as critical social theory in her graduate degree at the University of Toronto. This installation is generously supported by a Toronto Arts Council emerging artist grant. Writings by Stephanie D'Amico and Tara Bursey accompany the exhibit.

Advance press:  http://tinyurl.com/c53qkzr and http://tinyurl.com/cgxzg89
For more information, visit: www.kimstanford.com

That's All Folks!

Installation with popcorn kernels, uniform and props, completed last week.  I've never put popcorn kernels on a wall before...now I know it's possible!

I think this piece is a distillation of a lot of the feelings I've had and things I've seen while visiting the States.  Most of all, I think it is about how history moves from one period of time to the next, and about the feeling that things are about to change.  It is also about the loss of illusions.

One of my favourite movies of all time is The Last Picture Show, which I couldn't help but think of as I was thinking up this piece, as well as thinking up the performance I did in McKeldin Square a few months ago.  While the film's trailer focuses a little more on the torrid affairs between the residents of the fictitious town, Anarene Texas, the movie is set during a time when the movie theatre was beginning to play less of a role in people's lives because of the home television set.



Also on the topic of the movement from one historical period to the next, I read the following quote in a class recently, written by the American art critic Martha Schwender on the use of appropriation in the work of the artist Sherrie Levine.  It excited me because it questions whether or not we are nearing the end of a long period of overarching irony/cynicism in contemporary art...or perhaps also a period plagued by a sense of cynicism in general?

Appropriation rose out of this desire to have it both ways, to keep what you loved-- or at least knew intimately-- and still make art. It was a great solution.  But I was born in the 1970s, following the burnout of the 60s, and it has run aground in recent years. Not only have artists like (Sherrie) Levine, Jeff Koons and Richard Prince been dragged through the legal system for their cultural borrowing, but the postmodern irony and cynicism on which Appropriation was founded also feels outmoded in the Occupy Age.

Another Wristband

This next one is brown...looks a little more primitive than the black one.

I'm considering selling these on Etsy, even though they're not meant to be worn. Something to think about...

Spiked Wristband

An uber-feminine take on the classic punk bracelet. 100% DIY, and made with real thorns from my mother's rose bush. (Thanks mom!)

New Addiction

I've become quite obsessed with crocheting and this incredible brand of yarn for the past week or so...

Body + Object at the OCC

I will be participating in the following show, Body + Object, at the Ontario Crafts Council this month. This exhibition is a part of the Toronto International Design Festival, which takes place from January 19-24, 2010. If you're in the neighbourhood, please stop by and take a look!

Body + Object

January 5 - 31

Please join us for the opening Reception on Wednesday, January 20, 5:30 - 8:30 pm

As a participant in the Toronto International Design Festival, the Ontario Crafts Council is pleased to present Body + Object, an exhibition featuring the work of eighteen artists who explore the relationship between the body and the many forms in which it can ornament, present and represent itself. The body is perhaps today’s most ubiquitous cultural object, especially in its use to announce identity through the ever-changing landscape of apparel. Craft finds its place in this process of disclosure with work designed to adorn, protect, and even introspectively examine the body. Body + Object offers work addressing the real as well as thematic presence of the body, where traditional craft media appear in new forms and use style as a means to investigation.

Body + Object includes the work of Amanda McCavour & Silke Stadtmuller / Andrea Graham / Annie Thompson / Bebhinn Jennings / Dandi Maestre / David Dunkley / Gillian Batcher / Jessica Beauchemin / Karina Bergmans / Lois Schklar / Marina Dempster / Norah Deacon, Adrian Parks & Yvonne Ng / Tanya Lyons / Tara Bursey.

For more information on the Toronto International Design Festival see www.tidfonline.com

Shadow Box Exhibition at the TMC

I am participating in the Textile Museum of Canada's annual Shadow Box Exhibition for the fourth year in a row this year.  Sadly, I missed the reception, but the show is open to the public until October 29th. The little glove above is featured in my shadow box this year!  Go see it!

From the TMC website:

The BMO Financial Group Shadow Box Event is back for its 14th year. The auction features original works by more than 150 Canadian and international artists. With pieces bought right off the wall, the evening is a great chance to get some amazing art at surprisingly sensible prices. 

Artists' Reception and Media Preview:
October 14, 6:30 pm
Exhibition:
Open October 14 to October 29
Auction:
Thursday October 29, 6:30 pm 

Textile Museum of Canada
55 Centre Avenue (Dundas St. W & University Ave., St. Patrick subway)
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2H5
t. (416) 599-5321
f. (416) 599-2911

http://www.textilemuseum.ca

Little Glove

I have a million things in progress right now, among them my contribution to this year's Shadow Box Auction at the Textile Museum. Here are some process shots of a little garlic glove in progress.  Look at the veins!  The auction takes place at the TMC every October, so I'll post more about it here closer to the date.

For more garlic gloves, look here.

Lookit, Lookit, Lookit at Harbourfront Centre

It's a little late to be posting about this seeing as the opening happened already, but Lookit, Lookit, Lookit is up and is going on until June 21st in York Quay Centre's South Vitrines.  See the following for more information...

Lookit, Lookit, Lookit

Curated by Melanie Egan

May 9th-June 21st, 2009

York Quay Centre, Harbourfront 

Eight Canadian artists muse on perception in this exhibition that asks what it is that captures our interest long enough to formulate opinion, describe a viewpoint, or gain insight. So many things are not what they seem – a mere glance is just not enough. Curated by Melanie Egan. Exhibition works include:

Chet Domanski - In remote areas of the Alberta wilderness, oil and gas wells keep the province’s economy moving. These wells are given new prominence through the creation of stunning bracelets that are machined from worn production tubing used at the wells. Each bracelet has a tag with a geographic reference point to allow the owner to find the location of the well.

Tara Bursey – Onion and garlic skins are employed to create a series of women’s gloves. Common food waste such as corn silk and garlic stems serve as embellishments while evoking anatomical details, skin conditions and cosmetic flaws. The gloves, while serving as an attractive foil, allude to the fragility and strength of the human body and the temporal nature of all living things.

Candice Ring - Functional porcelain vessels are influenced by nature, figure and history. Voluminous forms, rich surfaces and reference to 18th century English earthenware all play a part in the objects. Ring’s processes are similar to that of a tailor; cutting, darting, altering and mending fine porcelain are techniques used to give character and grace to each piece.

Also featuring works by Nadia Li Chai, Barb Hunt, Sarah Troper, Rachael Wong, and Arounna Khounnoraj.

For more information, and information about other shows happening at York Quay Centre this month, consult the Harbourfront Centre website.

Glove inventory...

For the past month and a bit, I've been working on these onion/garlic skin gloves for an upcoming exhibition hosted by Harbourfront's craft department. I'm nearly finished constructing eight pairs of gloves- all the ones that will be shown- but I have yet to apply any "details" to six of the eight pairs. Yikes! The show opens during the first week of May...this is going to be a pretty hectic next couple of weeks, to say the least...

A portion of the artist's statement:

"Second Skins expands on an existing body of work involving the use of vegetable matter/skins and sculptural material. These works have explored the inherent structural sameness of plant, animal and human beings, often by using plant and food matter to represent both animal and human forms. At the root of these works are diverse interests in biology and taxonomy, the relationship between the body and the garment, and the universal impulse to hoard.

"Onion and garlic skins are employed in Second Skins to create a series of women’s gloves. Common food waste such as corn silk and garlic stems serve as embellishments while simultaneously evoking anatomical details, skin conditions and cosmetic flaws. The gloves, while serving as an attractive foil, allude to the fragility and strength of the human body and the temporal nature of all living things."

Garlic Gloves II

A preview of some of the details on the latest pair of Garlic Gloves, made over the last two nights. I've been holding onto that crazy onion stem for months!

Garlic skin, onion skin, elm seeds and adhesive
2009

Garlic Gloves

Garlic Gloves
Garlic skin, corn silk, adhesive

Here are some photographs taken today of yet another recent project (this one only a day old...!), which will end up as one of several components in vitrine installation I have coming up in May. The work is very much in progress at the moment, so I don't really want to elaborate much more than this! More photos to come in the coming weeks...

Dirge II

My installation for City of Craft! Be sure to check it out!

DIRGE II
an installation by Tara Bursey
at League of Lovers and Theives
1156 Queen Street West
Toronto

December 6-13, 2008.
A part of City of Craft 2008.

DIRGE II is part of a body of work originally inspired by the idea of the Chinese bound foot shoe as a metaphor for the ways individuals can be bound similarly by traditional and contemporary facets of society, particularly from a female perspective. The work explores and juxtaposes imagery relating to foot binding with ideas and materials which reference mass-production and the role of the body in industry and manufacturing. At the root of the work is an interest in visually and materially exploring past and present forms of oppression and de-mobilization.

DIRGE II is comprised of hundreds of origami shoes made of jasmine and green tea sleeves. The use of origami alludes to comparisons between hobby-craft and manual labour/assembly line work. The use of packaging is also central in it's allusion to package and product, garment and body, and the use of both the garment and the package as a cover or false front for what is truly contained.

Tara Bursey is a recent graduate of the Toronto School of Art's diploma program, and a former student at Ontario College of Art and Design. An artist whose practice encompasses sculpture and installation as well as drawing and craft, Tara's work is characterized by its use delicate sculptural materials such as eggshells, garlic skin, found garments and paper. During her studies at the Toronto School of Art, Tara was the recipient of TSA's Barbara Barrett Scholarship (2004) and Matthew David Stein Scholarship (2005). In the past two years, she has exhibited extensively throughout the city in a diverse range of venues, from storefront window installations and telephone poles to the Textile Museum of Canada, the Ontario Crafts Council, and in group exhibitions in Halifax and Copenhagen. Tara's most recent projects include co-ordinating The Portable Library Project and working as one-third of the Toronto Zine Library Collective. In addition to her work as a fine artist, Tara also operates actively within Toronto's independent music and small-press communities as a DJ, illustrator and designer. She was born and raised in Toronto, Canada.

Iris Haussler- Honest Threads

A project by the amazing Iris. Check out the Koffler Centre website for more details and the project application form for contributors.

RENT YOUR REALITY, LOAN YOUR LIFE
BE PART OF TORONTO’S HISTORY!

Share your story and the shirt off your back in this art project by Iris Häussler

Iris Häussler: Honest Threads

January 22 to March 8, 2009
Curated by Mona Filip
Presented at Honest Ed’s by the Koffler Gallery
581 Bloor Street W, Toronto

Deadline for contributions: December 19, 2008

The Project
In a crossover between visual art, literature, and theatre, Toronto artist Iris Häussler creates immersive environments that reveal personal histories, real or fictional. Responding to the Koffler Gallery’s invitation to develop the first project in a new off-site program, Häussler chose Toronto’s famous landmark, Honest Ed’s, to host an installation that engages the GTA public in sharing real life stories.

Honest Threads will display garments and the memories they carry. Lent by Torontonians, each item holds a personal story revealing a glimpse of the many threads that weave our identity over time. Visitors will be able to borrow the garments and wear them for a few days, experiencing both literally and psychologically what it is like to “walk in someone else’s shoes.” At the same time, they will add new layers to the clothes’ history. Trading experiences on both tactile and narrative levels will enrich our collective perception of the place we call home. As pieces of a vast puzzle, these individual stories will render a fragmentary portrait of the city, attesting to its complex history.

The Place
With its overload of celebrity photographs and eccentric sales items, Honest Ed’s is no ordinary store but a museum in itself, blurring the boundaries between commercial, public and exhibition spaces. The place equally attests to the inspiring story of its founder, Ed Mirvish, the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and Austria, as well as his impact on Toronto’s cultural scene and on the community through philanthropic gestures. Spotlighting Honest Ed’s significance as a haven for newcomers to Canada, Honest Threads positions the store as the meeting point of individual Toronto stories of immigration, survival and childhood dreams, entwined with the city’s cultural history. Among the participants you will also recognize local celebrities.

And You
This is your opportunity to bring out the cherished jacket your father wore on his clandestine journey across the ocean, the sari you inherited from your grandmother, or the shirt that made you look cool in your high-school band. We would also like to include in the display a photograph of you or the original owner wearing the garment. Share your stories and lend your unique voice to a project that brings together the many faces of Toronto’s identity.

To contribute your garment, story and photograph, please call Mona Filip at 416 636 1880 x270 or email mfilip@kofflerarts.org.

About the Artist
Iris Häussler was born in Friedrichshafen, Germany in 1962 and immigrated to Canada in 2001. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and has exhibited widely throughout Europe. Her exhibitions and site-specific installations include: Therese (2004) at the Triennial of Contemporary Art Oberschwaben, Weingarten; Time and over (2003) at Gallery Huber Goueffon, Munich; Monopati (2000) in residential apartments in Berlin and Munich; Paulina (2000) in a residential house in Bonn; and You do not return from the place that does not exist (1999) at Hotel Franziskaner, Zürich. The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach (2006), curated by Rhonda Corvese and conceived for a residential house in downtown Toronto, is her most complex off-site narrative installation and marked her first major show in North America. Häussler currently lives in Toronto and teaches at the Toronto School of Art.