In with the old, in with the new
Friday, February 10 marks the opening of the exhibition Fanciful: Small Media Moments at the Mobile Media Gallery on the Loyola Campus.
The brainchild of co-curators Kim Sawchuk and Rae Staseson, Fanciful: Small Media Moments displays the work of four female artists whose work features a combination of old technologies used in combination with new media.
“We imagined the theme — the concept for the show — and then our job was to find artists who were producing work that we felt exemplified the theme; that expanded on the theme, and that fit into that kind of conceptual framework,” says Staseson.
The artists — New York artist Margaret Murphy and Montreal-based Emily Pelstring, Kelly Thompson and Karen Trask — will be displaying new artwork specifically created for the Fanciful exhibition.
“The original idea was to work miniature,” Staseson says. “Our gallery is quite small, which is great because it’s manageable, but it means you have to really think about what you’re going to put in there. So we thought, ‘wouldn’t it be fun to do a group show that dealt with miniature media?’
“But then as we started looking at these works produced by these different artists, we discovered that what they have in common is that they’re using older technology but in combination somehow with a newer technology,” she continues. “It’s quite fun to see the way people are still embracing and still enjoying a kind of older, residual technology to make new work.”
Margaret Murphy’s work, for example, includes current news events painted as toile fabric designs.
“The present images mark the beginning of new work that is based on current news that I read from Google News, Facebook — any online source,” Murphy says. “I think of these works as news seen from the safety of my computer. The Occupy campaign makes an appearance in my news paintings as well as the latest Victoria Secret runway show.”
Fanciful is on display until April 13 at the Mobile Media Gallery in the Communication and Journalism Building on the Loyola Campus. The gallery is the newest at Concordia, and the only gallery on the Loyola Campus.
“One of our goals with this gallery is to create a hub; a kind of exciting scene out here,” Staseson says. “By creating a kind of cultural space, it brings people together and gives people a chance to stop in and visit when they’re running over to another building. We’ve had a lot of people attend our shows so they’re beginning to know that we’re here.”
When: Friday, February 10 to Friday, April 13, 2012. Gallery hours are Mondays to Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Where: Mobile Media Gallery, Room CJ-1.419, Communication and Journalism (CJ) Building, Loyola Campus (7141 Sherbrooke Street W.)
Third-year journalism student Lesley De Marinis is an intern with Concordia’s University Communications Services.
Related links:
• Mobile Media Gallery
• Fanciful site
• Margaret Murphy’s site
• Karen Trask’s site
• Emily Pelstring’s site
• Kelly Thompson’s site