9 must-see Concordia art exhibitions

1. Acts that Fade Away

Ryerson Image Centre | Toronto, Ontario | Till August 5

In Acts that Fade Away, a new video work by Nadia Myre (MFA 02), assistant professor in the Department of Studio Arts, the disembodied arms of the artist are shown in the process of hand-making — sewing, beading, threading — what seem to be traditional Indigenous crafts.

What we don’t see — or rather hear — off-camera is that Myre is following instructions of patterns sourced from Victorian women’s magazines as they are read aloud to her. Addressing the impact of colonial history on Indigenous cultural production, this work was made in connection with Myre’s recent residency at the McCord Museum and was exhibited as part of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto.

2. Abundant with Bloom: The Garden Worlds of Colby Women

Colby Curtis Museum | Stanstead, Quebec | Till September 8

With historic Quebec heritage home Carrollcroft as its site — and the Colby Family who lived there as subjects — Abundant with Bloom was inspired by Victorian gardening practices and domestic life.

The exhibition was shaped by research into the estate archives that Cynthia Hammond, associate professor in the Department of Art History, conducted during her time as an artist-in-residence at the Colby Curtis Museum.

The work explores the usage of the domestic garden at Carrollcroft and displays a series of paintings created by Hammond during her residence. The exhibition also features the writings of Annmarie Adams, associate member of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art and the Stevenson Chair in the History and Philosophy of Science, including Medicine, at McGill University.

3. Lamina Stamina

Museum London | London, Ontario | Till September 9

Lamina Stamina is a solo exhibition highlighting the work of Kelly Jazvac, associate professor in the Department of Studio Arts. The exhibition features Jazvac’s signature vinyl sculptural objects — abstract works made from discarded plastic, including old commercial signage.

4. FLUX: Responding to Head and Neck Cancer

International Museum of Surgical Science (IMSS) | Chicago, IL | Till August 19

How does art fit into the world of medicine? FLUX: Responding to Head and Neck Cancer offers one possible answer. The exhibition came about from a research project, “see me, hear me, heal me”: Exploring Patients’ Experiences with Head and Neck Cancer, that documents and engages with the lived realities of a group of survivors.

The six artists featured in FLUX worked with patients and researchers to represent the experiences of people recovering from head and neck cancer. This unique exhibition will feature the work of Ingrid Bachmann, associate professor and graduate program director in the Department of Studio Arts.

5. Supernatural: Art, Technology and the Forest

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria | Victoria, BC | Till September 30

Supernatural: Art Technology and the Forest is a group exhibition that brings together a variety of contemporary photography and video work that focus on “the forest as a social and cultural object.”

The exhibition acknowledges how photography has shaped our view of the natural world and considers how the latest developments in technology and 3D imaging further influence the way we understand our environment. The exhibition features the work of video artist Leila Sujir, associate professor of Intermedia and chair in the Department of Studio Arts.

6. Inverse Light

Centre Clark | 5455 Ave. de Gaspé | Montreal | Till June 16

Patryk Stasieczek (BFA 12), artist in residence in the Department of Studio Arts, presents his solo exhibition Inverse Light at the Centre Clark. Part photography and part conceptual installation, Inverse Light sees the gallery space awash in colourful fluorescent light as it displays and recreates images taken in Stasieczek’s studio.

The show follows-up on themes introduced in a 2016 exhibition, Inverse Light and Chamber.

7. In the Studio with Notman

McCord Museum | 690 Sherbrooke St. W. | Montreal | Till February 10, 2019

Marisa Portolese, Jinyoung Kim, 2018.

As part of her artist residency at the McCord Museum, Marisa Portolese, associate professor in the Department of Studio Arts, will show In the Studio with Notman, an exhibition of photographic portraiture.

Featuring large-scale portraits of women subjects, the exhibition engages with the research Portolese has conducted on photographer William Notman and his studio. Her work responds to the legacy of this pioneering figure in Canadian photography and explores his usage of backdrops and decoration in the portraiture of female subjects.

8. Fait Main / Hand Made

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec | Quebec City | June 14 to September 3

Casting a wide net across the nation’s artists, Fait Main / Hand Made is a massive exhibition that will feature a range of art and craft work from more than 30 Canadian artists.

Sixteen of them are Concordia alumni or current faculty, including Richard Kerr, Mitch Mitchell, Francois Morelli, Nadia Myre, Cynthia Girard and Luanne Martineau. Exploring handicraft, know-how and folkore, this is a brilliant overview of a significant segment of contemporary art in Canada. It presents a broad range of practices, from wood carving to quilts, to ceramics and embroidery.

9. Compression

Western Exhibitions | Galleries 1 & 2 | Chicago, IL | July 13 to August 18

New York artist Elana Herzog has long worked with textiles, creating work out of the remains of carpets and other found materials. Luanne Martineau, associate professor in the Department of Studio Arts, is also known for weaving and sculpting striking abstract works of felt and fabric. For Compression, the works of these two prolific artists will be shown together in order to foster connections and comparisons between their approaches.

Find out more about Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts.