I have a sculpture in this exhibition.

Red Runners: The New Objectification of Native Art and Identity
June 22 - July 2, 2010
Well and Good Gallery, 52 McCaul Street, Toronto Ontario, Canada

This project is sponsored by the Miziwe Biik Development Corporation and produced by its new national venture for the Aboriginal Arts - Thunderbird. Partnerships include the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.  Red Runners was conceived by Internees Luke J. Parnell and Jason Jenkins, with oversight and guidance provided by renown artists Robert Houle and Bonnie Devine of the Aboriginal Arts Curatorial Collective.  The focus of this exhibition is accessibility and identity.  Accessibility is the focus we undertook from the mentors and identity is the focus that evolved in the creation of this exhibition.

In exploring identity through accessibility you are presented a myriad of options. Technology has stream lined ones options with social networking sites where you can re-create your identity and be part of a new culture, living in a digital global village turned metropolis. Urban culture has become the new contemporary art. City infrastructure is a blank canvas to the eyes of a graffiti artist and young urban hipsters have transformed wearing sneakers to a culture all their own, and since footwear can tell a lot about a culture Luke and Jason wanted this show to represent a modern day Aboriginal living reality with in a concrete jungle—a real life interpretation of today’s Aboriginal urban culture.

Dealing with issues of identity, the contemporary Aboriginal artist cannot be afraid to utilize new materials and to create a new vocabulary.  Haida master carver Robert Davidson describes this in the exhibition catalogue for the exhibition “The Abstract Edge”

“I’m at a crossroads right now where I’ve recycled the ideas of my teachers, of the old pieces, of the old examples I’ve been studying.  My challenge is to go beyond those recycled ideas and create a new vocabulary for myself…

I feel that every artist reaches a point in their creative lifetime where they want to have their own story, their own signature.

At some point Aboriginal people have to tell their own stories, describe the world we know and not be afraid to break tradition if we are still respectful of that tradition.

This group show features 14 Aboriginal artists of diverse background and media.  They will, to coin a phrase, allow us to walk a mile in their moccasins.  Some of the Artists were chosen for their traditional based work and others for their contemporary outlook, though no limits were place on what they could submit.  All the works in the show are new.  The stories they will tell will be diverse. 

Red Runners are: Jason Baerg, Jordan Bennett, Emilie Corbiere, Mike Dangeli, Louie Gong, Morgan Green, Ian Morven
Lisa Myers, Tannis Nielson, Chris Pappan, Duke Redbird, Mervi Salo, Rosery Spence, Bear Witness

Additional information and photo will be posted at:

http://www.mbdc.ca/RedRunners.html

Moins