Current Exhibition

Justina M. Barnicke Gallery and Georgia Scherman Projects Present:


28 Days: Reimagining Black History Month

Curated by Pamela Edmonds and Sally Frater
Presented by Third Space Art Projects

Participating Artists: Leo Asemota, Radcliffe Bailey, Sonia Boyce, Sandra Brewster, Delio Delgado, Godfried Donkor, Denniston Ewan, Stephen Fakiyesi, Dana Inkster, Roshini Kempadoo, Wangechi Mutu, Keith Piper, Rob Pruitt, Dionne Simpson, Mickalene Thomas, Camille Turner, Nari Ward, and Carrie Mae Weems

Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, January 19 – February 19, 2012
Opening Reception: Wednesday January 18, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Panel Discussion: Saturday February 18, 1:00 – 5:00 pm (Hart House East Common Room)

Georgia Scherman Projects, January 19 – February 29, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday January 21, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Curators’ Tour with Pamela Edmonds and Sally Frater: Saturday January 21, 1:00 – 2:00 pm




IMAGE CREDIT: Godfried Donkor, London Mob, 2001. Inkjet print. Courtesy of the artist.

28 Days brings together the diverse work of Canadian artists with that of their international contemporaries in the United States and the United Kingdom to explore the staging of Black History Month. Featuring works in print, video, photography, painting, drawing, and sculptural installation, the exhibition examines the confluence of history and memory and its relationship to contemporary art and representational space. Celebrated in the US and Canada in February, and in the UK in October, the annual observance has sparked increased debates in recent years about the value of a designated month committed to the history of one particular race. While some artists refuse to show their work during Black History Month exhibitions as a political stance against the marginalization of their practices, others feel it is one of few opportunities they have to participate in the broader cultural landscape, particularly with work that addresses issues of Black identity and visual culture. At the current moment, in which the idea of “Post-Blackness” continues to be debated within contemporary arts discourse, the ways in which the politics of representation are related to Black History Month is also being questioned, particularly within our increasingly globalized environment.

Exploring the impact of African diasporic and Black expressive cultures on the evolving geography of global contemporary art, the artists create an international dialogue that complicates and transgresses prevailing notions of representation, memory, history, nationalism, and identity as they are presented in the site of the gallery.

28 Days is presented by Third Space Art Projects, a Canadian-based curatorial collective co-founded in 2009 by Pamela Edmonds and Sally Frater as a forum for the promotion, presentation, and development of contemporary art projects that engage transcultural and diasporic communities, with a particular focus on visual cultures of the Black Atlantic.

28 Days has been generously supported by grants from the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and TD Bank Group.

The exhibition continues at Georgia Scherman Projects

Georgia Scherman Projects
133 Tecumseth Street
Toronto, ON

416-554-4112
www.georgiascherman.com

Tuesday – Friday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
or by appointment

Continuing through June 2012


Location / Dislocation
June 2012 15 September 2011 — 15 June 2012

Brendan Fernandes, Jamelie Hassan, Oliver Husain, Will Kwan, and Karen Tam

Presented at the Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto
Curated by Denise Ryner in collaboration with Barbara Fischer

Click here for more information




IMAGE CREDIT: Jamelie Hassan, 520 Pall Mall, Fragment, 2001/2011. Black-and-white photography and hand-painted ceramic tiles mounted to plywood. Courtesy of the artist.

This year-long exhibition of works by five renowned artists from Toronto, Montreal, London (ON), and New York examines spatial, environmental, and architectural manifestations of cultural dislocation. Artists Brendan Fernandes, Jamelie Hassan, Oliver Husain, Will Kwan, and Karen Tam consider the implications of a variety of uprooting and establishing forces, ranging from post-colonial diasporas, multiculturalism, and cultural re-articulation to economic exploitation and urban gentrification. Their photo- and installation-based works share an interest in the effects of globalization and the manifestation of hybridity and displacement in primarily urban contexts.

Location / Dislocation is the theme around which the Jackman Humanities Institute will organize its multidisciplinary 2011-2012 events and fellowships. This exhibition marks the first time that contemporary artists have been invited to respond to the institute's annual academic theme and its architectural setting.

Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto
170 St. George Street, 10th Floor
Toronto, ON M5R 2M8
www.humanities.utoronto.ca

Visiting Hours:
Monday—Friday, 9:00 am — 5:00 pm