PAST EXHIBITION
Flowers and Photography
Flowers and Photography examines the appeal of contemporary floral subjects and inherited notions of the symbolic function of flower imagery through the work of six Canadian women artists: Sara Angelucci, Barbara Astman, Suzy Lake, Dyan Marie, Lori Newdick and Sasha Yungju Lee
Flowers and Photography invites viewers to consider why flowers continue to be a favourite subject of women artists. Enlisting the garden subject as one that is reflective of contemporary theories about art, nature and the ordering of knowledge, the show features the art of Sara Angelucci, Barbara Astman, Suzy Lake, Sasha Yungju Lee, Dyan Marie and Lori Newdick.
In Regular 8, photo and video artist Sara Angelucci meticulously constructs a fictional archive of events that take place in park-like gardens using digital means to simulate the look of analog documents – or what we recognize as a snap shot. Senior artist Barbara Astman engages photography with new media to sequentially stage her allegorical black and white photomurals, nearsofar, which show the figure in the garden as emblematic of systems of gender perspectives and representation. Sasha Yungju Lee’s work reflects her experience of displacement and self. Her piece, In the Bosom, is essentially a blown up snap shot of her child, Zoe. This photo shows her daughter with arms opened to embrace the leaves and flowers, not unlike a contemporary vision of the mythological goddess Flora.
A pioneer in feminist performance for the camera, Suzy Lake took up photography in order to explore the politics of gender, the body and identity. Lake’s triptych, Peonies and the Lido, holds a mirror to the self as it tempts (and resists) the obsession with youthfulness. Her video, Dance to Life, avails flowers to re-enact the closing stages of a marriage as so much surplus emotion. Dyan Marie’s relational art practice includes photo-based work, as well as performance and publishing initiatives that reflect on contemporary cultural experience. Her Murmurs and Messages series comprises digitally developed images of flowers, in which those vines and plants are seeded with single word poems. Lori Newdick is known for her beautiful and seductive images that capture the space between herself and her subject. Her 2010-2012 Untitled Flowers series captures something akin to surrealism’s deconstructive formlessness.
Exhibition Review: Globe & Mail
LIST OF WORKS:
Sara Angelucci
Regular 8 (Alan Gardens), 2009
Regular 8 (Baptism), 2009
Regular 8 (Fountain), 2009
Regular 8 (Gairloch Garden), 2009
Regular 8 (High Park), 2009
Regular 8 (Wedding), 2009
Barbara Astman
#2 nearsofar, 2000 / 2012
#4 nearsofar, 2000 / 2012
#6 nearsofar, 2000 / 2012
#7 nearsofar, 2000 / 2012
#10 nearsofar, 2000 / 2012
Red Flowers Series #1 – 4, 1980-1981
Suzy Lake
Beauty at the End of the Season #7, 2004 (printed 2006)
Beauty at the End of the Season #8, 2004
Dance to Life, 1986
Dance to Life, 1986 (printed 2011)
Peonies and the Lido #7, 2002
Sasha Yungju Lee
In the Bosom, 2000
Lori Newdick
Untitled #1, 2010-2012
Untitled #2, 2010-2012
Untitled #3, 2010-2012
Untitled #5, 2010-2012
Dyan Marie
Murmur and Messages: Carry, 1997
Murmur and Messages: Entrance, 1997
Murmur and Messages: Linger, 1997
Murmur and Messages: Message, 1997
Curated by: Carla Garnet. Organized in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Peterborough
May 09, 2013 – August 17, 2013
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SUBMISSIONS & ASSISTANCE
SUBMISSIONS:
The McMaster Museum of Art is presently not accepting artists’ submissions for exhibitions at this time of leadership change at the museum. Our Interim Director will be undertaking a review of the museum’s forward exhibition schedule, as well as our policies and procedures, in the coming months. Our present focus is the ongoing maintenance of our permanent collection and storage needs for future collection activities.
The museum remains committed to our collecting priority in the continued support of early career, mid-career and established Indigenous artists, artists of the Black diaspora and racialized artists through purchases and commissions. Donations will be welcomed and reviewed at a future date which will be posted on our website.
ASSISTANCE:
The McMaster Museum of Art is a third party recommender for Ontario Arts Council (OAC) Exhibition Assistance Grants.
Please note that there has been a delay in the OAC opening the 2024-2025 program. This webpage will be updated with our deadlines as soon as possible.
Priorities:
Artists who demonstrate an interest and consideration of art as a medium for social change and action.
Please follow the guidelines established by the Ontario Arts Council, apply directly through their website, and submit the following with your applications:
Brief artist statement
Confirmation letter from the gallery/museum/venue
Budget
CV
Digital images of work
