Oct 19, 2017 - ancestral rela`onship to indigo; Canadian sound ar`st Bára HladÃková will ... body of bi-racial women
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: OCT 19, 2017
Interna'onal Ar'sts on Toronto Island to create art about Human Body Diversity Seventeen ar;sts from Denmark, France, Britain, Australia, The Netherlands, and across Canada and the United States who have been selected to par;cipate in LUMINOUS BODIES art residency, will push up against how bodies are socially constructed, idealized and controlled. The two week residency takes place at Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Island, star;ng on Oct 23 and ends with a public exhibi'on on Nov 4, 2017. This summer’s flooding on Toronto Island caused Luminous Bodies art residency to be postponed un;l this fall. The two-week programmed residency, which invites ar;sts from around the globe to “reinvent and re-present the body in most inclusive and diverse ways” will be seclusive due to the late season’s limited ferry service. Its Facilitator, Teresa Ascencao, says, “It will also be chillier without the summer sun, and miss the clothing-op;onal beach crowds for crea;ve research”. However, she promises to revert all this into an opportunity of focused and cozy explora;ons at Artscape Gibraltar Point. Programming includes opening night introductory talks by the resident ar;sts over a communal dinner in the Fireplace Room, and a performance art workshop whereby resident ar;sts lend their clothing for the Facilitator to wear un;l she becomes engulfed, constricted and cannot bear more of it. The ar;sts will be snuggling down in studios to create artworks about the human body through topics and media of their choice, such as biraciality of women in digital media, perfec;on of motherhood, control of one another’s bodies through technology, and the body’s rela;onship to the land and Toronto Island. The ar;sts’ crea;ve efforts will culminate into a public exhibi;on on November 4th. The interna;onal ar;sts who will shed light on the diversity of the human body are: Denmark: LoEe Bækgaard Australia: Dale Collier The Netherlands: marjolijn kok Britain/Canada: KiEy Blandy France: Karine Bap'ste across the United State: Janet Morgan, Lesley Silvia and across Canada: BriEney Roy, Anh Dao, Danielle Smith, Bára Hladíková, Natalie Jachyra, Joseph Medaglia, Ryan Danny Owen, Megan Conley, Kendra Schellenberg, Candice Okada
Residency Dates: Oct 23-Nov 6, 2017 Exhibi;on Date: Saturday Nov 4, 4-7pm Loca;on: Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Island. Ontario Facebook invite: hEp://bit.ly/2gw0vEh Direc;ons: LuminousBodies.com/direc'ons Accessibility: ferry and residency are wheel chair accessible Details: LuminousBodies.com and ArtsUnfold.com
Media Contact: Teresa Ascencao at
[email protected] or 647-521-2353
ARTISTS Canadian born ar;st BriEney Roy will control and be controlled by others through performances that explore electrophysiology technology; LoEe Bækgaard is a visual ar;st from Denmark who will explore the concepts of perfec;on and motherhood; Anh Dao is a visual ar;st with a lens-based prac;ce who will produce a dura;onal performance to explore ideas of displacement; born in Canada Danielle Smith is a movement ar;st who will explore her ancestral rela;onship to indigo; Canadian sound ar;st Bára Hladíková will create art that communicates with the energe;c frequencies of our bodies; Natalie Jachyra is a Canadian ar;st who will explore how her body relates to the spaces on Toronto Island through performance and video installa;on; Canadian interdisciplinary ar;st Joseph Medaglia will explore rela;onship between ;me, space and the queer body through tex;les and experimental video; Canadian emerging ar;st Ryan Danny Owen acts to form encounters with the absent queer body; Australian ar;st Dale Collier will create audio-visual works inspired by postcolonial narra;ves of Canada and Australia; Janet Morgan from the United State will express the translucency, transparency, and colours associated with the energies within the body; marjolijn kok from The Netherlands is an ar;st and theore;cal archaeologist who will use collage to ques;on stereotypical representa;ons of the human body; Lesley Silvia is a mul;disciplinary ar;st from the United States who will create, and perform daily homage to, imperfect idols; Megan Conley is a Canadian interdisciplinary ar;st who will collaborate with strangers to create “mul; dimensional portraits” of herself; KiEy Blandy is a Canadian-Bri;sh ar;st who will create drawing-sculptural works about the commonality between the human and non-human animal; Canadian emerging ar;st Kendra Schellenberg will create imagery that ques;ons modern beauty ideals/objec;fica;on and their ramifica;ons on the development of the self; Karine Bap'ste is a visual ar;st from France who will explore the rela;onship between the body and the soul by turning the camera on herself; and Canadian ar;st Candice Okada will examine the rela;onship between the physical body of bi-racial women and digital media, par;cularly the Internet.
RESIDENCY Luminous Bodies is a two-week residency to create artworks that shed new light on the human body. Its objec;ve is to challenge “norma;vity” and Otherness. Its goal is to reinvent and re-present the body in most inclusive and diverse ways. Resident ar;st talks, gallery tours, visual and textual references, guest ar;st talks, and regular cri;ques (individual with Facilitator and group cri;ques) help uncover how our bodies are culturally and aesthe;cally constructed, displayed and controlled. Residents work individually or collabora;vely to create artworks that reinvent the body through media of their choice, such as photography, video, installa;on, drawing, performance, sound art, and more. There will be a closing exhibi;on of artworks created during the residency. The essence of Luminous Bodies is about bringing to light heterogeneous bodies. Artscape Gibraltar Point is an ar;st retreat nestled against the magnificent natural backdrop of Toronto Island. It offers a distrac;on-free environment to focus on art crea;on, and a rich poten;al for the crea;on of corporeal artworks amongst its blue-flag beaches (one of them being clothing op;onal) and natural surroundings of Lake Ontario, forests and gardens filled with flowers, fruit and vegetables. On the island, there are ;ny quaint homes, a historic lighthouse, a hobby farm and an;que carnival grounds. Ar;sts can cozy up in a furnished studio and bedroom, and enjoy ameni;es such as a fully equipped common kitchen, shared bathrooms, laundry facili;es and wireless Internet. AGP is a barrier free and inclusive environment. The Toronto city core is just a 15-minute ferry ride away. Luminous Bodies is a crea;on of Arts Unfold, which produces art and design projects in Canadian and European communi;es to foster greater understandings of social and environmental condi;ons. Teresa Ascencao, the Art Director of Arts Unfold, is a mul;media ar;st and naturist. Her work toys with social constructs of body language, costume, socially inscribed objects and spaces, and inner corporeal experiences. Ascencao’s work has been exhibited widely in Canada and interna;onally. She lives and works in Toronto and teaches at OCADU.
Media Contact: Teresa Ascencao at
[email protected] or 647-521-2353