{"id":32738,"date":"2016-03-01T11:24:29","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T16:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=32738"},"modified":"2016-03-23T17:52:59","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T21:52:59","slug":"material-girls-at-doris-mccarthy-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=32738","title":{"rendered":"Material Girls at Doris McCarthy Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Material Girls<\/em> is an exhibition curated by women (Jennifer Matotek, Blair Fornwald, Wendy Peart) featuring works by women (twenty-five Canadian and International artists) that addresses aspects of being a woman (the feminized body, gendered space, capitalistic desire); and it couldn\u2019t find itself in a better space. Currently showing at the all-female staffed Doris McCarthy Gallery in Scarborough \u2014 named after the late-great landscape painter and mentor to feminist art pioneer Joyce Wieland \u2014 Material Girls<\/em> is a travelling show that recently left its roots at Dunlop Art Gallery in Regina for Toronto\u2019s far east end.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Installation view of Material Girls<\/em>, Doris McCarthy Gallery<\/p>\n

Described in its title panel as a horror vacui: fearful of empty space, the show is also self-admittedly \u201cvisually overwhelming\u201d at times with works ranging from Sarah Anne Johnson\u2019s small and intimate c-prints to Tricia Middleton\u2019s expansive pastel-coloured wax-covered stalagmites emerging from the floor. And the show\u2019s themes are just as plentiful as its visuals \u2014 a given, as Material Girls<\/em> was put together by three curators with three different interests of study. Matotek looks at how pattern and repetition is utilized by various cultural perspectives, Fornwald is interested in the notion of feminine excess, and Peart finds fascination in the tactility of materials and how they consider the human body in various ways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tricia Middleton, Ladder Buddies (detail), 2013-14, mixed media, dimensions variable. Collection of the artist and Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran<\/p>\n

Marie Watt\u2019s “Skywalker\/Skyscraper (Axis Mundi)” is one work that checks each curator\u2019s box. The installation is a ninety-six inch tall tower \u2014 a readymade of sorts \u2014 composed of reclaimed wool blankets that have been folded, piled upwards, and held together by a vertical steel beam. Made up of various pastel-coloured patterned fabrics, Watt\u2019s work encapsulates the \u201cmaterial\u201d part of Material Girls<\/em> while also complimenting the room in which it sits: where standard white gallery walls have been painted lovely shades of baby pink, blue, and yellow. Conceptually, the work also speaks to multiple dichotomies such as \u201csoft yet strong\u201d, \u201cdomestic yet ambitious\u201d, and \u201cIndigenous yet Non-Indigenous\u201d, as represented by Watt\u2019s half-Haudenosaunee heritage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Marie Watt, Skywalker\/Skyscraper (Axis Mundi), 2012, reclaimed wool blankets and steel, 96\u201d x 22\u201d x 22\u201d, collection of the artist<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the most notable aspects of Material Girls<\/em> is the attention it pays to women artists of culturally diverse backgrounds, importantly including all women \u2014 and not just some women \u2014 in the continuing dialogue about female artists in the contemporary art world. Works are included by artists from Indigenous, Asian, and Middle Eastern backgrounds like Christi Belcourt, Ying-Yueh Chuang, and Morehshin Allahyari.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>From left to right: Ying-Yueh Chuang, Strawberry Banana Cup Cake, 2014, ceramic with Retro Medalta pottery, 6\u201d x 6\u201d, collection of SLATE Fine Art Gallery;\u00a0Chicken Vegetable Plate, 2014, ceramic with Retro Medalta pottery, 6\u201d x 16\u201d, collection of the artist; Okra Star Plate, 2014, ceramic with Retro Medalta pottery, 3.5\u201d x 11.5\u201d, collection of the artist<\/p>\n

Allahyari\u2019s “Like Pearls” is a work that caught my interest right away. Viewed on an iMac in the first room of Material Girls<\/em>, the piece is a Geocities-style Internet installation decked out with all of the glittering rose GIFS from 2005 you could imagine. Reflecting on objectified images of female underwear models, found in email spam and online underwear stores based in Iran, “Like Pearls” has a quality that is nostalgic yet disturbing; reminding me of what it was like to be twelve years old and mindlessly collecting (and idolizing) similar images of objectification for my own personal webpage. Allahyari\u2019s quirky Internet art perfectly captures the absurdity of this problematic twenty-first-century self-making process that exists across cultures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Morehshin Allahyari, Like Pearls, 2014-15, website, collection of the artist.<\/p>\n

An exhibition full of various materials, cultures, colours, and concepts; Material Girls<\/em> may well be a horror vacui in the very best way. Most importantly, the show finds unity in its overarching theme of women taking up space, both literally and figuratively.<\/p>\n

Text and photo:\u00a0Emily Lawrence<\/p>\n

*Exhibition information: February 3 \u2013 April 9, 2016, Doris McCarthy Gallery at University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail. Gallery hours: Mon – Thur: 11 am – 4 pm, Wed: 11 am – 8 pm, Saturday: 12 – 5 pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Emily Lawrence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most importantly, the show finds unity in its overarching theme of women taking up space, both literally and figuratively.<\/p>\n

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