{"id":35646,"date":"2016-09-28T20:54:31","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T00:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=35646"},"modified":"2016-10-05T17:38:07","modified_gmt":"2016-10-05T21:38:07","slug":"blake-ward-fragments-at-the-canadian-sculpture-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=35646","title":{"rendered":"Blake Ward: Fragments at the Canadian Sculpture Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tragic Beauty<\/strong><\/p>\n

Could beautiful things represent tragedy? Laoco\u00f6n, an ancient sculpture group excavated during Renaissance, displays suffering figures entwined by serpents. Paradoxically, scholars constantly refer to its beauty.<\/p>\n

Blake Ward\u2019s sculpture show Fragments <\/em>represents\u00a0the paradox of beauty and tragedy. Ward sculpted this collection to promote the devastating effects of landmines he experienced in Vietnam. Each piece is named after the various landmines as a way to raise awareness and address complications in war-torn nations today.<\/p>\n

Upon entering the Canadian Sculpture Centre seven bronze sculptures reveal their stories to the audience. One of them titled “GEMSS M128” displays a female curvilinear nude torso. Her beautiful muscular abs, her round bosoms and her protruding collarbones animate her like a once beautiful human being. Contrary to the ancient sculptures, Ward had intentionally created sculptures without arms, legs, or a head; other parts of the bodies are barely intact.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Blake Ward, GEMSS M128, 61 x 25 x 25 cm, 1999, bronze. Courtesy of the artist<\/p>\n

Works like “Claymore M128” presents Ward\u2019s intents to sculpt bodies of victims. Destroyed and battered, the woman\u2019s torso lacks her right breast, a symbol of her womanhood. The intentional marks and scratches on her body reminds us the everlasting scars from war. Nothing remains of this woman, whose family and friends probably have been sacrificed like her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Blake Ward, Claymore M18A1, 2004, bronze, 34 x 20 x 21 cm. Courtesy of the artist<\/p>\n

Ward also sculpted a man who stretches his arms and legs as if to fight; nonetheless, all that remains is his limbless body. His beautifully sculpted abs and muscular thigh signals otherwise a perfectly healthy body. The work itself is a paradox; the beautiful torso lives without his limbs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0Blake Ward,\u00a0Pineapple Cluster BLU-3 \/ Dying Man, 2001, bronze, 58 x 26 x 33 cm. Courtesy of the artist.<\/p>\n

The sculptures exhibited in Fragments<\/em>\u00a0are more than simple sculptures, they symbolize destruction. Through artistic representation, Ward constructed a sophisticated exhibition promoting critical effects of landmines and other Explosive Remnants of War (ERW). In his sculptures the bodies are still beautiful, even after their tragic mutilation.<\/p>\n

Katerina Bong<\/p>\n

*Exhibition information: September 15 – October 5, 2016,\u00a0Canadian Sculpture Centre, 500 Church Street. Gallery hours: Tue \u2013 Fri: 12 \u2013 6, Sat: 11 \u2013 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Katerina Bong<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through artistic representation, Ward constructed a sophisticated exhibition promoting critical effects of landmines <\/p>\n

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