{"id":36115,"date":"2016-10-26T20:24:36","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T00:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=36115"},"modified":"2016-11-20T14:40:20","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T19:40:20","slug":"michael-antkowiak-at-the-wil-kucey-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=36115","title":{"rendered":"Michael Antkowiak at Wil Kucey Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Installation view of\u00a0Michael Antkowiak,\u00a0What Right Has My Head to Call Itself Me<\/em><\/p>\n

Social networking has proliferated in our modern society, drastically changing how we communicate with and view each other. As more images and information are circulated, ideas of creativity, originality, and ownership are changed. To quote an excerpt from the movie, \u201cThe Tenant\u201d by Roman Polanski:<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cAt what precise moment\u2026<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026does an individual stop being who he thinks he is?<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You know, I don\u2019t like complication.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cut off my arm. I say, \u2018Me and my arm.\u2019<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You cut off my other arm, I say, \u2018Me and my two arms.\u2019<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2026take out\u2026<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026take out my stomach, my kidneys,<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 assuming that were possible\u2026<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And I say, \u2018Me and my intestines.\u2019<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Follow me?<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And now if you cut off my head\u2026<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026would I say, \u2018Me and my head\u2019 or \u2018me and my body\u2019?<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What right has my head to call itself me?<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What right?”<\/em><\/p>\n

This quote means to address the extent to which we are able to claim ideas and objects as our own, directly or indirectly. When we create something, such as a photograph, and post it on our Facebook page or Twitter feeds, is it still considered ours? Likewise, do the sentiments that we associate with those captured moments remain individual or are they too disseminated as part of the collective of images? Michael Antkowiak\u2019s exhibition, aptly named What Right Has My Head to Call Itself Me<\/em>, strives to visualize this dilemma, encouraging the viewer to consider ideas of individuality and society and how the two become intersected through the acquirement of new tech.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Michael Antkowiak, oil on canvas, 12″ x 16″<\/p>\n

Antkowiak\u2019s collection of works consists of still-lifes drawn from his own photographs as well as those from social media. They represent intimate and serene candid moments from a domestic setting, with all of them placed on a uniform 12\u201d x 16\u201d canvas; it is as much a photo album, invoked with personal significance, as it is a collection of paintings.\u00a0 Though no clear identities are depicted, each work does incorporate a more reflective human presence, whether the subjects are examining a photograph, inspecting a piece of fruit, or even just staring at their own sneakers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Michael Antkowiak, Swan (left) and Daffodils (right) each: oil on canvas, 12″ x 16″<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Michael Antkowiak, Sneakers, oil on canvas, 12″ x 16″<\/p>\n

The style, although representational, appears ephemeral and nondescript, though not as sporadic and dynamic as an Impressionistic style.\u00a0 There is solemnity and a certain sense of nostalgia evoked here, as if the memory is beginning to fade along with the photograph.\u00a0 The figure\u2019s identities diminish into obscurity and generalizations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Michael Antkowiak, Blue robe, oil on canvas, 12″ x 16″<\/p>\n

What Right Has My Head to Call Itself Me<\/em> is a personal and simultaneously broadening exhibition that examines the impact of societal factors in shaping individual experiences. Antkowiak provides a comprehensive look into how concepts of identity and ownership \u2013 not physical ownership, but rather emotional and ontological ownership of an event or memory \u2013 are influenced by technologies like social media. What is increasingly evident is that as new innovations start permeating through pre-conceived limits of communication into a more collective entity, it becomes ever more difficult to distinguish what is self and what is separate. Just as head cannot justifiably claim itself when it is removed from its body, how is it possible that we can claim what moments are ours when we are so socially interdependent?<\/p>\n

Text and photo: Simon Termine<\/p>\n

*Exhibition information: October 7 – 29, 2016, Wil Kucey Gallery, 1183 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Wed – Sat, 11 am – 6 pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Simon Termine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Antkowiak provides a comprehensive look into how concepts of identity and ownership \u2013 not physical ownership, but rather emotional and ontological ownership of an event or memory \u2013 are influenced by technologies like social media.<\/p>\n

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