{"id":46603,"date":"2021-03-10T18:17:35","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T23:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=46603"},"modified":"2021-03-10T18:47:04","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T23:47:04","slug":"june-clark-unrequited-love-at-daniel-faria-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=46603","title":{"rendered":"June Clark: Unrequited Love at Daniel Faria Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the advent of Black Lives Matter and the United States 2020 presidential election, there could be no better time for June Clark\u2019s solo exhibition, Unrequited Love<\/em>, at Daniel Faria Gallery. The show explores Clark\u2019s relationship with the American flag, in a display of various quotations of the flag made in different media and styles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gallery\u2019s website states, \u201cAs a young Black girl in America, Clark was taught to love something that would not love her back in return, but knowledge of that imbalance doesn\u2019t rid someone of their desire for a mutual relationship. It\u2019s an imbalance that is not specific to America; unrequited love is one of the oldest tools of colonialism.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Inherent, 2017<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nflag is an instantly recognizable, very conflicted symbol, evoking different\nreactions and associations for everyone. For Canadians, who will be the\nmajority of this exhibition\u2019s viewers, the flag is a familiar symbol, but it is\nlikely not as personal to us as it is to the artist. For Clark, a black woman\nwho spent her childhood in Harlem, the relationship with this symbol is\nfraught, to say the least. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clark expresses, \u201cAs a child, my heart would become full whenever I saw the flag waving in the breeze. I was proud and it was my understanding that all who saw \u2018our\u2019 flag could and should only love it as citizens and, if not of our country, envy those who were protected by it. I was taught that all citizens, under this flag, would enjoy all rights and freedoms under the constitution.\u201d The American flag has been a part of Clark\u2019s artistic vocabulary for the last 20 years, and these works are a way for her to come to terms with the \u201cunrequited love\u201d she feels for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dirge,\n2003<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show, though now moved online, takes place in a stark, monochrome room, with walls, floors, and a display table all sparsely occupied with different iterations of the American flag. The neutral tones and unadorned nature of the gallery space allow these works to stand out and become independent from one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Installation view of June Clark Unrequited Love<\/em> at Daniel Faria Gallery, 2020 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flags are constructed in different materials, styles, and varying levels of completion: some are ripped and threadbare, some burnt, and some are stylistic recreations of the design. Looking through the works, the criminal implications of these defaced flags instantly came to mind, making the show all the more defiant and shocking. Repetition becomes an art form even if at a closer look none of the flags are the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\nA particularly striking piece is a flag that hangs diagonally from the wall, completely disassembled. It is made up of unwoven vertical threads that form the colors of the flag, with the blue square and stars ripped and full of holes. On top of the flagpole lies a cross made of rusty barbed wire. Its lifelessness and raggedness give it a melancholy, pitiful quality. \n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Moral\nDisengagement, 2014-17 and detail (right)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarke has dedicated this exhibition to Colin Rand Kaepernick, the football quarterback famed for kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 protesting the ongoing violence and discrimination towards Black people in the United States and worldwide. The exhibition was planned in the months leading up to the 2020 US presidential election. During this time, and up to more recent months, the United States has been in a period of turmoil, and many devastating events have occurred in the country, especially those related to racism. I know many of our associations with the symbol of the American flag have been marred by these events, making this show all the more relevant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From\nHarlem, 1997<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A representation of a flag lies on the gallery floor, in the form of strips of fabric: long thin white and red pieces and a square navy piece with tiny stars resting upon it. Another flag, this one more traditional and undamaged, likely an actual flag Clark has repurposed, is affixed to a blank cream-coloured canvas. The flag is bunched-up and sewn onto the canvas with bright green threads that read \u201cirony\u201d in cursive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Untitled\n(irony), 2010 and detail (right)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

June Clark\u2019s solo exhibition Unrequited Love<\/em> is a fascinating, radical collection of works. Its exploration of patriotism, race, and identity, is unique and mesmerising. Clark\u2019s ability to rework a well-known symbol into intimate, autobiographical art is impressive. These works are incredibly poignant, defiant, and relevant to the world we live in \u2013 this exhibition couldn\u2019t have come at a better time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bronwen\nCox<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images are courtesy of Daniel Faria Gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Exhibition information: <\/a>June Clark: Unrequited Love<\/a><\/em>, November 6, 2020 \u2013 March 27, 2021, Daniel Faria Gallery, 188 St Helens Ave, Toronto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


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

by Bronwen Cox<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clark\u2019s ability to rework a well-known symbol into intimate, autobiographical art is impressive.<\/p>\n

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