{"id":46640,"date":"2021-03-21T20:09:21","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T00:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=46640"},"modified":"2021-04-25T16:30:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-25T20:30:59","slug":"mist-foam-drainage-ditch-at-franz-kaka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=46640","title":{"rendered":"Mist, Foam, Drainage Ditch at Franz Kaka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Franz Kaka\u2019s new exhibition, Mist, Foam, Drainage Ditch<\/em>, is about the body \u2013 however, its artworks are not of the body, but what is around it; the pieces in the show encircle the body, and their materials act as \u201cskeins of tactile interaction\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gallery\u2019s website writes about the theme of the exhibition: \u201cChinese Medicine recognizes an extra organ called the San Jiao, translating to \u2018Triple Burner\u2019. Three cavities divided into Upper, Middle and Lower, each burner enacting differing processes of refinement and elimination. Rather than a closed, singular organ, it is a mesh-like network that spans the entirety of the body, acting as a conduit for fluids and Qi. More recently, it\u2019s been likened to fascia. Our connective tissue – the interstitial space around all our viscera, under our skin, between our vessels, cushioning and holding our cells \u2026 The body is both a sedimentation and a scatter – a mist, a foam, a drainage ditch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Laurie Kang, Fascia, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the newly reopened gallery, this show is contained within a single room. The room is small, with white walls, concrete floors, and exposed piping. A quiet, plain space that showcases the exhibition\u2019s vibrant, distinctive works, made in different media, colors, and styles, expertly arranged around the room. Photographs, audio works, prints, installations, and paintings are all at home in this space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Installation view of Mist, Foam, Drainage Ditch<\/em> at Franz Kaka, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as you walk into the small gallery space, you notice the bright colors and striking shapes of each different work. The first artwork you come across is Eileen Quinlan\u2019s black and white photograph of a nude woman, or perhaps a mannequin, in a studio, surrounded by glass cases that reflect the camera flash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\n Eileen Quinlan, Element, 2019, Courtesy the artist and Miguel Abreu, New York.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beside this photograph hangs Raque Ford\u2019s installation, made of two connected chains, with plastic add-ons of different colours and shapes: a clear, painted purple and grey panel, pink and purple peace signs, and a gray double spiral motif. This work is both playful and sombre, its colourful, lively plastic pieces contrasting with the heavy, dark grey, somewhat ominous chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\nRaque Ford, evol, detail, 2021, Courtesy the artist, New York\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a corner of the room is a small photograph by Rosa Aiello depicting a burning candle, zoomed in to show just the top of the candle\u2019s melting wax and the flame. Beside it is a list of words related to fire: \u201ccrackling\u201d, \u201cflames\u201d, \u201cpeople screaming\u201d, \u201cblack smoke\u201d and so on. Above this list is an infrared motion-activated speaker, that plays a recording of a woman saying insignificant words. The combination of the robotic, emotionless, disembodied voice with these troubling printed words gives this section of the gallery a foreboding atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rosa Aiello, A-Z Soup (fire version), 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gallery also features Brandon Ndife\u2019s re-creation of compost, with soil and decomposing gourds. Made of wood, cast foam, pigment, and various other materials, it is very life-like. Without close inspection, it is difficult to tell, that this is not made of organic materials. The rotting matter and dark soil are harmoniously and purposefully arranged within the frame, creating a visually pleasing composition that is at odds with the rather grotesque content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\nBrandon Ndife, Compost From Weeks Ago, 2021, Courtesy the artist and Bureau, New York\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other end of the room Laurie Kang\u2019s installation involves a thin thread, hanging from the ceiling and trailing along the floor, with delicate silver metal fish and rubber orange balls attached to it. The fish suspended in the air appear to be flowing along the string as they would in water, while the prone position of the fish on the floor makes them appear lifeless, and limp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Laurie Kang, Chyme (details), 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Franz Kaka\u2019s Mist,\nFoam, Drainage Ditch<\/em> is both ethereal and corporeal. Each of these works\nare striking, enigmatic, and tactile, each evoking in the viewer their own\nindividual set of reactions and sensations, and creating a unique, varied\nnarrative within the gallery. Despite the wide array of styles and media, these\npieces exist together in harmony, just as the different organs and tissues of\nthe body work together as one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Images\nare courtesy of Franz Kaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Exhibition information: Mist, Foam, Drainage Ditch<\/em> \/ Organized by Laurie Kang \/ Rosa Aiello, Raque Ford, Laurie Kang, Annabeth Marks, Brandon Ndife, Eileen Quinlan, March 2 \u2013 April 3, 2021, Franz Kaka, 1485 Dupont St, #208, Toronto. Visit online<\/a> or book an appointment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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

Despite the wide array of styles and media, these pieces exist together in harmony, just as the different organs and tissues of the body work together as one. <\/p>\n

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