The Essential Works Show IV: Multiples. The fourth installment of Birch Libralato's annual exhibition of important works. The 2009 edition of Essential Works presents multiples by artists such as Julie Voyce, Christian Marclay, Luis Jacob, Micah Lexier, Euan Macdonald and Mitch Robertson, along with important and essential works selected by Ann Dean from the Art Metropole collection.
129 Tecumseth Street Toronto from Jan. 10th – Feb. 7th 2009
Opening: Saturday Jan. 10th 2–5 PM
Julie Voyce - 1400 2001 screenprint 10 x 14 in.
I went to see this yesterday. In my opinion Julie Voyce stole the show. The exhibition was an odd assortment of multiples — some made as fundraising editions, some made as consumable adjuncts to larger installation works, some made as jokes, some pulled from historical archives — that set up some uncomfortable questions about historically shifting connections between conceptual art and commodity without probing into those questions very deeply. The inclusion of Vocye's prints stretched the boundaries of what counts as a multiple even further, as the potential for mass reproduction in printmaking has a somewhat more traditional art history than the fabrication of multiple objects. However, once I got to these prints I stopped fussing about self-referential relations between art and capitalism (money and objects and survival of artists and art institutions) and just soaked them in. Voyce's imagery balances right on the edge of rigorous abstraction, but there is far too much visceral exuberance, humour and reference for it to settle into any kind of pin-downable aesthetic. It's work that draws you in and keeps you looking.
I agree. Julie is one of the really under-recognized genius of the Toronto. So great to see her work in that context.
MML you made an excellent typo for t-shirt slogan:
GENIUS OF THE TORONTO
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The Essential Works Show IV: Multiples. The fourth installment of Birch Libralato's annual exhibition of important works. The 2009 edition of Essential Works presents multiples by artists such as Julie Voyce, Christian Marclay, Luis Jacob, Micah Lexier, Euan Macdonald and Mitch Robertson, along with important and essential works selected by Ann Dean from the Art Metropole collection.
129 Tecumseth Street Toronto from Jan. 10th – Feb. 7th 2009
Opening: Saturday Jan. 10th 2–5 PM
Julie Voyce - 1400 2001 screenprint 10 x 14 in.
- L.M. 1-09-2009 6:17 am
I went to see this yesterday. In my opinion Julie Voyce stole the show. The exhibition was an odd assortment of multiples — some made as fundraising editions, some made as consumable adjuncts to larger installation works, some made as jokes, some pulled from historical archives — that set up some uncomfortable questions about historically shifting connections between conceptual art and commodity without probing into those questions very deeply. The inclusion of Vocye's prints stretched the boundaries of what counts as a multiple even further, as the potential for mass reproduction in printmaking has a somewhat more traditional art history than the fabrication of multiple objects. However, once I got to these prints I stopped fussing about self-referential relations between art and capitalism (money and objects and survival of artists and art institutions) and just soaked them in. Voyce's imagery balances right on the edge of rigorous abstraction, but there is far too much visceral exuberance, humour and reference for it to settle into any kind of pin-downable aesthetic. It's work that draws you in and keeps you looking.
- sally mckay 1-11-2009 6:21 pm
I agree. Julie is one of the really under-recognized genius of the Toronto. So great to see her work in that context.
- MML (guest) 1-13-2009 4:43 pm
MML you made an excellent typo for t-shirt slogan:
GENIUS OF THE TORONTO
- sally mckay 1-13-2009 5:20 pm