March 30 – April 1, 2012
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
North Borden Building,(563 Spadina)
PEEPSHOW is a University of Toronto Visual Studies thesis exhibition. There is no overarching theme in PEEPSHOW; instead, its main objective is to showcase and summarize what these 19 artists have learned in 4+ years at U of T, as well as to mark the beginning of their artistic careers. While guided by the faculty advisors to some degree, the show is independently organized by the students, from venue rentals and catering to marketing, producing catalogues, and curating.
Each artist in PEEPSHOW explored and exposed the self, the vulnerable, the raw, and the private. All throughout, PEEPSHOW buzzed with raw energy characteristic of young, budding artists that are just emerging out of their undergraduate cocoon and into the artworld. Professor John Massey, who oversaw the students’ progress over the past 7 months, knows that this is only the beginning. “After years of lectures and assignments, these students are now reliant entirely on themselves to come up with a thesis. And as an artist, you work on a thesis your entire life. Now, they have to figure out how to make it work in this competitive, ever-changing artworld.” He likens their process to ‘horse whisperers,’ alluding to the way in which instincts come into play. “[These students] have their own whispering voices inside. What they have to do is to realize it.”
by Seowon Bang