The Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG) held its 35th annual award winners ceremony September 21, 2012 at Hart House, University of Toronto for over 100 guests from all over Ontario, where 32 galleries were nominated.
Before the ceremony, in the quad area, Derek Kwan, under artist Derek Liddington performed a visual piece that reflected a larger narrative titled, “Today a Legend Died. Viva La Revolution” held at the Daniel Faria Gallery last April.
The piece was intriguing as Kwan sang ‘Born to Run,’ in Latin on loop for 40 minutes straight. He was dressed in a uniform endlessly carrying, turning and dragging a large table-sized platform on his back. His Sisyphean turmoil grounded the operatic singing and made the effort bearable and even endearing as a spectator. While the artistic references to Atlas are endless, Liddington’s take was intriguing because no one else appeared interested – perhaps pointing out the irony behind the existence of conflict on only an individual basis and that most do not notice this struggle. This was a rare opportunity to see the art subject unabashedly and unavailingly sweat to the memory of ancient words – in the hopes of enduring.
Text and photo: Salomeh Ahmadi