Body and Identity,
Gallery 1313
Thursday, March 21, 2013, 7 – 10 p.m.
Reception for Body and Identity – Main , Process and Window Box Gallery – Thesis Program OCADU Sculpture and Installation with students Christina Iannelli, Steven G. Kurtz, Tara O’Connor, Chantal Taylor and Katarina Tarrant plus Paul Brandejs’ Spark exhibit in the Cell Gallery were crowd pleasers.
The students from OCADU had just finished their Panels to review their thesis projects so they were ready to chill. Visitors to the gallery were intrigued with the different works which were visually pleasing and thought provoking at the same time.
Visitor in front of Tara O’Connor’s installation
Steven G. Kurtz’s sculptures
Tara O’Connor‘s installation looked at the factory farming of animals for food with some parody. Steven G. Kurtz‘s work tried to make visitors think green with a renewed interest in nature and the environment while adoring his sculpture works.
Christina Iannelli in front of her installation
Christina Iannelli and Chantal Taylor with her installation
Chantal Taylor‘s work also had a green message while Christina Iannelli‘s work dealt with cultural differences and the role of women.
Katarina Tarrant with her installation
Katarina Tarrant‘s provocative installation with video works challenged male power roles. In the Cell Gallery, Paul Brandejs an OCAD graduate himself, displayed his unique sculptural canvases with paint and giclee prints.
This is the first half of two exhibits with thesis students from the sculpture and installation program and many are looking forward to that exhibit which will display a whole new range of challenging works opening on April 4th.
Text and photo: Phil Anderson
Great show!
The show was very interesting. These artists had good ideas. The attention grabbing piece, not surprisingly, was the crown with penis. I am on the fence with this one. One ,the act of pertaining to a often taboo subject (sex) in art has in my eyes become redundant, not original. The act appears to be a now cheap way of breaking away from the crowd, an easy way out,so to speak. It is a curse that comes with the notion of using sex in art. Though assumption that the artist is an advocate for sex can be made, it would have been interesting to know more about her as a person, for my lack of knowledge of the person leads me to my aforementioned conclusion of sex in art.