Installation view of Libby Hague, Alone Together. Courtesy of the artist.
Loop Gallery’s two current exhibitions idiosyncratically address issues around memory and recollection.
Libby Hague’s Alone Together takes an abstract approach to materially manifesting ideas around memory and universality. The artist’s assemblages are colored in a saccharine and child-like palette of electric blues, vibrant reds, and vivid oranges, creating an essence of aesthetic harmony. These delicate quasi-sculptures are constructed with ephemeral materials and resemble recognizable settings such as public zoos and childhood playgrounds, giving the pieces an abstractly nostalgic appearance. The artworks are connected along brightly hued rhizome boards placed on the floor, physically bridging these disparate settings and images together. The viewer immediately encounters Hague’s work upon entering the gallery, effectively enabling them to move around the exhibition space and contemplate the context of these peculiar objects.
Installation view of Libby Hague, Alone Together. Courtesy of the artist.
Libby Hague, Alone Together. Photo: David Saric
Libby Hague, Alone Together. Photo: David Saric
Libby Hague, Alone Together. Photo: David Saric
Hague’s exhibition conceptually unifies individuals through the universality of memories and their emotional relevance. The artist deliberately strips her assemblages of any strictly autobiographical references in order to allow a more universal and collective pondering on the ubiquity of memory and recollections.
Sandra Smirle’s String Theory: Potential Probabilities sees a multi-disciplinary approach to visually capturing her experience as a resident aboard a 120’ tall ship exploring the beauty and mystique of the Arctic. Smirle aligns a series of scenic prints along the walls of her exhibition space in conjunction with video footage of her excursions around this remote territory. The artist provides an intimate and personal retrospection of her time spent abroad, forming a privileged look into an enigmatic and seldom-explored terrain.
Installation view of Sandra Smirle, String Theory: Potential Probabilities. Photo: David Saric
Sandra Smirle, String Theory: Potential Probabilities. Photo: David Saric
Where Smirle’s exhibition presented her particular representation of a significant voyage, Hague’s quirky-looking constructions focus on broader themes and are less specific.
David Saric
*Exhibition information: December 6 – 28, 2014, loop Gallery, 1273 Dundas Street West, Toronto. Gallery hours: Wed – Sat 12 – 5, Sun 1 – 4 p.m.
Featured image: Libby Hague, Alone Together. Courtesy of the artist.