I find critical theory deeply fascinating and enjoyable to read. Partially because I like the challenge of dense texts that build up specialized vocabularies to try, and partially because, for me at least, they create a space to unpack the affective experiences of culture. Despite my personal love of theory, I am also very aware […]
A Heap of Random Sweepings is an exhibition at the Koffler Art Centre curated by Mona Filip and is presented as a monographic exhibition of Canadian artist of Pakistani and Ugandan Indian descent, Sameer Farooq’s work. It is the first exhibition the gallery is presenting after COVID-19 lockdowns and ran from September 25 to November […]
Tommy Bourque’s MFA thesis exhibition Marvelous Monsters which ran virtually in collaboration with ArtLab at The University of Western Ontario explores deconstructed, and often disconcerting presentations of the human body. The exhibition text asks viewers to consider how they relate to the very physical nature of the bodies they inhabit, specifically through the negative feelings […]
Fanfiction and fanart generally exist far away from the exhibitions of highart, but in the age of the internet entertaining parallels sometimes occur between how online denizens engage with the media love and the cult classic of fine art exhibitions. Among these cult classic exhibitions is Live In Your Head: When Attitude Becomes Form which […]
Philosophers, historians and museum professionals more generally have spent a good deal of time and energy debating the utility and purposes of art and artifacts; especially as they are contextualized by display in institutions. However, these discussions are often inaccessible and largely irrelevant to the ways that most people perceive and consume these objects. I […]
Characters looking into mirrors for the sake of the audience getting to know their appearance is a standard devise in film and literature. However even in the visual medium of portraiture there are artists who step beyond pure physicality of their subjects to bring the viewers into a deeper consideration of a person. These abstract […]
Books or movies are often described as an immersive experience but the ways in which these works are discussed means that it is difficult to consider whether a visual artwork could be similarly engrossing. In the world of contemporary art there are works that are truly immersive in that the viewer must directly participate in […]
Art, power, and wealth have been linked for a great deal longer than there has been a formal study of art history, but nature of the works has changed greatly as the place of art in society has shifted. In ancient times monumental art was built on scales that visibly demonstrated the power of the […]
Media outlets are often accused of partisanship and interest groups run video ads but the kind of direct relationship between the artist and politics is usually seen as one of commentary rather than true propaganda in the modern context. However, before the advent of new technologies the mediums of the artist and the medium of […]
The Western art tradition is filled with repetitive motifs, that appear across many periods with variations and adaptions to fit current trends but are ultimately of the same event. Due to the development of Christianity alongside this art tradition Bible stories and religious themes are often the basis of those motifs. However, society has been […]
Res Gestae 