COLLECTIVE COMPULSION
curated by Aidan Urquhart
2003
PRESS RELEASE FOR COLLECTIVE COMPULSION
Collective Compulsion: curated by Aidan Urquhart@offthemapgallery
Director: Antonia Lancaster
L.T. Dougherty
Marty Jackson
John Osborne
Opening Reception, Saturday, November 8, 2 - 5pm
Show runs from November 5 - 29, 2003
80 Spadina Avenue, 5th floor, Toronto, Canada M5V 2J4
Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 11am to 5pm
Do you own your collection or does your collection own you??
Although the above statement is indeed double edged, it is nonetheless apt for this exhibition. The urge to collect can often verge on being a compulsion which can see the individual amass more objects than they possibly need or could use in their lifetime. People collect for different reasons. Some people collect within the confines of certain criteria whereas others may collect for profit, or for knowledge or out of some inherent desire that can not be fully explained or articulated.
Each of the 3 artists in this show are veteran collectors with diverse interests and artistic practices. The challenge posed to them was to come up with a way to recontextualize their various collections in a manner that was beyond just merely showcasing the objects. They were asked to take a hard look at their collections, why they collected what they do and to then take all of this material to a new, higher level. The ultimate goal being to see their collections altered by their individual artistic manipulations and interventions.
What was once deeply personal becomes impersonal in John Osborne's vast collection of anonymous holiday and family slides bought at auction. Along with his altered photo-works, you are now invited to peak in on lost memories and experiences. Marty Jackson creates a dialogue between his 1950s kitchen gadgets being shown and watercolour interpretations of others not on display. Thus the watercolours become the stand in for the actual thing or are they now the actual, collectable thing? L.T. Dougherty's glowing light table upon which blue and clear glass vessels have been carefully placed sets the stage for her poetic and personal homage to that which, over the course of 18 years, has grown increasingly significant to her.
These 3 artists have been "collected" together for this show to illustrate the fact that to collect is human. In some unexplainable way it fulfills a need to have objects around us which we as individuals see as valuable, regardless of monetary value or market forces.”
- Aidan Urquhart, 2003
Aidan Urquhart is a Canadian artist who works with a diverse range of mediums and methods including: painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, and fax projects. This will be his first curated project in the city of Toronto.
