Linda Jansma’s Reflections on Today

I am not a particularly emotional person. Just ask my family, friends and colleagues who can attest to the fact that my stoic, Northern European roots run deep.

But this afternoon was different. Jason Dankel, the RMG Preparator, had installed the last work in the exhibition Moving Image. The lighting wasn’t done, nor the cards up, but the work was on the wall by mid-afternoon. I was in the space, on my own, and stood in front of Cuban-Canadian artist José Seoane’s Untitled oars that represented the experiences of those who risked their lives in small boats with handmade oars to make the treacherous trip across the open waters from Cuba to Miami. As I reflected on that work, the sound of avante-garde composer William Basinki’s video Disintegration Loop played behind me. Basinski had completed his composition on the morning of 9/11 and was playing it to a friend on the roof of his New York City apartment when the Twin Towers were hit. He set up a camera and recorded the waning hours of daylight with plumes of black smoke drifting across the sky as the sun set. He combined the music of the Disintegration Loops with the video to create an elegy to that unforgettable day.

Abdullah M. I. Syed, Rug of Flying Drones, 2009

So I listened to it, while looking at José’s oars, knowing that Abdullah Syed’s Rug of Drones, an installation of 107 planes in the exhibition Beyond Measure, and constructed of blades from box cutters—and which also clearly referenced 9/11, was on the other end of the gallery. And the oars were no longer specific to fleeing Cubans, but to the thousands of refugees who are risking it all to seek a safer and better life away from their homes in Syria, Iraq, Libya …

And the picture of a three year old boy flashed in my mind.

And how could one not be moved.

Linda Jansma
Senior Curator
The Robert McLaughlin Gallery

Above Image: José Seoane’s, Untitled

Moving Image: The RMG’s New Permanent Collection Exhibition

This blog post comes from the desk of Senior Curator, Linda Jansma.

Each year The Robert McLaughlin Gallery completely revamps the Isabel McLaughlin Gallery, a space that is dedicated to the RMG’s permanent collection. When I first came to the gallery, the norm was to give a slice of art history from a chronological perspective: 19^th century landscapes and portraits were followed by the more experimental works by member of the Group of Seven. From there, a selection of works by artists of the Canadian Group of Painters, a group that was formed in 1933 and on to the 1950s and ending before abstract expressionism. It was a traditional way of showing things, but a little on the dull side.

What would happen if an A.Y. Jackson landscape from the 1940s was placed beside a Rae Johnson landscape from the 1990s? A traditional Emily Carr landscape beside a wildly exuberant work by regional artist Lynn McIlvride? A large scale photograph by Montreal-based artist Holly King, beside a small still life by Arthur Lismer? Well, a lot more fun from a curatorial perspective and something that requires more work/thought from our audience!

During the third week of August, we’ll install the exhibition Moving Image. It will include paintings of landscapes that show rushing water and clouds scuttling across the sky; the migration of both people and animals; works that are emotionally moving and create illusions of movement. Works will be historic and contemporary, include painting, drawing, sculpture and photography.

A favourite of mine in this exhibition is a work called Flock from 2009 by Kingston-based artist Don Maynard. From a distance, the installation looks like a swooping flock of birds, but on closer examination, you see a number of traditional paper airplanes (made of thin aluminum rather than paper) with their noses embedded into the wall. When I saw the work in Don’s studio, my first thought was “what a great idea!!” I still think that, and I hope visitors to the gallery enjoy both it and the other works in Moving Image.

Image- Flock (installation views and details), Don Maynard, aluminum, 2009

Curator’s Choice: Moving Image

This blog post comes from the desk of Senior Curator, Linda Jansma.

Beyond Measure: Domesticating Distance is an exhibition initiated by emerging curator Ambereen Siddiqui and assisted by a Culturally Diverse Curatorial Project grant through the Ontario Arts Council.

Its theme of artists living in the context of the diaspora, segues with one of the sections in Moving Image, the RMG’s new permanent collection exhibition. Millions of people are on the move and displaced from their home countries, and that displacement leaves voids and longing for what once was.

A key work in Moving Image is a video by Vessna Perunovich entitled Unoccupied NY. It follows the artist through different parts of New York City as she carries a single mattress on her back. Her work addresses concepts of migration, longing and boundaries, as well as the diversity of New York’s populations along ethnic, social and economic lines. Perunovich, like four of the five artists in Beyond Measure, is an immigrant to Canada who relates to a sense of the dis-rootedness and yearning that comes with leaving one’s home country. This work, along with Surendra Lowatia, Tazeen Qayyum, Meera Margaret Singh, Asma Sultana, and Abdullah Syed challenges the viewer to look more deeply into the individual experience and the singular work and see its universal themes.

Image: Vessna Perunovich, Unoccupied NY, video still.

Fall On The Move

This fall, we are exploring how artists have conveyed the overlapping themes of memory, migration and movement with two exhibitions: Moving Image and Beyond Measure: Domesticating Distance.

In Moving Image, Senior Curator Linda Jansma explores how the theme of movement manifests itself in the RMG’s permanent collection. Selected from our collection of over 4,500 works, this exhibition examines not only physical movement of objects and people, but also those images that emotionally move us. With our permanent collection, we continue to tell the story modern and contemporary art across Canada.

The RMG is thrilled to partner with SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre) to present Beyond Measure: Domesticating Distance. Curated by Ambereen Siddiqui, this exhibition explores contemporary South Asian perspectives on the notion of absence within diasporic communities and dislocation within the experience of migration. Featuring performance and installation, photography and sculpture, the artists in this exhibition use their multidisciplinary practices to echo the diversity of their layered experiences.

In conjunction with these exhibitions, we are pleased to offer complimentary programming. Please join us for a symposium featuring a panel discussion by the artists in Beyond Measure: Domesticating Distance on Saturday 12 September. As well, join artist Tazeen Qayyum on Sunday, 15 November in the studio for an introductory workshop to Miniature Painting of Persian and South Asian tradition, outlining the different traditional styles and schools, and contextualizing contemporary practices.

On view:

Moving Image
Works from the Permanent Collection
August 22, 2015 – August 20, 2016
Opening: RMG Fridays: 11 September, 7-10pm

Beyond Measure: Domesticating Distance
Surendra Lawoti, Tazeen Qayyum, Meera Margaret Singh, Asma Sultana and Abdullah M. I. Syed
September 5, 2015 – January 3, 2016
Opening: RMG Fridays: 11 September, 7-10pm

Programming:

Symposium
Beyond Measure: Domesticating Distance Symposium
Saturday 12 September, 11am-3pm

The symposium will include a tour of the exhibition with guest curator, Ambereen Siddiqui followed by a panel discussion with the participating artists; Surendra Lawoti, Tazeen Qayyum, Asma Sultana and Australia-based Abdullah M.I. Syed. This will be an occasion for viewers to ask questions about the process and multidisciplinary practices of each artist, as well as an opportunity for the artists to expand upon the layered and subtle meanings within the artworks.

A complimentary light lunch will be included. Space is limited. FREE! Register by Thursday 3 September at rmg.on.ca. Registration required.

Workshop

Miniature Painting: Art Workshop
with artist Tazeen Qayyum
Sunday, 15 November, 11am – 3:30pm

An introductory workshop to Miniature Painting of Persian and South Asian tradition, outlining the different traditional styles and schools, and contextualizing contemporary practices. The workshop includes an illustrated lecture, demonstrations of various techniques, including the making of qalam (brush). Participants work through a drawing assignment to reinforce a number of different techniques, including Siyah Qalam (drawing with a brush), the charba method of drawing (image transferring), creating a jidwal (traditional border), and preparing and adding rung (colour). All materials provided, but please bring your own lunch.

Space is limited and registration is required. $20 Members / $30 Non-Members

Above Image: Walden Pond/Mirror (detail): From the exchange between artists Surendra Lawoti and Meera Margaret Singh for their project “Of Light and Longing, 2014-2015.” Credit to Surendra Lawoti.