Museum London and Fanshawe's Fine Art Program celebrate 40 years with Off the Norm
Nearly 10,000 hands lay in a carefully constructed pile — some with fingers outstretched — but each one of them listless.
If the first thought that comes to mind is a disturbing war scene, the piece of art has done its job.
Amputation by Fanshawe's Fine Art alumni Farhang Jalali consists of many life size plaster hand casts. It's one of seven poignant pieces of artwork selected from about 60 submissions celebrating Fanshawe's Fine Art program's 40th anniversary in the Off the Norm show.
“It is a very strong exhibition,” said Carol Kehoe, partnerships manager at Museum London.
While each artist has their own interpretation of their specific work, visitors are encouraged to view the displays in their own way, said Kehoe.
“Each piece talks differently to each individual,” she said. “They're to be experienced in different ways.”
For those art-lovers wanting to get inside the artists' brains and understand their different creative processes, each display has an explanation by the artist.
The exhibition features art that represents, to some degree, the state of society and are based on personal experiences and commentary.
What also makes them stand out is that they follow the criteria of either using uncommon materials or taking traditional materials and altering them in an uncommon way. Either way, the choice of material involved brings the meaning to the artwork.
One example of this is in artist Karen Bondarchuk's pieces; Speak, Memory I-V and Corvus Reductus. The charcoal drawings of the raven are the artist's way of depicting the subtle majesty of the bird. The crow sculpture, made out of scavenged tire rubber found on Interstate 94 in Michigan, represents “a bygone era of prosperity and livelihood in Michigan,” explains the artist.
Another piece, entitled Snare by Ann Marie Hadcock, uses ratted multi-coloured fibres of chenille, Angelina, Alpaca and wool to create tangles suspended from the ceiling. Hadcock's work is all about individuals being able to examine their “perceived notions of space within (their) daily environment.”
Other thought-provoking displays in the exhibition are Patricia Deadman's En la cuidad y en el campo, Yucatan; Kevin Curtis-Norcross's Econo Sarcoma; The Office by Daniel Glassford and Michelle McGeean, also known as the Black Cat Collaborative; and Domestic Arrival by Greg A. Hill.
“It reflects very well on Fanshawe College and on the Fine Arts program,” said Kehoe, about the entire display. “These artists are simply remarkable in what they are able to do.”
The reception for Off the Norm is on Sunday, September 20 at 2 p.m., which is also the last day of the show. For more information, visit www.museumlondon.ca.
If the first thought that comes to mind is a disturbing war scene, the piece of art has done its job.
Amputation by Fanshawe's Fine Art alumni Farhang Jalali consists of many life size plaster hand casts. It's one of seven poignant pieces of artwork selected from about 60 submissions celebrating Fanshawe's Fine Art program's 40th anniversary in the Off the Norm show.
“It is a very strong exhibition,” said Carol Kehoe, partnerships manager at Museum London.
While each artist has their own interpretation of their specific work, visitors are encouraged to view the displays in their own way, said Kehoe.
“Each piece talks differently to each individual,” she said. “They're to be experienced in different ways.”
For those art-lovers wanting to get inside the artists' brains and understand their different creative processes, each display has an explanation by the artist.
The exhibition features art that represents, to some degree, the state of society and are based on personal experiences and commentary.
What also makes them stand out is that they follow the criteria of either using uncommon materials or taking traditional materials and altering them in an uncommon way. Either way, the choice of material involved brings the meaning to the artwork.
One example of this is in artist Karen Bondarchuk's pieces; Speak, Memory I-V and Corvus Reductus. The charcoal drawings of the raven are the artist's way of depicting the subtle majesty of the bird. The crow sculpture, made out of scavenged tire rubber found on Interstate 94 in Michigan, represents “a bygone era of prosperity and livelihood in Michigan,” explains the artist.
Another piece, entitled Snare by Ann Marie Hadcock, uses ratted multi-coloured fibres of chenille, Angelina, Alpaca and wool to create tangles suspended from the ceiling. Hadcock's work is all about individuals being able to examine their “perceived notions of space within (their) daily environment.”
Other thought-provoking displays in the exhibition are Patricia Deadman's En la cuidad y en el campo, Yucatan; Kevin Curtis-Norcross's Econo Sarcoma; The Office by Daniel Glassford and Michelle McGeean, also known as the Black Cat Collaborative; and Domestic Arrival by Greg A. Hill.
“It reflects very well on Fanshawe College and on the Fine Arts program,” said Kehoe, about the entire display. “These artists are simply remarkable in what they are able to do.”
The reception for Off the Norm is on Sunday, September 20 at 2 p.m., which is also the last day of the show. For more information, visit www.museumlondon.ca.
