More Than Flesh: Embodiment of Abstraction
More Than Flesh: Embodiment of Abstraction
April 1–April 17, 2010
—
Curated by Valentine Moreno
—
University of Toronto Art Centre
Featuring artists represented in the University of Toronto Collection including: Jean Bridge, Eldon Garnet, Richard Gorman, Alex Javier, Deborah Koenker, Rick McCarthy, Michael Merrill, Ron Martin, and Saul Williams, this exhibition explores ideas of the body as an unknown and mysterious place in which reason, culture, experiences, emotions, and spirituality are inseparably intertwined with the organic quality of the human condition.
Many belief systems describe our minds and spirits as being trapped by the material body. René Descartes (1596-1650) argued that the body and the mind are two entirely different and separate things. These ontological notions are deeply embedded in western religious and philosophical traditions. But what if that which appears to be divided is actually one unique whole? Your body: composed of flesh and the entire abstract dimension of yourself.
Science has shown that consciousness, thought, and feeling would not exist without the brain operating as an organic part of the functioning body. What we perceive through the body affects our thoughts and emotions. At the same time, what we think and feel affects our bodily movements and expressions. After acknowledging such an intimate and entangled connection, is it possible to keep the body and the mind apart?
This exhibition is produced as part of the requirements for the Faculty of Information, Museum Studies Program degree at the University of Toronto.
Opening Reception
Thursday April 1, 2010, 6-8pm
University of Toronto Art Centre
Performance
Becoming Bouncy
Saturday April 10, 2010, 2pm
Featuring Carolyne Clare
University of Toronto Art Centre
Curator’s Tour with Valentine Moreno
Wednesday April 14, 2010, 5pm
University of Toronto Art Centre
Our Supporters
We gratefully acknowledge the project support from Manulife Financial.
—
Title Image: Richard Gorman, Magnetic Drawing, 1965. Ink on paper. 61 x 46 cm.