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Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Billboard that says

Works by:

Atelier Populaire, Berenice Abbott, Carl Beam, James Carl, Ian Carr-Harris, Lynne Cohen, Robin Collyer, Greg Curnoe, Robert Fones, Robert Frank, General Idea, Hadley+Maxwell, Richard Hamilton, Jamelie Hassan, David Hlynsky, Luis Jacob, Will Kwan, Ken Lum, Kelly Mark, Ron Terada, Jeff Thomas, John Thomson

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

January 15–March 7, 2015

Curated by Sarah Robayo Sheridan

Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
University of Toronto Art Centre

Drawing on a diversity of recent acquisitions in the University of Toronto and Hart House Collections, this exhibition considers how signs and symbols have been observed, adopted, and altered in the work of artists from early modernity to today. Selected by Sarah Robayo Sheridan, one of Toronto’s most respected contemporary curators, the exhibition captures the way in which commercial graphics shape urban landscapes, whether in the proliferation of billboards and screens, the identity programs of nations and institutions, or the visual logic of window display. In response, artists have initiated their own symbolic studies and counter campaigns, progressively infiltrating signs and symbols to their own ends. Titled Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, the exhibition encapsulates work of several generations of artists from across the country and beyond.

Opening Reception

Thursday, January 15, 2015, 6-8pm
University of Toronto Art Centre

Curatorial Tour with Sarah Robayo Sheridan

Wednesday February 11, 2015, 7-8:30pm
Starting at the University of Toronto Art Centre

Media Coverage

Our Supporters

We gratefully acknowledge the operating support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, with additional project support from Manulife Financial.

Title Image: Lynne Cohen, Model Living Room, 1976. Silver gelatin print. 84 x 107 cm. Hart House Collection. Gift of Paul E. Bain, 2010.

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