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Opening Reception: Winter 2023 Exhibitions

A program of:
Conceptions of White and THE COUNTER/SELF

Wednesday, January 11, 2023
6pm–8pm
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery (in Hart House) and the University of Toronto Art Centre (in University College)

Join us at the Art Museum to celebrate the opening of our two winter exhibitions: Conceptions of White at the University of Toronto Art Centre and THE COUNTER/SELF at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery. Opening remarks will take place at 6:30pm at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery and at 7pm at the University of Toronto Art Centre.

This event is free and is open to the public. All are welcome!

About the Exhibitions
Conceptions of White, curated by John G. Hampton and Lillian O’Brien Davis, is an exhibition offering context and nuanced perspectives that help viewers grapple with contemporary configurations of White identity. The exhibition examines the origins, travel, and present reality of “Whiteness” as a concept and a racial invention that classifies degrees of civility/humanity. With works by Arthur Jafa, Barbara Meneley, Deanna Bowen, Fred Wilson, Hiram Powers, Howardena Pindell, Jennifer Chan, Jeremy Bailey, Ken Gonzales-Day, Michèle Lalonde, Nell Painter, Nicholas Galanin, Robert Morris, Ryan Kuo, and Artist once known, after Leochares. Exhibition organized by the Mackenzie Art Gallery.
Navigating the complexities of selfhood, agency, and representation, THE COUNTER/SELF brings together a group of Indigenous and diasporic Canadian artists who create and embody imaginative alter egos to examine, perform and subvert identity constructs and politics. Through the use of make-up and elaborate costumes, 2Fik, Helio Eudoro, Julius Poncelet Manapul, Meryl McMaster, Sasha Shevchenko, Adrian Stimson, Stacey Tyrell, and Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory and Jamie Griffiths transform their own appearance and stage layered photographic, video, mixed media, and sculptural scenes that destabilize viewers’ presumed realities and points of reference to expose prejudices with regards to gender, race, ethnicity, and nationhood. Curated by Mona Filip.

Title and Page Image: Howardena Pindell, Free, White and 21, 1980. Video (colour, sound), 12:15 min. Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.

Program Archive

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