In the past decade, the global impact of conceptual art has been the subject of numerous historical studies and exhibitions.
Its various manifestations in Canada, however, have remained a limited concern. Traffic: Conceptual Art in Canada 1965-1980 is the first major exhibition to track the influence and diversity of conceptual art across Canada, bringing together works by over 70 artists who participated locally in this international phenomenon.
When: January 13 to February 25, 2012
Opening: Friday, January 14, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Where: Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, ground floor, J.W. McConnell Library Building (1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.)
Part 1: Montréal / Toronto / London / Guelph
Curators: Michèle Thériault and Vincent Bonin (Montréal); Barbara Fischer (Toronto / London / Guelph)
In the past decade, the global impact of conceptual art has been the subject of numerous historical studies and exhibitions. Its various manifestations in Canada, however, have remained a limited concern. Traffic: Conceptual Art in Canada 1965-1980 is the first major exhibition to track the influence and diversity of conceptual art across Canada, bringing together works by over 70 artists who participated locally in this international phenomenon.
Featuring hundreds of artworks and archival documents, the travelling exhibition Traffic: Conceptual Art in Canada 1965-1980 arrives in Montreal after being previously shown in Toronto, Halifax, and Edmonton. Presented in two parts at the Ellen Art Gallery in 2012, the first section focuses on conceptual art in Montreal, Toronto, London, and Guelph from January 13 to February 25, while the second section is devoted to Halifax, Vancouver, the Prairies, and the Arctic, opens on March 16th.
Conceptual art practices in Montréal cannot be dissociated from the political, social, and cultural turmoil of the time, marked by the modernization of state institutions, the democratization of culture, and francophone Québec’s project of national sovereignty. Many of the most prominent practitioners of conceptual art were anglophone (Tom Dean, Suzy Lake, Bill Vazan), however francophone artists (Rober Racine, Françoise Sullivan, Serge Tousignant) were equally drawn to dematerialized, interdisciplinary, and experimental approach to art-making, as an alternate way to inscribe themselves in Québec’s program of cultural modernization.
Throughout the 60s and 70s, Toronto’s arts scene witnessed the emergence of such vibrant countercultural institutions and collectives as the University of Toronto’s Rochdale College, Art Metropole, and General Idea. Artistic initiatives of this period embodied a pervasive desire to link geographically distant places, establish social networks, and develop artistic communities, while commenting on the complexities of technological optimism and the conundrums of administrative realities. With works by artists Ian Carr-Harris, Condé/Beveridge, Vera Frenkel, Michael Snow, Joyce Wieland.
Events
In tandem with Part 1 of Traffic, the Ellen Gallery presents a lecture series providing social, political, and cultural context for conceptual art practices in Montreal. All lectures will be held at the Gallery at 6 p.m.:
- January 18: Sean Mills (Assistant Professor, Dept. of History, University of Toronto)
- January 25: Johanne Sloan (Associate Professor, Dept. of Art History, Concordia University)
- February 1: Adam Welch (Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Art History, University of Toronto)
- February 8: Jean-Philippe Warren (Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University)
Free admission – wheelchair accessible
Gallery hours: Tuesday to Friday, noon to 6 p.m., Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m.
General information: 514 848-2424 ext. 4750
Events and tours: Marina Polosa, 514 848-2424 ext. 4778, or mpolosa@alcor.concordia.ca
Traffic: Conceptual Art in Canada 1965-1980 was organised and circulated by the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery (University of Toronto), and the Vancouver Art Gallery, in partnership with the Ellen Art Gallery (Concordia University), and Halifax INK.
This exhibition is produced with the assistance of the Museums Assistance Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Related link:
• Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery
