219 Dufferin Street – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
January 06, 2014 – March 11, 2016
Into the Light features more than 50 artworks by over a dozen artists with strong ties to Canada. It is the largest Art-in-Buildings (AiB) project to date and the first in Ontario. The exhibition references the history of Dufferin Liberty Centre beginning with its construction in 1908 by Sunbeam General Electric to manufacture, among other items, light bulbs. Like much of Liberty Village, Dufferin Liberty Center later became home to a local artist community and is now an incubator of creative, digital, web, and tech companies. Taking the light bulb factory as a jumping off point, the artists and designers included in this exhibition investigate the malleable properties of light whether through reflection, refraction, capturing light with photography or depicting it with paint. The artists in this project include, Jessica Auer, Lorna Bauer, Amy Brener, Commute Home, Craig Damrauer, Dennis Ekstedt, Thomas Kneubϋhler, Aaron Kreiswirth, Corwyn Lund, Todd McLellan, Ianick Raymond, Matt Shane and Stamen Design.
Photography is strongly represented because of its matchless ability to manipulate the seemingly magical qualities of light. Jessica Auer and Lorna Bauer both employ light boxes to transform their photographic transparencies into glowing images. Auer’s sight-specific commission for the South Lobby brings the building’s industrial interior to life with a richly detailed meadow scene. Bauer, known for her exploration of photography about photographic processes, depicts vintage flashbulbs used in early flash photography. Displayed in custom light boxes, the images create a self-referential circuit that echos the flashbulbs’ original function.
Todd McLellan and Thomas Kneubϋhler’s photographs capture moments that otherwise couldn’t be visible to the human eye. McLellan’s Disassembly series freezes disassembled vintage electronics in a moment of exploded flight. Kneubϋhler allows the bright lights of mountains electrified for night skiing to act as the only light source for his richly textured night photographs. The result is an unusual peek into the areas just off the slopes.
Amy Brener’s Spear, also a site-specific commission, combines resin, pigment, an acrylic rod, glass, fresnel lenses and found objects to create a delicate sculpture that appears to both absorb and reflect the surrounding light. This unearthly object resembles a futuristic fossil and the accumulated elements, rich colors, and textures encourage repeat viewing.
Both Aaron Kreiswirth and Corwyn Lund explore acts of viewing in their work. Kreiswirth’s photographs from the Bay of Fundy are a window into and out of the ferry boat. Corwyn Lund effaces a viewer’s ability to properly see themselves in Vaseline Mirror #1 (Self/Other) from the Bokeh Mirrors series. In this work, Lund manipulates the reflective quality of the mirror. Rather than a clear image of oneself, the mirrors reflect an altered reality.
Dennis Ekstedt and Ianick Raymond are both painters who create the illusion of light emanating from within their canvas. Ekstedt’s depictions of dream-like night cityscapes glow with the brilliance of thousands of electric bulbs seen from afar. Raymond explores color theory in his paintings through varied handlings of color in relation to light. His intricate and richly detailed abstract paintings have an incandescent quality when seen from afar and from up close they reveal complex patterning and formal relationships.
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Into the Light is curated by Jennie Lamensdorf and sponsored by the Time Equities Inc. (TEI) Art-in-Buildings. TEI is committed to enriching the experience of our properties through the Art-in-Buildings Program, an innovative approach that brings contemporary art by emerging and mid-career artists to non-traditional exhibition spaces in the interest of promoting artists, expanding the audience for art, and creating a more interesting environment for our building occupants, residents, and their guests.
