Fleeting Face
Sandra Brewster, Erika DeFreitas, Joyce Lau, Ritian Lee, Fariba Samsami, Shiva Shoeybi
A Space Main Gallery
June 15 – July 21, 2007
Curated by: Teresa Ascencao
As globalization seeks to envelop the world in a single global culture, concern over the loss of national and personal identity is mounting. Fleeting Face challenges us to examine the issue using a variety of perspectives on identity. At a time when certain identity politics are disputed, considered ineffective and even naive, A Space presents this timely and crucial dialogue. Fleeting Face is a group show, which brings together six Canadian artists that use the human face as a means of grappling with racial and cultural identity issues from personal, as well as global perspectives. Sandra Brewster, Erika DeFreitas, Joyce Lau, Ritian Lee, Fariba Samsami and Shiva Shoeybi deal with the formation and deconstruction of identity through the exploration of multi-racial blending, cross-cultural immigration, mass media consumption, oppressive rule, and rebellion.
Biographies
Sandra Brewster is a multimedia artist who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from York University. She is a recipient of numerous grants and awards, and has exhibited in a number of exhibitions in Toronto, Winnipeg and South Africa.
Erika DeFreitas is a Scarborough-based emerging artist whose practice is primarily conceptual. She has exhibited projects in artist-run centres in Canada and the United States. She is currently a candidate in the MVS graduate program at the University of Toronto.
Joyce Lau is a media-obsessed artist whose fascination with iconography is prevalent in all her work. Joyce received her BFA in Photographic Studies from Ryerson University and has exhibited in Toronto and New York.
Ritian Lee is a Chinese-Canadian visual artist working in photography, sculpture, installation and performance. Since 1989, he has exhibited both nationally and internationally, with group and solo shows in Canada, China and the United States.
Fariba Samsami was born in Tehran, Iran. She is a Montreal-based installation and multimedia artist. She received a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the College of Decorative Arts in Tehran in 1980, and another BFA from Concordia University in 1993.
Shiva Shoeybi was born in Iran, raised in Dubai, and moved to Canada in 1996. She received her Honours BFA University of Western Ontario and completed the one-year Independent Studio Program at the Toronto School of Art.
Teresa Ascencao was born in Brasil. She is a photo-based artist who holds a BFA with distinction from the University of Toronto and teaches at the Toronto School of Art. She was co-curator of Sem Saudade / Without Regret.