Resistance is Fertile
Dana Claxton, Ho Tam, Richard Fung, Thirza Cuthand, Shani Mootoo, Paul Wong
A Space Main Gallery
June 17 – July 31, 2010
Curated by: Steven Loft, (Brenda Goldstein - Coordinator)
Copresented by: ON.Fire, the Independent Media Arts Alliance 2010 National Conference + Festival
A Space Gallery and ON.Fire, Independent Media Arts Alliance 2010 National Conference + Festival are very pleased to present Resistance is Fertile, an exhibition that brings together works dating from the 1980s to the present, by artists who have taken on Canadian identity politics with intelligence, insight, and biting humour. Curated by Steve Loft and coordinated by Brenda Goldstein, this group exhibition of groundbreaking works by Dana Claxton, Thirza Cuthand, Richard Fung, Shani Mootoo, Ho Tam, and Paul Wong showcases the ways that these artists build on the foundations of the 1970s video revolution using the accessibility of the medium and non-exclusive practices to create new aesthetics and, with them, space for new definitions and identities.
Biographies
Dana Claxton is an interdisciplinary artist whose work includes film and video, installation, performance, and photography. Her Canadian solo exhibitions have appeared at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Toronto), the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Claxton’s international exhibitions have appeared at the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou, China.
Ho Tam was born in Hong Kong and educated in Toronto. He works in a diverse mix of disciplines including painting, video, photography, print and public art and has exhibited in various cities across North America. Since 1994, Tam has produced over 15 experimental videos. Tam currently teaches at the University of Victoria.
Richard Fung is video artist, writer, theorist, and educator. An internationally exhibiting artist, Richard is a past Rockefeller Fellow at New York University. He has received the Bell Canada Award for Lifetime Achievement in Video, as well as the Toronto Arts Award for Media Art. He is Associate Professor in the Integrated Media program at the Ontario College of Art and Design.
Thirza Cuthand produces experimental videos and films. Her work has been shown at the Walter Art Centre, the Mackenzie Art Gallery, Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the Women’s Television Network, MIX NY, the Walter Phillips Gallery, and the Mendel Art Gallery, among others.
Shani Mootoo is a poet, novelist, and visual and video artist. Mootoo’s film and video work has been exhibited internationally including at the MOMA (New York). Her acclaimed first novel, Cereus Blooms at Night, was published in 14 countries and was a finalist for the Giller Prize.
Paul Wong has had extensive international exhibitions including at the 2003 Venice Biennale and the Museum of Modern Art (New York). In 1995, he had a solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada. Paul Wong received the Bell Canada Award in Video Art in 1992 and the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2005.
Steven Loft is a Mohawk of the Six Nations. He is the Executive Director of the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. Loft was the first Curator-In-Residence, Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada where he curated several exhibitions. His 2008 curated program for imagineNATIVE, Culture Shock, also screened at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Brenda Goldstein’s short films and videos have screened at Canadian and international festivals and venues, including the Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest, and the PDX Film Festival. Recently Mercer Union and the Images Festival presented a solo show of her installation, Hereafter.