THE CHILE EXCHANGE: Art-Making as Departure and Arrival
Shelly Bahl, Guy Blackburn, Cecile Boucher, Ron Edding, Jean-Francois Fillion, Natacha Gagné, Sadko Hadzihasanovic, Christian Israel, Amelia Jiménez, Farouk Kaspaules, Frederic LaForge, Mariana Caseres Burgos, José Mansilla Miranda, Diane Pugen, Zinnia Ramirez, Adrienne Reynolds, Gene Threndyle, Ana Maria Wynecken
A Space Main Gallery
September 12 – October 25, 2003
Supported by: Department of Canadian Heritage, The Canada Council, The Ontario Arts Council, The City of Toronto through The Toronto Arts Council
Copresented by: Espace Virtuel, Los Independientes Collective, Art Gallery of Algoma, Galerie Glendon Gallery, 401 Richmond Street West, Gallery 44, OCAD, VMAC Gallery, Celebracion Cultural del Idioma Espanol
Exhibition Dates:
Sault Ste. Marie: August 14 September 13, 2003 @ Art Gallery of Algoma , www.artgalleryofalgoma.on.ca/
Toronto: September 12 October 25, 2003 @ Gallery 44, www.gallery44.org
September 12 October 25, 2003 @ A Space
September 12 October 4, 2003 @ VMAC (4th Floor 401 Richmond St.)
September 12 October 25, 2003 401 Richmond (entrance and basement)
September 11 31, 2003 @ Galerie Glendon Gallery, www.glendon.yorku.ca/gallery
Opening Receptions:
Wednesday, September 3, 7:30 9 pm @ Art Gallery of Algoma
Friday, September 12, 6 8 pm @ 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto
Thursday, October 23, 6 8 pm @ CCIE, Galerie Glendon Gallery, Toronto
Tours and Lectures:
Thursday, September 11, 12 noon 2 pm @ Galerie Glendon Gallery
Saturday, September 13 @ OCAD
From mid August to the end of October, seven Ontario art sites will host visual art exhibitions, performances, interventions, readings and round-table discussions with the 18 artists involved in the Chile Exchange. Initiated by A Space Gallery in Toronto in collaboration with Espace Virtuel in Chicoutimi, Québec, the Chile Exchange includes work by artists from Toronto, Ottawa, Hull, the Saguenay Lac Ste. Jean region (Quebec), and Santiago, Chile.
The Chile Exchange explores the practices of artists from diverse cultural backgrounds and presents their shared experiences in geographic locations far apart. The exchange began in February 2002, when the Canadian artists participated in a festival in the small fishing town of Calbuco, on the Chilean archipelago. The first stage of the exchange culminated in the Chilean capital of Santiago, in a visual art installation in a former works depot that now functions as a multidisciplinary arts centre. By interacting with the residents of Calbuco and with artists in Santiago, the artists provided a model for creative collaboration that can bridge communication gaps in art and life. The second stage of the Chile Exchange will draw from the artists¹ experiences in Chile. Artists will work with new ideas and with remnants of the projects they carried out in Chile, including works on paper, paintings, photographs, and objects from the site-specific installations. Each of the artists’ new projects builds on the pieces they did in Chile. The new works are informed by rich experiences in a different culture and distant place, where they met people who shared many of their concerns. In Sault Ste. Marie and Toronto, those artists who continue the exchange will sketch out the projects for the final stage in Chicoutimi next spring.
This project is presented in collaboration with Espace Virtuel, Los Independientes Collective, the Art Gallery of Algoma, Galerie Glendon Gallery, 401 Richmond Street West, Gallery 44, VMAC Gallery, Ontario College of Art and Design, Celebracion Cultural del Idioma Espanol, and is made possible through funds from the Department of Canadian Heritage, The Canada Council, The Ontario Arts Council and the City of Toronto through The Toronto Arts Council.
Biographies
Amelia Jiménez studied at the Catholic University of Chile, the Ontario College of Art, and Studio Camnitzer in Italy. Her multidisciplinary works have been exhibited in Chile, Canada, Germany, Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, Serbia, and Cuba. She has curated exhibitions of Latin American artists for Harbourfront Centre, Gallery 1313, Propeller Centre for the Arts, and A Space Gallery.