PAST EXHIBITION
STACEY SPIEGEL
Stacey Spiegel
14 December 1982 - 1 January 1983
Opening Reception 14 December 1982 8pm
East & West Galleries: Stacey Spiegel’s exhibition is composed of three sculptures and five graphite and charcoal drawings. The physical constructions actively interchange with natural elements, “capturing the intensity of human experience merging metaphor and association through form and process.” The graphite and charcoal drawings are a graphic description of the sculpture’s energy in transition.
PAST EXHIBITION
RIC EVANS
Ric Evans
23 November 1982 - 11 December 1982
Opening Reception 23 November 1982 8pm
West Gallery: Ric Evans’ exhibition includes five oil on wood (four of which measure 8′ x 8′) and four oil sketches. The work continues an exploration of a measured concern in non-objective paintings. Ric Evans Mercer Union Toronto (An interview with Ric Evans by Robert Bowers: Bowers is “R” and Evans is “Ric”.) R: What […]
PAST EXHIBITION
CHARLES PARNESS
Charles Parness
23 November 1982 - 11 December 1982
Opening Reception 23 November 1982 8pm
East Gallery: Charles Parness began this series of paintings in 1979. The works are oil on canvas and measure 20×20 inches. All are self-portraits in different guises. “I had hoped that a narrative about myself would emerge. A story not only of the development of different abilities in handling paint texture, composition, colour line, form, […]
PAST EXHIBITION
KENT STATE U./PILGRIMAGE & MNEMONIC
Stan Denniston
2 November 1982 - 20 November 1982
Opening Reception 2 November 1982 8pm
West Gallery: Kent State U./Pilgrimage & Mnemonic Stan Denniston’s concerns with the associative properties of memory, first evidenced in his ‘REMINDERS’ series, are further developed in this exhibition to engender a much complexified view of private consciousness. The catalyst of this photographic installation was a visit to the site of an extraordinary public event with […]
PAST EXHIBITION
MERCER MNEMONIC: (SAMPLE, SIZE & RELATIVITY)
Robert McNealy
2 November 1982 - 20 November 1982
Opening Reception 2 November 1982 8pm
East Gallery: Mercer Mnemonic: (Sample, Size & Relativity) Robert McNealy’s current work involves an attempt to convey the associative elements of what might seem to be disparate events/subjects. Within his work he draws on a wide range of media (sculpture, painting, photography, etc.) to establish a parallel associative context between his activity and the socio/political […]
PAST EXHIBITION
TABLEAU/SUPPORT (IN THE WEST…)
Gordon Lebredt
12 October 1982 - 30 October 1982
Opening Reception 12 October 1982 8pm
Installation Tableau/Support (In The West…) Tableau/Support (in the West…), an installation by Gordon Lebredt, will present a number of double or mirror scenes which have evolved from certain material aspects of the Gallery’s present and former spaces. Renovations to the present Gallery echo a mirror configuration of the Gallery’s former Mercer Street location. The exhibition […]
PAST EXHIBITION
OBEDIENT OBJECT/SPECIFIC TRADITIONS
Gary Dufour
21 September 1982 - 9 October 1982
Opening Reception 21 September 1982 8pm
West Gallery: Obedient Object/Specific Traditions Statement by Artist: My exhibition involves cast and constructed replicas of domestic and museum objects. The production of the objects employs specific sculptural traditions contrasted to the function and situation of their prototype. The objects being models are contingent forms. The associations which surround the prototype, sculptural practise and function […]
PAST EXHIBITION
GOLEM: OBJECTS AS SENSATIONS
Yana Sterbak
21 September 1982 - 9 October 1982
Opening Reception 21 September 1982 8pm
East Gallery; Golem: Objects As Sensations The show will consist of real-scale objects cast incontent-related materials. Jana Sterbak Mercer Union Toronto by Jeanne RandolphVanguard, December 1982 Even considering that art galleries are seldom frequented by lummoxes, most of the sculptures in this exhibition are so petite and vulnerable someone might inadvertently stomp on them, meek […]
PAST EXHIBITION
SEALED ORDERS
Nene Humphrey, Kathy McCarthy, Gail Swithenbank, and Warner W. Wada Warner W. Wada
31 August 1982 - 18 September 1982
Opening Reception 31 August 1982 8pm
East & West Galleries: Sealed Orders Group exhibition: Nene Humphrey “Falling Body-Floating Body” sculptural installation Kathy McCarthy “Street Suite and Others” painted construction Gail Swithenbank “Architechtural Installation for Mercer Union” mixed media Warner W. Wada “Private Screening” photo mural. Sculptural Installation, Painted Construction, Mixed Media, Photo Mural The work exhibited in Sealed Orders is diverse […]
PAST EXHIBITION
COLLABORATIONS: MYTHOLOGIES; AESTHETICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
Jim Anderson, Andy Fabo, and Oliver Girling
14 August 1982 - 28 August 1982
Collaborations: Mythologies; Aesthetics in the Modern World “Myth is a type of speech chosen by history. It cannot possibly evolve from the ‘nature’ of things.” – Roland Barthes The Collaboration: Through the effluvium of history the Trans – avant guarde travels trans – Canada to find St. Paul Kane the Indomitable wielding his palette against […]
PAST EXHIBITION
TORONTO WALL DRAWINGS
Daniel Sharp
20 July 1982 - 7 August 1982
Opening Reception 20 July 1982 8pm
East & West Galleries: Toronto Wall Drawings This Peterborough artist will present an installation of graphite and tempera drawing on the gallery walls in the West Gallery against painted shaped forms, projecting minimally off the walls of the East Gallery. The shapes and patterns derive from architecture and signs chosen from the streets of downtown […]
PAST EXHIBITION
AGIT PROP
Bruce Barber, Stuart Brisley, Elizabeth Chitty, Sonia Knox, Marcel Odenbach, Martha Rosler
19 July 1982 - 9 August 1982
Opening Reception 19 July 1982 8pm
International Performance Art Series: Agit Prop “Performance art is by its nature ephemeral. Each piece of work is a process in time which can never be precisely recaptured, this being a quality which performance art shares with other events on the stage and on the concert platform.” Stuart Hood. In collaboration with the Walter Phillips […]
PAST EXHIBITION
STEEPLECHASE: AN OBSTACLE COURSE FOR ONE RACER
William Brown
30 June 1982 - 17 July 1982
Opening Reception 30 June 1982 8pm
East & West Galleries: Performance Steeplechase: An Obstacle Course for One Racer A Toronto premiere of William Brown’s first performance “Steeplechase” will mark the opening of a large installation on this theme. The piece will occupy both galleries. In “Steeplechase,” the artist manipulates art within the context of sport; this work illustrates the artist’s struggle […]
PAST EXHIBITION
Benefit at The Concert Hall: Kitchen Sync
Performance group with Glenn Branca, Julia Heyward, Oliver Lake, David Van Tieghem.
17 June 1982 - 23 June 1982
June 17 – 23, 1982 (various locations and times) This Kitchen Sync Packed with acts Carole Corbeil Globe and Mail, June 1982 The producers of Kitchen Sync certainly proved their point: Performance art sells. Over 1,300 people turned up at the Concert Hall Saturday night to watch and hear artists from New York’s The Kitchen. […]
PAST EXHIBITION
ELAINE GREENE
Elaine Greene
8 June 1982 - 26 June 1982
Opening Reception 8 June 1982 8pm
West Gallery: Elaine Greene is an artist working in many mediums. The show at Mercer Union consists of 10 chalk pastel drawings on black paper. The content is concerned with personal confrontation.
PAST EXHIBITION
MADONNA
Rae Johnson
8 June 1982 - 26 June 1982
Opening Reception 8 June 1982 8pm
East Gallery: Madonna The paintings were executed between 1980 and 1982. They are depictions of the metaphors of the Visitation, Annunciation, and the Immaculate Conception. A disturbing look at female archetypes Rae Johnson’s canvases express anxiety and doubt Looming in joyless society Christopher Hume Toronto Star, June 1982 Will success spoil Rae Johnson? When her […]
PAST EXHIBITION
DAYS OF DISCOVERY
Paulette Phillips
4 June 1982
Opening Reception 4 June 1982 8pm
June 4th at 9:00 pm. A video performance.
PAST EXHIBITION
MAINTENANCE PAINTINGS
Gerald Ferguson
18 May 1982 - 5 June 1982
Opening Reception 18 May 1982 8pm
Paintings: The Maintenance Paintings The Maintenance Paintings in the present exhibition relate to such works as his sculpture 1,000,000 Pennies, shown at the Glenbow Museum in January 1981. Earlier paintings of the same title are part of a programme of work since 1978 that refers to a procedure at Halifax City Hall where the wood […]
PAST EXHIBITION
HISTORY
Robert Youds
18 May 1982 - 5 June 1982
Opening Reception 18 May 1982
Paintings: Mercer Union presents paintings by Robert Youds. “Painting must have a social function beyond simple decorative, design and formal concepts.” Robert Youds strives towards addressing the social function by remaining conscious of the audience and encouraging interaction between the viewer and the painting. “History”, works within the context of satire, socio-political and socio-environmental notions.
PAST EXHIBITION
JOHN CLARK
John Clark
27 April 1982 - 15 May 1982
Opening Reception 27 April 1982 8pm
Paintings: John Clark is a native of England who is presently teaching painting at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Between 1966 and 1968 Clark studied painting at Indiana University. Returning to England in ’68 he painted in various styles including naturalistic painting. After a visit to New York in 1977, where he […]
PAST EXHIBITION
(2.1.3) / 5 COLOURS
Jaan Poldaas
27 April 1982 - 15 May 1982
Opening Reception 27 April 1982 8pm
East Gallery: (2.1.3) / 5 Colours “(2, 1,3) / 5 COLOURS” is an open-ended series of paintings begun in early 1981. Each painting consists of 25 solid-coloured rectangles separated by narrow,black recessed outlines. Five colours are ‘invented” for each painting, and are arranged in a horizontal row across its centre. Above the centre are the […]
PAST EXHIBITION
Art/Music Series 1982: NIAGARA
Catherine Carmichael, Peter Templeman, Lorne Wagman.
23 April 1982
A concert with drawings in progress by Harold Klunder.
PAST EXHIBITION
ART/MUSIC SERIES 1982
Morton Feldman
17 April 1982
Opening Reception 17 April 1982 8pm
An Evening with Morton Feldman: Tapes of “Triadic Memories” for solo piano, and talk. Mercer Union is pleased to present one of its first events in the Art/Music Series — Morton Feldman, who will play tapes of his music and “talk, talk, talk…” This internationally recognized composer has been artistically associated with both musician like […]
PAST EXHIBITION
PLASSUN HAREL
8 April 1982
PRESS RELEASE April 8, 1982 8:00 pm Mercer Union presents the most recent work of performance art by Plassun Harel. Mr. Harel is currently visiting North America to premier his latest performance art: “Cette ambiance de Guimauve subit des interferences, puis de veritables attaques. Des carrés sont piegés et explosent – le coton fume… la […]
PAST EXHIBITION
LIGHTMARE
Cynthia Short
6 April 1982 - 24 April 1982
Opening Reception 6 April 1982 8pm
West Gallery: Lightmare Cynthia Short is an artist working in Toronto. For the last several years she has been working on small sculptures using materials such as wax, soil, and paper mache. “I try to make things that have a quality of something remembered or recognized. I hope that my images grow from a place […]
PAST EXHIBITION
SIGN LANGUAGE
Patrick Jenkins
6 April 1982 - 24 April 1982
Opening Reception 6 April 1982 8pm
April 18th Film Screening: “Wedding Before Me” (1976) “Fluster” (1978) “Ruse” (1980) “Shadowplay” (1981) “Sign Landuage” (1982) Mercer Union will be showing an exhibition of drawings by Toronto artist Patrick Jenkins. This series of drawings is entitled “Sign Language”. The drawings are done in charcoal and use non-verbal symbol signs that are found in airport […]
PAST EXHIBITION
DRAWINGS IN PROGRESS
Harold Klunder
16 March 1982 - 3 April 1982
Opening Reception 16 March 1982 8pm
PRESS RELEASE Harold Klunder is presently working in Toronto. Between March 14 and April 3, he will be continuing work on two wall size drawings, after gallery hours each day. The work in progress will be on view during 12 – 5 PM Tuesday to Saturday. The opening reception will take place on Saturday March […]
PAST EXHIBITION
LANDON MACKENZIE
Landon Mackenzie
16 March 1982 - 3 April 1982
Opening Reception 16 March 1982 8pm
PRESS RELEASE Landon Mackenzie is presently working in Montreal. She will be exhibiting painting from the “Lost River Series” (1981 – 1982) in the East Gallery at Mercer Union. They consist of large canvases with images of animals and land forms. They make references to the north (specifically the Yukon) as well as references to […]
PAST EXHIBITION
Art/Music Series 1982
Abraham Adzinyah and the Toronto West African Drumming Group
14 March 1982
PAST EXHIBITION
PART 2
Ted Weir
23 February 1982 - 13 March 1982
Opening Reception 23 February 1982 8pm
West Gallery: Part 2 Part 2 presents further work by Ted Weir – a comparison between the real and the imagined – using video technology and audience performance.
PAST EXHIBITION
RECENT WORKS
Susan Schelle
23 February 1982 - 13 March 1982
Opening Reception 23 February 1982 8pm
East Gallery: Recent Works “The concerns in my work are increasingly with the experience of my own responses to an occasion. These feelings are protracted into a narration of an event. The use of materials in their purest sense simplifies images to create the experience.” – Susan Schelle.
PAST EXHIBITION
RED PRACTICE
Lily Chiro and Nona Finnbogason, Lily Chiro, Gilberto and Ron Gillespie, John Scott and Amy Pool, J.R. McLeod, Richard Banks and Dave Porter, Oliver Girling and Rae Johnson
Curated by Lily Chiro
14 February 1982
Opening Reception 14 February 1982 8pm
“Most people ‘view’ with years of history in front of them. There hardly ever is a clear eye to ‘new work’. The weight is on the artist to show his work in exactly the way he perceived it.” In Red PRactice all artists use the idea of ‘red’ as the basis for their work. This […]
PAST EXHIBITION
PETER BOWYER
Peter Bowyer
26 January 1982 - 13 February 1982
Opening Reception 26 January 1982 8pm
East Gallery: Steel Sculpture This Toronto artist studied Fine Arts at John Abbot College, Montreal, and sculpture at St. Martins School in England. His recent steel sculptures were made at Sculpture Space Inc. in Utica, New York. Two sculptors reflect opposites Globe and Mail, February 1982 Though they weren’t intended to work this way, the […]
PAST EXHIBITION
ROBERT BOWERS
Robert Bowers
26 January 1982 - 13 February 1982
Opening Reception 26 January 1982 8pm
West Gallery: Robert Bowers will install a painted wood head that stands 6 feet high, fabricated in cedar 2 x 4s. (Working title: “PUBLIC WORK NO. 6”) Mr. Bowers currently teaches in the Sculpture Studio at York University. Robert Bowers Parking Lot/339 King St. W. Jennifer Oille Vanguard, March 1982 Coming to Toronto in 1969, […]
PAST EXHIBITION
PIETER SLAGBOOM
Pieter Slagboom
5 January 1982 - 23 January 1982
Opening Reception 5 January 1982 8pm
Sculpture 1. Gallery Relocation Mercer Union has relocated at 333 Adelaide Street West, at the corner of Peter Street in downtown Toronto. The new gallery, which occupies the entire fifth floor of the building, will open to the public January 5th, 1982, following a month of renovations to the space. 2. Exhibition Pieter Slagboom Sculpture […]