Under Skirt: Some Mendel Mischief
Garry Neill Kennedy and assistants recreate William Perehudoff murals from the Mendel Art Gallery’s family salon at three times their original scale
“Under Skirt” takes an intimate, playful and mischievous look at the structure, history and collection of Saskatoon’s Mendel Art Gallery. Curated by Jen Budney, this exhibition features works by Nicole Cherubini, Heather Nicol, Dagmara Genda, the Cedar Tavern Singers a.k.a. Les Phonoréalistes and Garry Neill Kennedy, with the latter three artists having been specially commissioned to create new works that reference the gallery itself. Cherubini’s experimental, feminist ceramics are critical of the patriarchal norms that have historically governed the institution of art. A bathroom intervention by Nicol adds an element of surprise to visitors’ experience and questions the value of different museum spaces. The Cedar Tavern Singers continue to co-opt musical genres with original songs and dances that explore the Mendel’s collection, locale and history. Genda’s vinyl installation takes inspiration from in-house prairie landscapes by Dorothy Knowles, William Perehudoff and others. And Perehudoff, a leading 20th-century Canadian abstract painter, is actually a recurring subject in the exhibition, as Kennedy’s work is a monumental reproduction of a Perehudoff mural. Fittingly, the Mendel is also celebrating Perehudoff in a concurrent career retrospective, “The Optimism of Colour.” Guest curated by Karen Wilkin, the retrospective brings together more than 60 paintings that span his prolific, well-respected—and now, remixed—career. (950 Spadina Cr E, Saskatoon SK)
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Nicole Cherubini Poine Lekythos Loutrophoros Pelike Amphora With Two Handles and Resting Mouth 2007 Courtesy Samson Projects Boston |
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Still from a video about the Mendel Art Gallery by the Cedar Tavern Singers a.k.a. Les Phonoréalistes |
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