Grotesques must be thought of as a site of experimentation, where risk is a seductive ally that pries open the aperture for possibility. In this collective exhibition, the grotesque is invoked as a realm of mutative, transitional, and transgressive potentiality. Employing a range of taboo materials, themes, and forms, the artists move beyond the expected, searching for unconventional ways into the audience’s sensorium. Through symbolic inversion, this group of artist-agents emphasize a return of the repressed, amplifying contemporary political issues that exist within our everyday experience.
A Space Main Gallery
February 23 – March 21, 2008
Curated by Lissette Olivares
Co-Presented by A Space Gallery and FADO Performance Art Centre
ARTISTS
Cheto Castellano
Coco Rico
David Khang
Irene Loughlin
Nao Bustamente
Natalie Loveless
Naufus Ramirez-Figueroa
PERFORMANCES: Saturday February 23, starting at 6:30 pm
Untitled by David Khang
White Slavery in Toronto by Naufus Ramirez Figueroa
Mythical Grotesques by Irene Loughlin
Pies con Barro and Muddied Feet by Cheto Castellano
Given over to Want by Nao Bustamante
Lissette Olivares is a theorist, critic and curator. As a cultural diplomat she promotes avant-garde practices and the careers of marginal artists; her PhD analyzes cultural resistance during Chile’s dictatorship.
