On view at The Power Plant until September 7th, The Mouth Holds the Tongue is an exhibition which brings together three emerging Toronto artists, Nadia Belerique, Lili Huston-Herterich, and Laurie Kang. Invited to work collectively, the artists have taken over the space of the upper floor gallery.
Based upon the Dutch architect Aldo Van Eyck’s 1966 pavilion, the structure they have built is reminiscent of archaic labyrinths, old-school video games, and the cinder block school buildings of the public education system. Created from dusty green florist’s foam, the structure’s dense yet fragile materiality speaks to new opportunities and unexpected endings. Held within the larger structure of the gallery, it exists as an island apart. Moving through its twists and turns, there is an element of the absurd, of things gone topsy-turvy within the dominant structure. In these passageways there is room for multiplicity, for varied modes of thought and interaction.
Van Eyck’s original pavilion was meant to house artworks using the labyrinthine spatial arrangement to allow for movement and personal transformation. In making this contemporary interpretation, the artists are advocating for a reassessment of the gallery space and its hierarchies, breeding new ground for perceptual possibilities to take root and flourish.
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This is the first in a series of posts from the field by our summer intern, artist Brynn Higgins-Stirrup. More information on our newly launched internship program is available here.
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images, from top to bottom:
Nadia Belerique, Lili Huston-Herterich, and Laurie Kang, The Mouth Holds the Tongue, installation view at The Power Plant, 2015, from http://www.ourwindsor.ca/opinion-story/5697039-pan-am-games-hit-the-power-plant-in-four-shows/
Aldo van Eyck, Sonsbeek Paviljoen, 1965-1966, reconstructed in Otterlo, 2005-2006, photo by Marten Dashorst, https://www.flickr.com/photos/2613-say-yeah/526277329