Curated by Miriam Katz

This September 25th, Gallery MC presents “O Canada,” an interdisciplinary survey exhibition introducing the work of six Canadian artists living in the United States. Featuring sculptors, painters, filmmakers, and installation artists, the show will kick off opening night with a live performance of Julie Lequin’s This American Life.

With only a glance, viewers easily discern how Julia Dault (b. Toronto, Ontario) made her wall- and floor-based Formica rolls. The artist creates these pieces without trickery or gloss – binding elements with nothing more than rope or nails. Similarly spare, her nine photographs of light cast on twelve black strips configured in her studio ask us to pause and meditate on the minutest of variations.

Jonah Groeneboer’s (b. Chilliwack British Columbia) Laser Drawing, 2008, features five lines of light interacting on the gallery wall, a subtle examination of the motion of light wave particles in space. With or without this information, one is taken aback by the majesty of the star-patterned lasers.

Julie Lequin’s (b. Laval, Québec) sensitive, humorous videos openly examine personal moments in her daily life. In This American Life, 2007, Lequin’s faux submission to the popular NPR program, the artist introduces a variety of characters, including her father, a friend, and even a recent crush. These vignettes, featuring her tender watercolor drawings, reflect upon the subject of “waiting,” be it for a Visa or a phone call.

For his oil-on-Mylar Signs and Signals, 2008, John Monteith (b. Toronto, Ontario) drafted several realistic depictions of the Cuban revolutionary flag. By collaging the individual drawings together, the artist created a hazier, more abstract composition. Much like the history of the flag itself, the image, once clear and simple, now reveals layers of complications and depth.

Jaclyn Meloche‘s (b. Ottowa, Ontario) Recipe, 2008, features the recorded sounds of the artist cooking banana bread based on recipes belonging to three generations in her family. Each contains a “secret ingredient,” though a listener would be hard-pressed to determine this via recordings alone. The slide show Canada Meets America, 2008, contains revolving images of the American-Canadian border, illustrating ways in which the countries exist and extend from one another, even as the distinctions between the landscapes blur.

Depending upon one’s position in the gallery, Davis Rhodes’s (b. Vancouver Island, British Columbia) pink, diamond-shaped mirror piece elicits entirely different experiences. At times, one can hardly see the thin layer of Plexiglas, perfectly flush to the wall. From other angles, one begins to have a sense of the work’s flashiness and bombast. Finally, when near enough, one’s entire body is reflected; without having agreed to it, one becomes fully implicated in the audacious world of the mirrored diamond.

The tremendous diversity of the works in this show creates fertile ground for exciting dialogues to ensue. We hope that “O Canada” marks only the beginning of an ongoing conversation among these talented artists. Special thanks to Molsons Canada and Gallery MC.