Curator Talk: elegant disorder

elegant disorder

perspectives on porcelain

Elegant Disorder: Perspectives on Porcelain is a
group exhibition featuring contemporary artists Paul Mathieu, Sin-Ying
Ho, Shelley Miller, Elizabeth Zvonar and Brendan Tang. Presented at
Satellite Gallery, this exhibition engages with the history of
porcelain—in particular, contemporary expressions of the blue-and-white
motifs reminiscent of Chinese Ming Dynasty wares. With more than a dozen
works on display touching on pottery, sculpture and photography, this
exhibition joins new perspectives to familiar porcelain motifs.

The works in this exhibition make a compelling statement: porcelain
is an active and vivid vehicle for our imagination. It has always been a
force in global trade and industrialization since early modern times
and, while its proliferation is a direct consequence of Western
colonialism, it is seldom considered within critical discussions of that
history. This ancient material may seem obsolete within today’s
technocratic societies, yet it continues to thrive, as it has for
thousands of years, in both applied and creative fields.

Elegant Disorder seeks to make visible the tensions between
local and global identities embedded within porcelain’s materiality and
design. It is from this perspective that each artist in the exhibition
subverts expectations of craft and decorative arts as well as gender
roles. Each engages with the questions of history, technology,
sexuality, colonialism, and labour that have long intersected on
porcelain’s elegant surface.

Elegant Disorder: Perspectives on Porcelain is curated by
Louis-Alexandre Douesnard-Malo, a candidate in the Master of Arts
program in Critical and Curatorial Studies at the University of British
Columbia. For more information please visit: http://www.curatorialstudies.ca

This exhibition is made possible with support from the Michael
O’Brian Family Foundation, the Killy Foundation and the Audain Endowment
for Curatorial Studies through the Department of Art History, Visual
Art and Theory, in collaboration with the Morris and Helen Belkin Art
Gallery at the University of British Columbia.

Please join us for the Curator’s Tour of Elegant Disorder with Louis-Alexandre Douesnard-Malo.

Saturday, June 2, 2012 at 2pm

Space is limited. Please RSVP to reserve your place: [email protected] or
604-681-8425.

Free. Refreshments will be provided. Visit our website for further information: www.satellitegallery.ca

1000 Miles Apart Conference – Amazing line up – not to be missed.


1000 Miles Apart – 2011 Ceramics Conference
September 29 – October 1
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba

The Ceramics Area at the School of Art, University of Manitoba will host 1000 Miles Apart from September 29 to October 1, 2011. 1000 Miles Apart will feature a number of high caliber artists who will present lectures and demonstrations, and provide a forum for exchange between students, faculty, and professionals in the field.

John Balistreri, professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, will share his latest research on using clay as a printing material in the rapid prototyping of three-dimensional forms. Virginia Scotchie, world renowned for her energetic and stimulating ceramic workshops, will join us from the University of South Carolina. Paul Mathieu, professor of ceramics at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, will present a lecture on his recent art and industry experiences in China, and provide a critical view of the state of ceramics in the 21st century. Rory MacDonald, professor of ceramics at NSCAD University in Halifax, will present the closing address at 1000 Miles Apart, a lecture that is free and open to the public as well as conference participants.

1000 Miles Apart will include an exhibition at Gallery One One One in the FitzGerald Building. The exhibition will include work by ceramics students, faculty, and the visiting artists. Concurrent with the conference, visitors may investigate site specific installations by artist Rory MacDonald on the University of Manitoba campus and beyond.

Concurrently with the conference, Winnipeg Art Gallery is hosting a lecture on September 29 at 7:00 p.m. by Greg Payce who is participating in the exhibition Precise: Craft Refined. This event is open to the public and admission will be charged.
Further program details will be available closer to the conference.

Registration and Information
Registration is free for all university and college students, faculty and sta”. For all others the
registration fee is $50.00, payable by cash or cheque to the University of Manitoba.
Be sure to register by September 15 to ensure your space in conference workshops .
Contact:
Steve Grimmer
[email protected]
T. (204) 474-9650 F. (204) 474-7605
www.umanitoba.ca/schools/art

Registration Form
Please print out and fill in this form and mail with a $50.00 registration fee (cheques only
please, payable to the University of Manitoba, with 1000 Miles Apart in the memo line) to:
School of Art
203 FitzGerald Building
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2

Name
Email
Telephone
Affiliation
Mailing Address:
How did you hear about the conference?
Which workshops at the University of Manitoba have you attended in the past?

We can accept full registrations only. We have kept the registration fee as low as possible so that it will be worth your while even if attending only a portion of the conference. Thank you for your support.