Shellie Zhang in front of the window display of her Neon artwork "A place for Wholesome Amusement,"
At Fentster Gallery at 402 College St. until May 22, 2018
[Image Source: The Canadian Jewish News]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Part Two here]
There's a hilarious, short-lived, "dialogue" at the Art Gallery of Mississauga Facebook page.
Given the contemporary history of Facebook, it might be deleted some time soon, so I have it here as a jpg.
The Facebook screenshot (the jpg) is below the "dialogue" which I have transcribed:
Art Gallery of Mississauga-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 4 at 1:05pm
"In this space beyond the residual is a form of collaborative remembering, a narratology shaped by the resilience of past #cultural texts and the desire for future pluralistic frameworks. Side by side, the two marquees, in their proximity, propose a kind of #kinship, a way to engage in a cross-cultural collective #memory."
Annie Wong discusses #Auction artist Shellie Zhang's new neon #installation on past spaces and parallel histories for Canadian Art.
Shellie Zhang Recovers Spectral Traces from a Diasporic PastDavid Alan Hill
The artist's new neon installation explores parallel histories between Toronto's Jewish and Chinese communities.
CANADIANART.CA
Is this statement really in any form that would engage interest from the average viewer?
What a waste.
Art Gallery of Mississauga
Thanks for your comment David.
This new work by Shellie Zhang, as articulated by Annie Wong in Canadian Art delves into the multiple histories of one space, 285 Spadina. This space is located in an area of Toronto that was once home to many immigrants who experienced normalized racism while trying to make a life. Zhang’s neon work asks an open-ended question to all who encounter its glow on the practice of remembering: how does displacement and diaspora of the past relate to the lived experiences of today?
David Alan Hill
this does shed some light on the work in a more comprehensible manner but still it is a problem to me that the descriptions are so elitist for average people. After all they are the viewers as well as the educated group that float around the art world. Lets be inclusive and not restrict the art experience.
Ian Crysler
Gallery babble, very unattractive.
Jpg screenshot below:
David Alan Hill somewhat captualted under the pressure of social media (he should blame Mark Zuckerberg for that, LOL). But he should have hung in there. What exactly is the dialogue between two neon lights? What passerby will try (or care less about) deciphering these cryptic messages about empty spaces (apparently - what exactly is "exhibited" there anyway?)