Lois schklar
rememory

APRIL 25  TO MAY 19, 2018
Reception: Friday, May 4, 6 - 8:30 PM
Storytelling and Poetry Reading: Saturday, May 05, 2018, 2 - 4 PM
 

The Red Head Gallery is pleased to present ReMemory, an exhibition by artist, Lois Schklar. Storytelling with special guest Ann Holmes and poetry reading by Ruth Pierson, Ellen Jaffe, Sheila Stewart and Noah Gano will be held on Saturday, May 05, 2018, 2 - 4 PM.

I work intuitively and remain open to the discourse that unfolds through this process. Over time, my work has shifted and changed. Yet each body of work is connected by a shared sensibility and history that I strive to integrate into my art making.

My art practice consists of an ongoing series of drawing installations utilizing found and bought urban objects as “mark making” tools. I manipulate these diverse and often disparate materials, aware of the aesthetic relationship they have with one another and by implication, the physical and psychological space they occupy. Each drawing installation builds on the ideas of preceding installations and are primarily site specific. The installations become pathways connecting the past to the present.

ReMemory combines different aspects of my practice in an effort to connect memories and associations to the many objects I have collected.   Rain Gently Falling and Timelines are a series of visual poems constructed from recycled wire drawings (2011-2018). Excerpts is a line drawing using words from a few of the poems I have written ( 2003-2017). Specimens 1 & 2 is based on a series of small studies (2009).

Specimens, unlike the other installations in the exhibition, draws directly from the many objects I have amassed.  Attached to the nails in the wall are small earth magnets that hold each item.  A folder lists the objects I have used in the installation as a reference to my own memories, their entry into my collection and, where possible, the date they entered my life. The intention is to display these objects like specimens in an insect collection, to be observed and discussed.

On days that the artist is present (April 28, May 4 reception, May 5 Poetry reading/storytelling), the audience will be invited to swap an object from the Specimen installation with their own object and provide a written explanation for the exchange (i.e. aesthetic considerations, personal associations or attachments, etc.). Alternatively, and at any time during gallery hours, individual objects can be purchased for five dollars each. Perhaps only the objects will be taken and not replaced. What will be left?

My collection, accumulated over a lifetime, will, at some point in time, be dispersed along with their memories. I will no longer have control over what happens to it. In relation to contemporary practices, I ask: “Where will my collection of objects or works of art eventually reside and what (if any) is their value?” This question addresses the personal worth of the materials I collect and use in my practice and their relevance in relation to and referencing of the escalating price of art works so prevalent in today’s market.

BIO

Lois Schklar’ lives and works in Toronto.  Her work has been shown in exhibitions throughout Canada and the United States. Her burlap sculptures are in the Bronfman Collection, Claridge Investments, Idea Exchange Art Gallery and The Key Corporation.

After graduating with a Fine Arts degree, Schklar worked in fibre and mixed media creating non-traditional dolls, fetishes and laminated burlap sculptures. From 2004-2014, she began to incorporate her collection of found objects, fragments of older work and writing into three-dimensional wall installations.

Leftovers: Hung Out to Dry, Timelines and ReMemory (2016-2018) reflect Schklar’s continued interest in the manipulation of materials, the fragility and power of memory and the psychological dynamic that exists in the process of making art. This work re-imagines the aesthetic association that first brought her collection of objects to her attention and re-purposes materials no longer used or needed by transforming them into minimalist wall installations.

Schklar has received numerous grants. These include Toronto Arts Council Grant to Individuals, Ontario Arts Council Project Grants, Exhibitions Assistance Grants and Canada Council Grants. Most recently, Lois was awarded a Canada Council Explore and Create Grant ( 2018) and an Ontario Arts Council Exhibitions Assistance Grant (2018) for her exhibition, ReMemory.

As an educator, a facilitator, keynote speaker and curator. In 1997, Schklar curated Dolls: Reclaimed at the Ontario Crafts Council and in 2008 she organized the exhibition, “Drawing On” at *new* gallery in Toronto. She received an OAC Visual Artist Project Grant for Research and Development for The Art of Packing (2014).

For more information visit: https://www.loisschklar.com/
#LoisSchklar