SAMANTHA MOGELONSKY
Wish you were here
AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 24, 2011
OPENING RECEPTION: Sept 8th, from 6-9pm
CLOSING RECEPTION AND ARTIST TALK: Sept 24th from 3-4pm
The miniature “typifies the structure of memory, of childhood, and ultimately of narrative’s secondary (and at the same time causal) relation to history.”
- Susan Stewart, On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection
The Red Head Gallery is pleased to present Wish you were here, the first solo show by emerging Canadian artist Samantha Mogelonsky, running from August 31st through September 24th.
By developing her own form of naïve sculptural language, Mogelonsky constructs environments to transport the viewer into an imaginary space, outside and beyond the everyday. These humorous and sinister sculptural forms seek to investigate storytelling and repetition with the viewer becoming both participant and observer of an invented narrative: where the heroically crafted and time-consuming elements coexist.
Drawing conceptual influence from Utopian literature, theories, and tall-tales, and Susan Stewart's 'On Longing', she will present sculptural ‘island’ forms, thereby building an imaginary ‘little world’ for the viewer to experience. These islands retain the so-called child-like qualities of construction, but reflect the intricate details of her practice and merge the ‘made’ with found kitsch objects.
The exhibition will also include neon signage, resin castings, postcards and trinkets from this imaginary place. Also in the space is a bronze cast of a typewriter that appears as if it has magically melted, which speaks to the changes in narrative perception and the relationship of storytelling to the overall narrative.
Mogelonsky plays with the vernacular of travel, while creating largely desolate, lonely and haunting images, thereby evoking a tension between the expected present and the uncertain future.
A text by Anastasia Hare will accompany the exhibition. Click here to view it or click here to download it as a pdf.
Sam Mogelonsky studied for her Bachelor’s of Fine Art (Honours) at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario (2006) and earned her Master’s of Fine Art program at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art, London, UK (2007). Following this, she participated in international projects and residencies, including the Florence Trust Studio Residency Program, London, UK (2008), as well as the Château de la Napoule Art Foundation Residency in Mandelieu de la Napuole, France (2008) and was a resident artist at Casa Marles in Llorenc de Penedes, Catalunya, Spain (2009). She has exhibited in Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Portugal, with exhibitions in artist-run, commercial and publicly funded galleries. Her work is held in Canadian and international collections. She lives and works in Toronto.
Anastasia Hare is an emerging Toronto-based writer and curator. She holds a BFA in Art History and Studio Art from Concordia University, and an MA in Art History with a Graduate Diploma in Curatorial Studies in Visual Culture from York University. Hare is a member of the board of directors of Studio Béluga, Montréal.
Sam Mogelonsky gratefully acknowledges the Ontario Arts Council for their support of this exhibition. She also thanks Fifth Leg, from Treasury Wine Estates, LMA Communications Inc and Maximum Graphics for their support of the exhibition.
