May 13 to Sep 4, 2017
Jon Sasaki: Things Saved for a Rainy Day
About the Exhibition
Museums collect vast arrays of artifacts; typically, items of significant cultural interest. These objects, once removed from both space and time, become untethered from their original contexts. They are kept in vaults and stored away under lock and key, forced to remain still for perpetuity. That is, until they are brought out into the limelight; carried by white gloved hands and put out on display for all to see. Over time, nostalgia – a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past–creeps in and attaches itself to these unsuspecting items, casting an aura upon them like a layer of metaphorical dust clinging to passivity. Encased in a plastic cell, they take on a new role, a new identity.
The Varley Art Gallery collects artworks by F.H. Varley but also archival material that assists in telling his life story. Our holdings contain objects relating to his artistic practice, such as his easel, paint box, paint brushes and even old tubes of paint. These items help illustrate Varley’s artistic process and are placed on display for educational purposes. Our collection also includes everyday objects – a chess set, a briefcase, and a pair of sunglasses–objects that, despite not having any real historical significance, help us connect with the artist on a more personal level.
As part of Present|Perfect|Continuous, a year-long exhibition celebrating the Varley Art Gallery’s 20th anniversary, Jon Sasaki was invited to create new work in response to our archival holdings. Struck by our collection of Varley’s belongings, Sasaki created two projects that sought to bring new life and new meaning to these everyday objects. An unused panel from Varley’s studio left in stormy weather is a meditation on the depiction of atmospheric elements in Varley’s paintings and on the physical environments in which such paintings are subsequently stored and displayed. Varley’s junk drawer of 1969 made useful in the present is an attempt to imbue a collection of random ‘bits and pieces’ with a new purpose.
The artist equates the process of finding new use for this discarded material to the process of reappraising canonical images of the Canadian landscape. While the original agenda of the Group of Seven might no longer be relevant to contemporary audiences, Sasaki offers us an alternative reading through which the public might access this material.
About the Artist
Jon Sasaki’s multidisciplinary art practice brings performance, video, object and installation into a framework where expectation and outcome never align, generating a simultaneous sense of pathos and fun. Sasaki holds a BFA from Mount Allison University and has exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, YYZ Artists’ Outlet, Ottawa Art Gallery and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon Branch (Seoul, Korea). He is represented by Clint Roenisch Gallery, Toronto.
The artist wishes to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council for its assistance.
Publication
