Feb 1 to Sep 6, 2021
Luke Parnell: Repeat the Chorus Three Times
Luke Parnell: Repeat the Chorus Three Times was awarded the 2021 Exhibition of the Year Award (Budget under $10,000) from Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries (GOG)
About the Exhibition
With a sculpture and painting practice rooted in traditional Northwest Coast design, Luke Parnell contrasts these formal aesthetic elements with personal and contemporary concerns. His new installation, Repeat the chorus three times, includes three box drums. Varying in scale and design, the pieces are adorned with curving lines and concentric ovoids in both red and black paint, or with carved elements.
In the gallery, the drums are rendered silent, echoes of their beats audible only in the imagination of their viewers. At the same time, however, the drums act like the verse of a song, one after the other adding meaning to an evolving visual narrative. As with many of Parnell’s past works, these pieces explore how both culture and trauma are passed down from generation to generation, creating a conundrum about how one reconciles with both simultaneously.
About the Artist
Luke Parnell is Laxgiik (eagle) from Wilps Kwa’kaans on his mother’s side and Haida from Massett on his father’s side. His training has involved a traditional apprenticeship with a Master Northwest Coast Indigenous carver, a BFA from OCAD, and an MA from ECUAD. His artistic practice explores the relationship between Northwest Coast Indigenous oral histories and Northwest Coast Indigenous art, with a focus on transformation narratives. Parnell’s work has been exhibited at the MacLaren Art Centre (Barrie, 2011), the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, 2014), the Biennial of Contemporary Native Art (Montreal, 2016), the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (Kitchener, 2018), and more. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre and the International Cervantino Festival (Guanajuato, Mexico).
Publication
An exhibition catalogue of works by Luke Parnell. Features an introduction from curator Anik Glaude, and an extended essay by independent curator, artist, and educator Lisa Myers.
Associated Programs
Beyond the Varley
In this Beyond the Varley video, our Gallery Animateur Natalie Lam walks us through the installation and explains how the artist contrasts formal Norwest Coast design with personal and contemporary concerns.
In this Beyond the Varley video, our gallery animateur Katherine Dick continues our exploration of Luke Parnell’s installation “Repeat the Chorus Three Times.” Focusing on the middle drum, Katherines dives deeper into the meaning of the work.
Lunch and Learn
An artist talk and virtual gallery tour organized in the context of Luke Parnell’s solo exhibition Repeat the Chorus Three Times at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham. Pesented virtually on Wednesday, April 14, from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
Lunch and Learns are monthly artist talks that provide our community members with the opportunity to learn about current and future exhibitions, as well as hear about ongoing curatorial research happening at the gallery. This program also supports emerging and established artists by providing them with a forum in which to present their work. We would like to thank the Varley-McKay Art Foundation of Markham for their ongoing support of our Lunch and Learn speaker’s series.
