Opening Reception
Fri 7 Sept 2018 7PM
On display until 7 December 2018
Programmed in support of Celebration of Nations
taking place Fri 7 Sept – Sun 9 Sept in downtown
St. Catharines. For more info on festival events visit celebrationofnations.ca
An art exhibit about the joys of gaming, sci-fi, and comics;
About cultural identity, pop culture, and growing up a ‘geek’;
Partly nostalgic for an adolescence spent living in the rec-rooms of the 1980s and 90s;
Also humourous, imaginative, and executed with a great level of craft;
Two artists transform the Niagara Artists Centre this fall
Brendan Lee Satish Tang and Sonny Assu combine elements from science fiction, comic book, and gaming cultures to consider how these forms alternately reinforce and transcend racial boundaries in youth culture. In their individual practices, Tang and Assu frequently negotiate the material and conceptual dynamics of culture and ethnicity. Informed by their mixed-race backgrounds and experiences of Canadian life in the 1980s and 1990s, for this exhibition the artists bring together found objects, selections from previous bodies of work, and new collaborative pieces to create immersive spaces that evoke the adolescent sanctuaries of their time: the basement, the arcade, and the comic book store.
Ready Player Two is curated by Laura Schneider and organized and circulated by The Reach. This project is made possible through generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Sonny Assu was raised in North Delta, BC, over 250 km away from his home ancestral home on unceded Liǥwildaʼx̱w territory (Campbell River, BC.). Along with his extensive exhibition record Assu has been long-listed for the Sobey Art Award three times and his work can be found in numerous collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Seattle Art Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Concordia University.
Brendan Lee Satish Tang was born in Dublin to Trinidadian parents of Chinese and South Asian descent and lives in Vancouver, BC. He earned his formal art education on both Canadian coasts and the American Midwest. Tang has participated in residencies and exhibitions internationally was a nominee for the 2017 LOEWE Craft Prize, an annual international award celebrating excellence in craftsmanship. He has lectured at conferences and academic institutions across the continent, and is currently a sessional instructor at Emily Carr University.
THANK YOU
This exhibit is generously sponsored by our friends at CMS Intelligence, Elgin Contracting & Restoration, Hughes & Co., Generator at One, RAMM Design Labs, and Brainkite Artistic Solutions.
