calendario eventi  :: 

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13/9/2012

Two exhibitions

The Power Plant, Toronto

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery’s Fall 2012 season opens with two outstanding exhibitions featuring the work of award-winning artists Christian Marclay and Omer Fast.

Christian Marclay’s The Clock has been called “a masterpiece of our time.” Since premiering in London in 2010, the work has drawn thousands to art venues around the world who have lined up to see this critically-acclaimed, 24-hour montage of film and television. The Power Plant is pleased to present The Clock to Toronto audiences for the first time. Narrative structures and constructions involving film and the media also concern Omer Fast, whose most recent work Continuity, featured in dOCUMENTA (13) 2012, will be included in this captivating solo exhibition.

The Power Plant opens both exhibitions FREE to the public as part of the year- long celebration of the gallery’s 25 anniversary. Join us for a FREE Opening Party for all on Friday, 14 September, 2012 from 5 – 11 PM. Be one of the first to see the new exhibitions and meet artist Omer Fast. A public tour of the exhibitions with Director of The Power Plant Gaëtane Verna and guest-curator Melanie O’Brian will begin at 6:15 PM. JK Frites, Fidel Gastro, and Ezra’s Pound will be onsite to tempt all taste buds and a cash bar will be available.

Christian Marclay: The Clock
15 September – 25 November, 2012

The Clock (2010) is a unique and compelling work created by world-renowned sound and video artist Christian Marclay (born 1955, California). The work is an ode to time and cinema, and is comprised of thousands of iconic and recognizable fragments from a vast range of films, which together create a 24- hour, looped, single-channel video. Marclay compiled film clips of wristwatches, clock towers, sundials, alarm clocks, and countdowns, each of which illustrate every minute in a 24-hour period in real time. The Power Plant will open its doors for several special 24 hour viewing periods during the course of the exhibition, providing the public with the opportunity to see The Clock in its entirety.

Years in the making, The Clock examines how time, plot, and duration are depicted in cinema. Audiences are stunned by its clever construction, as they can use the piece to tell the local time. Captivated viewers can experience a vast range of cinematic settings and moods within the space of a few minutes, making time unravel in countless directions and rupturing any sense of linear, narrative sequence. The work is both an homage to film history and an affirmation of our present time. It won a Golden Lion award at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011.

“It is with great pride and excitement that we open this exhibition,” exclaims Director of The Power Plant Gaëtane Verna. “This project is extraordinary and we could not have made it accessible to all audiences here in Toronto without our Presenting Sponsor RBC Wealth Management. RBC has partnered with The Power Plant on many past exhibitions and we are so fortunate to have their continued support.”

The Power Plant also appreciates the many individuals and donors who helped to bring this important work to Toronto. “In particular, I would like to acknowledge Jay Smith & Laura Rapp and Carol & Morton Rapp who were instrumental in acquiring this work for the National Gallery of Canada and bringing this internationally-renowned work to The Power Plant specifically,” adds Verna. “I also acknowledge the strong community of art supporters who answered the gallery’s call for the opportunity to host as many 24-hour viewing periods as possible: Lead Sponsors Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin and Shanitha Kachan & Gerald Sheff; Lead Donors Nancy McCain & Bill Morneau, Michelle Koerner & Kevin Doyle and Eleanor & Francis Shen; and Support Donors Dr. Kenneth Montague and Keith Thomson.

Marclay’s fascination with the collage of sound and image dates back to the late 1970s. Marclay played music with bands in underground club scenes, often using homemade instruments such as a record turntable converted into a portable electric guitar-like device. His innovative artistic practice continues to combine aural and visual sources with a keen sensibility toward complex editing, sampling and looping techniques. Marclay’s experimental work with sound, video, and film has been extremely influential on a younger generation of artists for whom the idea of digital sampling and mixing recordings is now a given.

Toronto audiences will have the exclusively opportunity to hear Christian Marclay talk about his work on 5 November, 2012 at 7 PM when The Power Plant and its Primary Education Sponsor CIBC will present him in conversation with Canadian artist Michael Snow at the Enwave Theatre, Harbourfront Centre.

Members of The Power Plant will have the first opportunity to see the The Clock in advance of the larger public opening at a Members-First Exhibition Preview on Friday, 14 September, 2012 from 2 – 5 PM.

Special 24-Hour Viewing Periods

The gallery will be open for several 24-hour periods so that visitors can have the opportunity to see the work in its entirety. Please expect significant wait times during the opening weekend presentation.

Opening Weekend
Friday, 14 September, 5 PM – Sunday, 16 September, 5 PM

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto
Saturday, 29 September, 10 AM – Sunday, 30 September, 5 PM

Watch-a-Thon
Tuesday, 16 October, 10 AM – Sunday, 21 October, 5 PM

Art Toronto 2012
Saturday, 27 October, 10 AM – Sunday, 28 October, 5 PM

Closing Weekend
Friday, 23 November, 10 AM – Sunday, 25 November, 5 PM

This exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Canada.
It was purchased in 2011 with the generous support of Jay Smith & Laura Rapp and Carol & Morton Rapp, Toronto. It was jointly acquired by the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

PRESENTING SPONSOR: RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT
LEAD SPONSORS: IRA GLUSKIN & MAXINE GRANOVSKY GLUSKIN AND SHANITHA KACHAN & GERALD SHEFF
LEAD DONORS: NANCY MCCAIN & BILL MORNEAU; MICHELLE KOERNER & KEVIN DOYLE AND ELEANOR & FRANCIS SHEN
SUPPORT DONOR: KEITH THOMSON

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Omer Fast: Continuous Coverage
15 September – 25 November 2012

Guest Curator: Melanie O’Brian

The Power Plant presents a solo exhibition of the work of critically-acclaimed Berlin-based artist Omer Fast. Fast (born 1972, Jerusalem) works primarily with video to test our understanding of media and examine how individual and collective histories interact. Focusing on narrative structures and constructions, he mixes sound and image into stories that test the line between personal and media accounts of current events and history, particularly a recent history of war. The exhibition includes three significant projects spanning the last decade that reveal his facility with, and critique of, the languages of media, cinema, documentary, and contemporary art. In his concern with the strategies of digital manipulation and perception, Fast’s work draws attention to the permeable boundaries between documentary and fiction.

Fast uses strong visual and audio narrativity, from the collage of media footage into new narratives to the layered use of material culled from recorded interviews. In CNN Concatenated (2002), begun in the aftermath of 9/11, Fast edits clips from CNN’s “talking heads” so that each word is spoken by a different newsperson. This anxious new address demonstrates the mutability of information and language. The work asks the viewer to question media authenticity and authority and addresses the audience’s experience of news, particularly the language of fear.

Five Thousand Feet is the Best (2011) relies on montage to disrupt the relationship between a narrative and its interpretation. Told between flashbacks and interviews, the work is based on conversations the artist conducted with a US Predator drone aerial vehicle operator. The drone operator agreed to discuss the technical aspects of his job and his daily routine on camera. Off the record, he briefly described recurring incidents in which the unmanned plane fired at militants and civilians in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the psychological difficulties he experienced as a result. The narratives form a circular plot that returns fitfully to the voice and blurred face of the drone pilot and to his unfinished story.

Continuity (2012) is Fast’s most recent work. Its narrative follows a contemporary middle-aged German couple reuniting with their son, a young soldier just back from service in Afghanistan. What first appears to be an emotional family reunion turns out to be a compulsive ritual enacted by the couple who hire a series of young male escorts to come home with them, spend the night and play their son. The repeated family reunions are contaminated by inexplicable events and the disappearance of each son. Ultimately, the story slips into the uncanny, the oedipal, and finally into the zombie genre.

Accompanying this exhibition is a new publication, Omer Fast: 5000 Feet is Best, co-published by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK), Norway and The Power Plant, edited by Milena Hoegsberg, Acting Chief Curator, HOK and Melanie O'Brian, and designed by Node.

As part of the gallery’s International Lecture Series, Omer Fast will speak in advance of the opening of his exhibition on 11 September, 2012 at 7 PM at the Studio Theatre, Harbourfront Centre.

THIS EXHIBITION IS SUPPORTED BY ARTIS.

Upcoming Programs and Events
PRIMARY EDUCATION SPONSOR: CIBC

INTERNATIONAL LECTURE SERIES: Omer Fast
Tuesday, 11 September, 7 PM
Studio Theatre, Harbourfront Centre
FREE Members, $12 Non-Members
Omer Fast will be at The Power Plant in advance of the opening of his solo exhibition to speak about his acclaimed practice.

INTERNATIONAL LECTURE SERIES: Sarah Morris
Wednesday, 3 October, 7 PM
Studio Theatre, Harbourfront Centre
FREE Members, $12 Non-Members
Sarah Morris (born 1967) lives and works in New York and London. She has had solo exhibitions worldwide and her achievements have been recognized with several awards. Morris will speak about her work, which includes painting, site- specific installations and film. She will pay particular attention to her acclaimed feature-length film Beijing (2008).
Co-presented with Centre[3] for Print and Media Arts

IN CONVERSATION: Christian Marclay and Michael Snow
Monday, 5 November, 7 PM
Enwave Theatre, Harbourfront Centre
FREE Members, $12 Non-Members
Christian Marclay will be in Toronto on this special evening to speak about The Clock with Canadian artist Michael Snow. Snow’s career spans a variety of media, including photography, film, video, and sound art. He has received numerous awards and has had solo exhibitions around the world.
Presented by CIBC

INTERNATIONAL LECTURE SERIES: Douglas Coupland
Wednesday, 28 November, 7 PM
Studio Theatre, Harbourfront Centre
FREE Members, $12 Non-Members
Douglas Coupland (born 1961) is a Canadian novelist who has published thirteen novels and written about visual art for publications such as The New York Times and Artforum. In 2000, he recommenced a visual practice that merges art with design and text. Acting as a cultural commentator, Coupland’s talk will draw on his art practice to address the notion of “public” and “private,” fiction and non-fiction.

More about the Artists
Christian Marclay lives and works between London and New York. Born in California in 1955, he studied at École Supérieure d’Art Visuel in Switzerland. In 1977 he moved back to the United States and graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He has extensive international exhibition and performance history with solo exhibitions including: The Clock, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York (2011); What You See is What You Hear, LEE UM Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul (2010); The Clock, White Cube Mason’s Yard, London (2010); Festival, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2010); Christian Marclay with Irene Schweizer, Gare du Nord, Basel (2009); Christian Marclay: Replay, DHC Art Foundation, Montréal (2008); Cycloptically. Rolywholyover, Fifth Episode, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva (2008); Crossfire, White Cube Hoxton Square, London (2007); The Bell and the Glass, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2006); Christian Marclay, Barbican Art Gallery, London (2005); Christian Marclay, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris (2005); Christian Marclay, The Seattle Art Museum (2004); Christian Marclay, Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland (2004); Sol LeWitt/Christian Marclay, Collection Lambert, Avignon (2004);The Sounds of Christmas, Tate Modern, London (2004); Christian Marclay, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2003); and Christian Marclay: 1980 to Present, The Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale on Hudson (2003).

Omer Fast (born 1972, Jerusalem) lives and works in Berlin. He received his BA from Tufts University (1995) and his MFA from Hunter College (2000). He was the recipient of the 2009 Preis der Nationalgalerie für Junge Kunst and the 2008 Bucksbaum Award, among other honours. Fast has had solo exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (2012); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2010); Berkeley Art Museum (2009); and Museum of Modern Art, Vienna (2007). His work has also been featured in dOCUMENTA (13) (2012) and numerous biennials and group exhibitions. His work is represented by gb agency, Paris and ARRATIA BEER, Berlin.

Image: Christian Marclay
The Clock, 2010
Single channel video, Duration: 24 hours.
Purchased 2011 with the generous support of Jay Smith and Laura Rapp, and Carol and Morton Rapp, Toronto. Jointly owned by the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Courtesy the Artist, White Cube, London and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York.

For more information on exhibitions and all public programs, call +1.416.973.4949 or visit www.thepowerplant.org

Media Contact:
Robin Boyko
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
The Power Plant
+1.416.973.4927
rboyko@thepowerplant.org

OPENING PARTY: Friday, 14 September, 5 – 11 PM

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery at Harbourfront Centre
231 Queens Quay West, Toronto, ON, M5J 2G8, Canada
Gallery Hours:
Tuesday to Friday 12 – 6 PM
Saturday - Sunday 12 – 8 PM
Open holiday Mondays
Admission free

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