Monday, April 1, 2013

Mohammeds

An exhibition and talk by artist in residence Sandra Brewster

Thursday 4 April, 2013, 7 to 10 pm, at Alice Yard


Sandra Brewster has been artist in residence at Alice Yard during February and March 2013. While in Port of Spain, she has created a new body of work, Mohammeds, which has evolved from her ongoing Smiths series. On Thursday 4 April, to mark the end of her residency, Brewster will show this new work at Alice Yard, and give a short artist’s talk. The exhibition will be open to the public from 7 to 10 pm on 4 April, and from 6 to 9 pm on 5 April.

Brewster writes:

“I’ve enjoyed playing in the Yard this last couple of months, travelling, making friends, and learning about Trinidad. Some of the results of this play will be installed throughout the space, complemented by a talk on how my work has started to travel in other directions at Alice Yard.

“Among the series I’ve worked on, the Smiths have been a recurring theme. The name Smith, a large section of a North American telephone directory, conjures up ideas of sameness and commonality and invisibility, as there are so many. Offering an element of humour, I use the name to mock the notion of a monolithic Black community — of course not all Smiths are related, or look or act the same. The Smiths are afro-headed characters that I present as paintings on slabs of wood, their bodies clothed in solid colour and their faces replaced with the Smith section of the phone directory. I continue to use them in various visual narratives and pieces that offer a questioning around concerns of identity and representation.

“Now the Smiths from Toronto have turned into Trinidadian Mohammeds. I’ve been playing with the components of the form, using them in new narratives, and engaging environments and people with 3D interpretations. I regard this experience, very much inspired by this place, as another new beginning to my practice.”


About the artist:

Sandra Brewster is a Canadian artist of Caribbean ancestry. She is a recipient of numerous grants to develop projects. Her work has been published in several journals and magazines: Of Note, The Walrus, Small Axe, Chimurenga, MIX, and NKA, among others. Recent exhibitions include 28 Days, Georgia Scherman Projects, Toronto; Serious Play, SPACE, London, UK; (Re) Visions, The Print Studio, Hamilton, Ontario; Listen Installation, Robert Langen Gallery, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario; Fortune Tellers, Five Myles Gallery, New York; and Fleeting Face, A Space Gallery, Toronto. Her practice also includes work as an arts educator/community arts facilitator, and she has coordinated numerous exhibitions involving Toronto artists.

This residency is supported by the Ontario Arts Council