• Pae White and Ian Wallace exhibitions closing 2 January, 2011

• The Power Plant – Refresh: the gallery is closing to upgrade its visitor services and refresh its visual identity

Pae White and Ian Wallace exhibitions closing 2 January, 2011

Don’t miss your last chance to see two important exhibitions which have received much acclaim from gallery audiences!  As part of the 2010 Commissioning Program, The Power Plant has commissioned senior Canadian artist Ian Wallace and mid-career American artist Pae White to create work that acts as the centrepieces of their respective solo exhibitions, ‘Ian Wallace: The Economy of the Image’ and ‘Pae White: Material Mutters,’ on view only until 2 January, 2011.

2010 Commissioning Program Partner
Shanitha Kachan & Gerald Sheff

2010 Commissioning Program Supporters
Liza Mauer & Andrew Sheiner
Nancy McCain & Bill Morneau
Elisa Nuyten & David Dime

PAE WHITE: MATERIAL MUTTERS
Through 2 January, 2011

‘Pae White: Material Mutters’ is an exhibition that features a newly commissioned monumental tapestry by Los Angeles-based artist Pae White.  This commission, Sea Beast, is the centrepiece of this survey, which contextualizes her new work with many of her past tapestries of epic scale, as well as video animations and works on paper.  

Pae White began creating massive tapestries in 2004, ambitious undertakings that use heavily digitally manipulated photos of crumpled aluminum foil, plumes of smoke and dynamic image collages of collected scraps of image, pattern, colour, and text as their content. White’s ambitious commission for The Power Plant is a tapestry of a large-scale image of a found macramé wall hanging. The commission signals a new visual direction in her work while representing her continued practice of blurring materials and appropriating scraps and ephemera.  

White is an internationally established figure in contemporary art who revels in the rapport between art, design, the applied arts, and architecture, while questioning the traditional and often nebulous boundaries between them. White’s exhilarating and experimental oeuvre has continued to evolve in its roaming across different material forms and contexts with a sense of exuberant abandon.  

The exhibition is accompanied by an 80-page, hard cover catalogue, featuring an introduction by curator of the exhibition and Director of The Power Plant Gregory Burke and essays by Susan Emerling and Oliver Zybok.

Catalogue Supporters
Steven & Lynda Latner
Laura Rapp & Jay Smith

With support from 1301 PE, Los Angeles, Galleria Francesca Kaufmann, Milan,
greengrassi, London, and neugerriemschneider, Berlin

IAN WALLACE: THE ECONOMY OF THE IMAGE
Through 2 January, 2011

The exhibition ‘Ian Wallace: The Economy of the Image,’ is a major multi-part new installation revolving around a newly commissioned suite of twelve large-scale photo-lamination paintings titled, Abstract Paintings I–XII (The Financial District). These paintings reference photographs taken by the artist in the heart of Canada’s most important financial district in downtown Toronto. With this highly significant project, Wallace not only continues a career spanning four decades that examines the aesthetic and social legacies of modernism, but in this new work, reflects specifically on the context of Toronto (as previously commissioned artists have before him) in a manner that will resonate both nationally and internationally.  The twelve new paintings are contextualized by a group of works originally made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including both photographic works and sculptural “concept pieces.”

The exhibition is accompanied by an artist book, which features a text by curator of the exhibition and Director of The Power Plant Gregory Burke and an interview with the artist by Josh Thorpe.  

Presenting Sponsors
Rogers
RBC

With support from Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver


Related Programs

SUNDAY SCENE
Through 2 January / 2 PM / FREE with gallery admission
Speakers from the world of art and beyond offer their responses to the current exhibitions until they close on 2 January, 2011.

19 December / Joel Herman

2 January / Michal Maciej Bartosik

For information on these events, visit our website.

The Power Plant – Refresh

The gallery is pleased to announce The Power Plant – Refresh, a project that will upgrade its visitor services and refresh its visual identity.

The gallery will be closed beginning 3 January, 2011 to allow for this exciting construction project and reopen on the weekend of 12 March, 2011 with a refreshed identity and improved visitor services, including a new lobby, reception area and retail space. Construction will begin on 3 January for the new lobby, which is the cornerstone of a number of improvements to visitor services at the gallery, both onsite and online.

The Power Plant – Refresh is an exciting project that aims to improve access for all visitors. It will strengthen the gallery’s identity, enhance outreach efforts and increase accessibility onsite, online and in all communications. The Power Plant – Refresh will help support and grow the gallery’s reputation as a leader in the presentation of contemporary art, here in Toronto and around the world.  

While closed for construction, The Power Plant will offer outstanding programs offsite.  Please visit www.thepowerplant.org in the coming weeks for complete information about all offsite programs.  

The Power Plant looks forward to a new lobby space, new website, and a redesigned visual identity to accompany a series of new exhibitions.  The Power Plant - Refresh: the countdown begins.

The Power Plant – Refresh is an important project made possible by major grants from The Ontario Trillium Foundation and from Canada Cultural Spaces Fund through the Department of Canadian Heritage. Additional support has been provided by Harbourfront Centre and the many corporate and individual supporters of The Power Plant.

Power Shop for the Holidays

The Power Plant produces a small number of limited editions by internationally distinguished artists, and also sells books and related unique merchandise that makes a great gift.  Shop now!
 

Institutional Donor: Nancy McCain & Bill Morneau
Primary Education Sponsor: CIBC Wood Gundy
Corporate Leaders: BMO Financial Group, Manulife Financial, Morneau Sobeco, Rogers
Government Funding: Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council

GALLERY ADMISSION:
FREE Members
$6 Adults, $3 Students/Seniors
FREE Wednesday 5 – 8 PM

GALLERY HOURS:
Tuesday to Sunday / 12–6 PM
Wednesday / 12–8 PM
Open holiday Mondays

Holiday Hours
Friday, December 24 12 – 3 PM
Saturday, December 25 CLOSED
Sunday, December 26 CLOSED
Monday, December 27 12 – 6 PM
Friday, December 31 12 – 3 PM
Saturday, January 1 CLOSED

Image Credit: LEFT: Ian Wallace, Abstract Painting III (The Financial District) (detail), 2010.  Courtesy the artist and Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver.  RIGHT: Pae White, Sea Beast (detail), 2010.  Source for commissioned tapestry.  Courtesy the artist.
Media Contact: Robin Boyko, 416.973.4927, rboyko@harbourfrontcentre.com

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
231 Queens Quay West
Toronto, ON Canada M5J 2G8
416.973.4949 // thepowerplant@harbourfrontcentre.com
www.thepowerplant.org