We the centre
2019-2020 | GROUP EXHIBITION
WE THE CENTRE
TORONTO - PATEL DIVISION PROJECTS
Nov 16 - Jan 25
WE ARE THE CENTRE
Nov 16, 2019 - Jan 25, 2020
Opening: Nov 16, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Patel Division Projects is pleased to present We the Centre, a group show featuring Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber, Karel Funk, Simon Hughes, Sarah Anne Johnson (courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery), Wanda Koop, and Micah Lexier (courtesy of Birch Contemporary). All hailing currently or previously from Winnipeg, these artists form a venerable and intentional group in Patel Division’s roster. Nearly a decade ago, Galerie Division in Montreal made a decision to partner with artists from Winnipeg, recognizing a kinship with that city of outsiders and their under representation in a commercial context.
A persistent mythology clings to Winnipeg’s most widely-recognized artists, at once gratifying and unwieldy: they come out of nowhere, with an ironclad work ethic and a penchant for narrative, achieving success out of all proportion to their numbers and perceived reach. And then there is the mythology of the city itself, as seen through the intoxicating visions of filmmaker Guy Maddin but also derived from more pedestrian cliches of excruciating winters, cabin fever, and isolation as determinants in a rich and productive art practice. Put simply, there has been a lot of head-scratching about what is in the water in Winnipeg. The answer is just as simple: a specific set of conditions at a largely overlooked university art school, a bunch of bored and talented students, and a dash of ego.
All of the artists in this show are alumnae of the University of Manitoba’s School of Art. Although no powerhouse as an art institution throughout much of its history, a particular period in the 1990s produced an unprecedented number of graduates who went on to achieve national and international acclaim, among them Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber (and the Royal Art Lodge), Karel Funk, and Simon Hughes; Sarah Anne Johnson followed a few years later. At that time, the university’s art studios were housed in a decrepit barn on campus, open 24/7 and a veritable hotbed of production and partying. A rigorous but freewheeling faculty at the school is frequently cited by these artists as significant and influential; rules were few, and there was no commercial gallery pipeline to fuel negative forms of competition amongst students. Collaborations developed, DIY exhibitions sprang up, and career-defining partnerships were founded that persist to this day. Wanda Koop and Micah Lexier were established artists in their own right by this time; Wanda’s emergence as a serious painter provided a local model of success for younger artists, and Lexier’s exhibitions at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Plug In provided a model of expatriate career ascendancy. The ‘90s DIY ethos in the international art world dovetailed nicely with Winnipeg’s civic identity, and by extension, that of its artists. As the light began to shine on the Winnipeg art scene, an innate confidence had already developed on its own.
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