Manual Assembly: Fragments of a Whole

‘Manual Assembly: Fragments of a Whole’ features the works of El Anatsui, Kevin Beasley, Wally Dion, Anthony Douglas Cooper, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Kelly Jazvac, Jenine Marsh, and Rosie Lee Tompkins.

“Gathering or collecting is often couched in ritual, redefining ordinary materials and circumstances, elevating them from prosaic usage to signifiers with both poetic and analytic meaning. Repurposed materials such as aluminum liquor bottle caps in the work of El Anatsui are both reified and representative as the artist forms them into massive abstract shapes. The scale and beauty of Anatsui’s works are essential to their meaning, drawing connections between colonialism and over-consumption, waste and the natural environment. The epic scale of Anatsui’s metal works allow him the surface area needed to create an expansive visual field of colourful abstract patterns and undulating shapes that are sublime in both beauty and angst. These grand artworks are magnificent in craft, scale, and appearance; they are also menacing in the profound accumulation of discarded materials and the labour needed for their assembly.” – The Goldfarb Gallery