People must mourn, yet this human need has been challenged by the pandemic where thousands around the globe have not been able to accompany their sick relatives and friends during the last few days of their lives. Our rituals, funerals, vigils, ceremonies, and congregations have had to change in order to prevent further spread of the disease. . The uncertainty of death has become as real and as palpable as the uncertainty of living, and those most vulnerable in our society have paid the heftiest price during this global tragedy. However, being deprived of the ability to mourn has led to alternate modes of expression and human interaction. Many have adapted to new possibilities and perspectives, all of which include our process of mourning. The artists Paolo Almario, Laura Barrón, Claudia Chagoya, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer offer new insights into this human quest and position the task as an all-encompassing and collective endeavor. Their work speaks to a generation of people who have had to overcome uncertainty and unpredictability, where memory serves as a powerful tool to re-conceptualize a different outcome.
LOCATION: Sur Gallery Exhibition: 39 Queens Quay East, Suite 100
PROGRAMMING: Online Artist Talk with Laura Barrón and Claudia Chagoya:
Thursday, November 4th, 6-7:30 PM ET on Zoom – RSVP here.
Latin American Speaker Series with Rafael Lozano-Hemmer:
Thursday, November 18th, 7-8PM ET on Zoom. – RSVP here.
Studio Critique: Paolo Almario with Gerardo Mosquera: View recording here.
Curator Tour with Tamara Toledo: View recording here.
Gallery Hours: Book an appointment here, or please email operations@surgallery.ca
Fri noon-6:00PM – Sat 11 AM-5 PM
The artists in the exhibition Reimagining Mourning construct narratives that discuss the despair faced by loss while also offering humanity a place for closure. No one can ever prepare for death or loss, but these artists allow a space for its representation, they display the fragility of life and the humanity we all share. Almario, Barrón, Chagoya, and Lozano-Hemmer capture an experiential and transcendental place, and they suggest a new terrain for its absent subject, no longer confined to isolation. Perhaps the ability of artists to provide spaces of revisiting, regenerating, and reimagining sites of remembrance and commemoration – one that we all long for and need – will lead us to acknowledge the horrors of our past and present and seek to live a more just and balanced future.
Read the complete Curatorial Statement here.
