Empire Des Loups
Emelia Lute
Elsewhere, seven species of the Boreal forest cohabit in an ideal vision of adaptation and survival in the installation, Empire. Despite their differences, they live comfortably together in a large, contiguous habitat. In pairs and alliances they hunt, share food, and warn each other of danger in biological equilibrium; a concept we humans have largely lost as the contestations over land and the renegotiation of territory continues in Canada. With Treaties in dispute and continued human expansion into farmland and bush, the ability of Indigenous people, animals, and even forests to adapt and adjust is under pressure. Amid tension along boundaries and borders, Empire, along with the other sculptural installations in the exhibition, reminds us of the need for coexistence and resistance against isolation, fragmentation, and alienation.
Mary Anne Barkhouse was born in Vancouver and belongs to the Nimpkish band, Kwakiutl First Nation. An established artist and sculptor, she is a descendant of a long line of internationally recognized Northwest Coast artists that includes Ellen Neel, Mungo Martin, and Charlie James.
Galleries that have showcased her work include the Ottawa Art Gallery; Art Gallery of Peterborough; Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa; Art Gallery of Sudbury; Gallery Stratford; and the Wave Hill Glyndor Gallery, New York. Her public art installations can be found in parks and university campuses across Ontario and her work is in the collections of many prestigious institutions, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa; McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon; MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina; Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa; Museum of Anthropology at UBC, Vancouver; Art Gallery of Guelph; Banff Centre for the Arts; and the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.
Inherent in her most critical curatorial work is the examination of the historical misapplication of scientific theories and technologies that result in harmful effects on segments of society. She is concerned with the ways in which western thought has categorized difference, delineating us and them, human and non-human, culture and nature.
Jennifer Rudder is a practicing independent curator as well as Assistant Professor in the undergraduate and graduate programs of Criticism and Curatorial Practice at Ontario College of Art and Design University, Toronto.
Artist Mary Anne Barkhouse and guest curator Jennifer Rudder addressed historical and contemporary notions around land from a Western and Indigenous point of view. They led a discussion about the role of the animal and avian inhabitants of Le rve aux loups as guides to our evolving world.
With decades-long research on wild canids (including coyotes, wolves, and African painted dogs) as an entry point in this talk, Dr. Alexander explored human-animal relationships, with the goal of elucidating the ecological, ethical, social, and cultural pressures shaping these engagements. The emotional lives and expressions of morality and justice amongst social carnivores was also explored.
In her first solo exhibition in Toronto, Mary Anne Barkhouse invokes the animal inhabitants of the land in artworks that reveal the transitory nature of empire, highlighting both the endurance and betrayals that delineate history north of the 49th parallel.
Comprising a series of new and recent sculptures and photo collages, Le rve aux loups reflects on our skewed experience of nature as a resource for human needs, rather than an ecosystem with its own intrinsic value.
Descended from a family of traditional Northwest Coast Kwakiutl carvers, Barkhouse has always worked within a contemporary sculpture/installation style. Her elegant yet witty works frequently employ popular culture references, while her accomplished handling of traditional sculptural materials such as wood, bronze, porcelain and glass, bring both a refined sensibility and serious tone to her often playful installations. These sophisticated artworks offer a quiet beauty while revealing the difficult struggle over territory that continues amongst humans, animals and the environment.
Mary Anne Barkhouse was born in Vancouver, BC and belongs to the Nimpkish band, Kwakiutl First Nation. An established artist and sculptor, she is a descendant of a long line of internationally recognized Northwest Coast artists that includes Ellen Neel, Mungo Martin and Charlie James. Galleries that have showcased her work include the Ottawa Art Gallery, the Peterborough Art Gallery , the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, the Art Gallery of Sudbury, Gallery Stratford, and the Wave Hill Glyndor Gallery in New York City. Barkhouse is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art and her work can be found in public parks and on college and university campuses across Ontario, as well as the collections of prestigious institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Mendel Art Gallery, Mackenzie Art Gallery, Art Bank of the Canada Council for the Arts, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Banff Centre for the Arts and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. In addition, her public art installations are featured at the City of Markham, Carleton University in Ottawa, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, University of Western Ontario, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Robert McLaughlin Gallery and the Millennium Walkway, Peterborough. Mary Anne Barkhouse lives and works in Minden, Ontario.
In her Koffler Gallery exhibition, Le rve aux loups, Mary Anne Barkhouse invokes the animal inhabitants of the land in artworks that reveal the transitory nature of empire, highlighting both the endurance and betrayals that delineate history north of the 49th parallel.