Artist Talk with Moyra Davey

Moyra Davey, EM Copperheads 1-150, Galerie Buchholz (detail), 2017, 150 chromogenic prints, tape, postage, ink. Courtesy the artist; Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne/New York; and greengrassi, London

Wednesday, May 8 at 7 pm
Ryerson University School of Image Arts
122 Bond Street, Room IMA-307 (third floor)

Join Moyra Davey for an artist talk presented in conjunction with Scotiabank Photography Award: Moyra Davey, a primary exhibition of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival on view at the Ryerson Image Centre from May 1 – August 4.

Scotiabank Photography Award: Moyra Davey is the first Canadian retrospective of the Toronto-born artist, winner of the 2018 Scotiabank Photography Award. Based in New York and renowned internationally for her photographs, videos, writings, and artist books, Davey’s work examines interiority and disclosure, and the intersection of private and public discourse. The exhibition includes portraiture, still life and photographs of subway scenes, along with a suite of Davey’s visually arresting films, which interweave subjective narratives with the texts and lives of her influences, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Sigmund Freud, Jean Genet, and most recently, Pierre Vallières.

Moyra Davey’s photographs and films have been exhibited internationally in major exhibitions including Portikus, Frankfurt, Germany (2017); Bergen Kunsthall, Norway (2016); and Camden Arts Centre, London, England (2014). She has been featured in recent group exhibitions including documenta 14, Kassel, Germany (2017); La Biennale de Montréal, Canada (2016), and the Whitney Biennial, New York, USA (2012). She is the author of several publications including Les Goddesses/Hemlock Forest (2017), Burn the Diaries (2014), and The Problem of Reading (2003), and the editor of Mother Reader: Essential Writings on Motherhood (2001). Davey’s work can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States; the Tate Modern, London, England; and the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada.

Moyra Davey, Kate & Jane (single image), from the series Triptychs, 1979, gelatin silver print. Courtesy the artist; Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne/New York; and greengrassi, London

Other exhibitions on view:

Meryl McMaster: As Immense as the Sky
Wearing various designed costumes, sculptural garments, makeup, and custom-made props, Meryl McMaster examines the overlapping cultures and histories of both her Indigenous and European ancestors in this series of performative self-portraits. Documented at ancient sites in Saskatchewan and the shores of early settlement in Ontario and Newfoundland, her images originate from her interpretation and reenactment of patrimonial stories told by relatives, knowledge keepers, and friends. McMaster’s otherworldly personas pose theatrically in front of these majestic panoramas, speaking to how inherited historical narratives inform her dual identity.

Adrian Raymer: Rejects
Reenacting scenes from 35mm colour slides found after her estranged grandfather’s death, Adrian Raymer proposes a new narrative for the original images and explores how the truth becomes distorted over time as context is lost. Dancing on the line between fact and fiction, Raymer presents the props used within her reenactments as real artifacts, their history solidified by the presence of similar objects in both the old slides and in the gallery installation.

Upcoming events, talks and tours:

Wednesday, May 22, 6 pm
Special tour of Scotiabank Photography Award: Moyra Davey with curator Gaëlle Morel and writer and curator Brian Sholis

Wednesday, June 5, 7 pm
Artist and curator in conversation: Meryl McMaster with Gaëlle Morel

Wednesday, June 19, 6 – 8 pm
Opening party and artist talk for Pearson Ripley: Shut Away

Wednesday, July 17, 6 pm
Special tour of Scotiabank Photography Award: Moyra Davey with curator Gaëlle Morel and writer and curator Brian Sholis

All events take place at the Ryerson Image Centre (33 Gould Street) unless otherwise noted. The RIC is an accessible space.

Ryerson Image Centre
33 Gould Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

ADMISSION IS FREE
Free exhibition tours daily at 2:30 pm

www.ryersonimagecentre.ca
416-979-5164
ric@ryerson.ca
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