Meryl McMaster, Harbourage For A Song, from the series As Immense as the Sky, 2019, chromogenic print. Courtesy of the artist, Stephen Bulger Gallery and Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain

Artist & Curator in Conversation:
Meryl McMaster with Gaëlle Morel

Wednesday, June 5, 2019
7 pm
Ryerson Image Centre

Join artist Meryl McMaster for a conversation with curator Gaëlle Morel, presented in conjunction with the exhibition As Immense as the Sky on view from May 1 – August 4.

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.

Meryl McMaster: As Immense as the Sky (installation view), 2019 © Larissa Issler, Ryerson Image Centre

Other exhibitions on view:

Scotiabank Photography Award: Moyra Davey
This first survey exhibition celebrates the work of Toronto-born artist Moyra Davey, 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.

Adrian Raymer: Rejects — closing June 9!
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, 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/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
Follow us @RICgallery

Media Contact
Kristen Dobbin, Ryerson Image Centre, kristendobbin@ryerson.ca / T+416 979 5000 x7032