The Flesh of the World

Inspired by the 2015 XVII Pan American and Parapan American Games and the work of the philosopher of phenomenology, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Flesh of the World is an exhibition presenting diverse and complex views of the body that might deepen qualities typically associated with competitive sports and games, such as the relationship between the body and technology, and how the senses might offer new forms of knowledge to corporeal performance and potential. The Flesh of the World will push the limits of the body and challenge dominant culture’s understanding of normativity and embodiment through work by Canadian and international artists who use the body as a medium.

The artists critically inquire and experiment with the shape and forms of bodies, proving that, within the context of both the exhibition and the field of athleticism itself, the body is unfixed and indeterminate. The exhibition also makes important connections between the language of complex embodiment and the language of sports, given that many of the issues relating to endurance, physical limits, failure, pathos, and the human psyche, inform both these fields. It is within the confluence of these two worlds, sometimes playful, sometimes reflective, that we can radically expand our ideas of the corporeal apparatus as a whole. The works span across various media, including film and video installation, sculptures, framed photographs, drawings, paintings and several performances. The exhibition aims to emphasize how visitors might engage with this work across multi-disciplinary, multi-modal platforms. Just like the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games itself, this project offers up the artists’ work to the audience through a wider fulcrum of knowing the contours of our flesh.

Doris McCarthy Gallery

The artists presented at the Doris McCarthy Gallery examine the role of prosthetic apparatuses and how they may be substitutes or even augmentations of and for corporeal experience. These “things” have evolved beyond the merely functional and take on aesthetic, poetic and metaphorical qualities. Consideration will go beyond artificial devices and will extend to the territory of the communal, where additional bodies may enrich and strengthen the abilities of the individual.

Artists: Katherine Araniello, Ingrid Bachmann, Mowry Baden, Louise Bourgeois, Lisa Bufano & Jason Tschantré, Arseli Dokumaci, Sara Hendren, Darrin Martin, Carmen Papalia

Justina M. Barnicke Gallery/University of Toronto Art Centre

The artists presented in the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery/University of Toronto Art Centre explore the psychological and experiential dimensions of physical performance. These artists share an interest in multiple levels of difference and its social constructions in the larger culture. Ranging from the playful to the subversive, these multi-sensorial works create a dynamic framework with which to reconsider notions of “nature,” “normal,” “form” and “behavior.”

Artists: Mowry Baden, Raphaëlle de Groot, Helen Dowling, Lindsay Fisher, Erin Gee, Ann Hamilton, Wendy Jacob, Martin Kersels, Noëmi Lakmaier, Tim Lee, Bruce Nauman, Catherine Richards, Stelarc, Aaron Williamson, Alexa Wright and Artur Zmijewski