Nostalgia for the Present: A Collection of Snapshot Media
Nostalgia for the Present is a multimedia exhibition about the compulsion to record the everyday. In an age where social media is a daily occurrence, we become aware of the present as a potential document to be consumed by others. We begin to live life with a constant awareness of how it will be perceived as having already happen, seeing each moment as a potential photograph.
Using point-and-shoot, Polaroid and cellphone cameras, the 54 participating artists create impulsive, intuitive and often gritty impressions of the world around them. Creating fragmented, broken narratives, each of the works reflect a fleeting moment of the artist’s life. Each artist has confidence and arrogance in the lucky accident, grasping at singular frames from the infinite cinema of their existence. Some landscape, still life, and mostly portraiture, the snapshot genre blurs the line between artistic creation and personal archive.
Through an open submission process, over 150 snapshot works were selected from around the globe. Ranging from professional, gallery-represented artists to hobbyist who have never exhibited before, Nostalgia for the Present catalogues a movement in contemporary photography and image-based art.
Curated by Laid Bare: Curations and Other Concerns and held at Forgetus Collective, Nostalgia for the Presence is a joint venture between two young, Toronto-based fine art upstarts. Laid Bare is Andrea Leigh Pelletier and Kelsey Stasiak, artists and art-lovers committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive art community. Similar to a gallery but without the physical space, Laid Bare keeps busy by organizing site-specific exhibitions, publishing zines, and planning other artistic events. As the first undergoing by Laid Bare, Nostalgia for the Present fulfills our mandate to promote emerging and under-represented artists, while making art affordable and accessible to the public.
February 2nd – 11th , 2012
Opening: February 2nd, 7-11pm
Closing discussion: February 11th, 3pm
Curated by Laid Bare: Curations and Other Concerns
Showing at Forgetus Collective, 163 Sterling Rd. Unit 29, Toronto
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 12pm – 5pm
List of artists:
Alexander Alekseenko, Pauline Beaudemont, Kyle Brohman, Timothy Burkhart, Michael Raymond Clarke, Kira Crugnale, Nathan Cyprys, Erich Deleeuw, Lisa Folkerson, Ben Freedman, Aaron Friend Lettner, Amy George, Hudson Hayden, Eriver Hijano, Abby Hutchison, Vid Ingelevics, Chelsee Ivan, Andrew Jarman, Joachim Johnson, Michael Juneau, Dimitri Karakostas, Santa Katkute, Gavin Keen, Nicole Kim, Brendan George Ko, Sasha Kurmaz, Lindsay Lauckner, Drew Lint, Elena Malkova, Fraser Mccallum , Joshua Macdonald, Andrew McGill, Ania Mokrzycka, Andrew B. Myers, Ryan Nangreaves, Katie Newman, Mark Peckmezian, Andrea Leigh Pelletier, Deanna Pizzitelli, Claudia Puchiele, Marishka Radwanski, Anne Rawn, Van Robinson, Andy Schmidt, Kelsey Stasiak, Kyle Tait, Matthew Tammaro, Michelle Louise Wilson, Kavin Wong, Aaron Wynia, Aabid Youssef and Carina Yu.
inthegreenroom 