Rising Female Art Star Shows At The AGO

Canadian artist Shary Boyle sure knows how to get tongues wagging. And her latest exhibition, entitled Flesh and Blood (Art Gallery of Ontario until December 5th) did not cease to impress, or stir up conversation.

Boyle exhibition deals with sprawling themes of death, sex and birth- but unlike artworks that purport to be a response to these subjects, the Scarborough-native paintings, installations and more well-known ceramics seemed transfixed by them. Standouts of the latter are those that incorporate glittering objects mimicking abject-like fluids. In The Letter (above), the small ceramic figurines are hurling colourful beads that pour out of their mouth in such a way that it would be disturbing if not so beautiful; in another, black onyx- like pearls squish out of the figurines eye sockets.

Drawing inspiration from mythology and art history, Boyle ceramic creatures are a favourite of the exhibition. However, Virus (White Wedding), consisting of a larger-than-life white ceramic figure in front of a psychedelic projection, was by far the most successful. Out of the kneeling sculpture mouth is a strung-out and woven spider web that is then mirrored onto the wall by the projection. Here, a shadowy bat bounces around in flight nearby butterflies against kaleidoscope colours. The regurgitated web with flying insects maintains the sensibility that so perversely appealing in her smaller sculptures.

The way in which Boyle figures project from their orifices, combined with her interests in death and birth, is largely framed by a feminist history. Virus (White Wedding), for instance, immediately brought to mind the ectoplasmic excretions of the women at the forefront of the turn-of-the-century Spiritualist movement. In an effort to gain autonomy in a rigidly gendered society, women assumed the role of mediums and conducted seances to connect family members to long-lost loved ones. During the dark and intimate seances, the medium would conjure up ghosts, or web-like white ectoplasm, through various orifices in her body, often fooling those sitting in. Despite their growing power in the movement, the women were still subjected to intrusive examinations by men attempting to defraud them. The many archived photographs from these sessions show a similar substance to that of Boyle Virus sculpture.

Such references to history are prevalent in Flesh and Blood. Upon learning her exhibition was to be held near the Thomson relics, Boyle requested that several paintings from the AGO private collection be hung in conjunction with her work. The hung European paintings, that exhibit decadence, decay and consumption, are installed nearby her more contemporary and conceptual work. This brought to mind feminist historian, Griselda Pollock description of the avant-garde in art. Pollock argued that avant-garde artwork was closely linked to art history through first reference, then deference and finally through establishing difference. In this case, Boyle referenced decorative ceramic and European painting, but spun it with such disturbing and perverse qualities. The result is a conceptual multi-media exhibition that revisions its art historical roots.

Certainly a must see!

Danielle Forest
		About the author:
		Danielle Forest has been actively involved with the visual arts community upon moving to Toronto in 2007 for an internship with the Art Dealers Association. In 2010, Danielle completed an M.A. in Art History at the University of Toronto with a focus on Canadian art in the International Perspective. Currently, she works at Bau-Xi Photo, a private gallery specializing in emerging and mid-career Canadian and International artists; and works as a Research Assistant for a professor of art history from the U of T. Prior to her move to Toronto, Danielle completed a B.A.H. in Art History from the University of Winnipeg, where she co-founded the Art History Student’s Association, assisted at the University art gallery, IC03, and co-curated an exhibition of local artists.
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