Channel
On view starting 30 October 2004
in Gairloch Gardens

Liz Magor’s production has seen many significant changes over the decades. Yet, right from the beginning of her career in the early 70s, she has shown a deep questioning of identity and nature, an intense curiosity with materials and a wonderful sense of play.

Oakville Galleries has enjoyed an ongoing relationship with Liz for over a decade, starting in 1993 when her work was the subject of a solo exhibition. Then, in 2000, she participated in a group show titled Beaver Tales, an exhibition that demonstrated why the image of the beaver still continues to be an important symbol for contemporary artists. The work Liz showed in this exhibition was called The Forces of Wolfe and Montcalm (1992). Oakville Galleries won the York Wilson Endowment Award in 2000, which was directed towards the purchase of this important work for the permanent collection. It has been gratifying to watch her extraordinary vision unfold. This summer Oakville Galleries will install a major commissioned work by Liz Magor outside in Gairloch Gardens.

The new bronze sculpture will be in the form of a hollow tree trunk with indications of an alternative interior space. It will be cast directly from a black locust, a tree native to Ontario, and will be installed horizontally on the sloping bank of periwinkle between the path and the Gallery Shop. It will have the appearance, texture and colour of a fallen log. However, on close examination, the viewer will note that the log has eyeholes that animate the form. As Liz says, “The goal is to make a sculpture which invites several literal interpretations. On one level it appears simply as a log. Then it may seem to be a recumbent, anthropomorphic log. Finally, it may present itself as a hideout or a shelter concealing some unknown person.”

Liz Magor is undoubtedly one of the leading visual artists currently working in Canada and has developed an international reputation for her art. She has participated in such prestigious exhibitions as Documenta (1987), the Venice Biennale (1984) and the Sydney Biennale (1982). In addition, her work is represented in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Windsor, Canada Council Art Bank, McMaster Museum of Art, National Gallery of Canada, Oakville Galleries, Vancouver Art Gallery, Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation and Winnipeg Art Gallery. Recently her works from 1989 to 2002 were the subject of a survey exhibition organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Power Plant.

Support for Oakville Galleries’s commission of Liz Magor’s work has been provided by the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program, Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Programme of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, the Corporation of the Town of Oakville, Sleeman Breweries Ltd., Paul Barrington, Joan Follows, Steve Mantle, Tom Monahan, Barb Weis, Richard Balfour, Angela Brown, Brent Channel, Peter Copestake, Procor, the Carol & Morton Rapp Foundation, Stuart Henderson, Peggy Lawrence, Bill Moore, Paddy O’Brien, Ho Wong, Kay Woods, Cochren Homes, Chris Jackson, Derek Knight, Elsie McCallum, Wayne Snider, Nathan and Lily Silver Family Foundation and Judith Schwarz.