Valérie Blass The Mime, the Model and the Dupe
27 January – 17 March 2019

Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens & at Centennial Square

The sculptures of Valérie Blass operate in the realm of the double, trafficking in formal and perceptual inversions, misdirections and discontinuities. Taking shape across a broad range of techniques and mediums—from moulding and casting to assemblage and bricolage—Blass' practice is rooted in a commitment to the unexpected, bridging the figurative and the abstract to reconfigure our understanding of how a given object, image or material can or should perform.

In The Mime, the Model and the Dupe, the Montreal-based artist brings together a selection of works from the past ten years, a period in which she deepened her engagement with images, gestures and forms related to the body. Drawing on touchstones that extend from art history to the Internet, the works on view highlight the generative, often multiplicitous nature of Blass' sculptural vernacular, grounded as readily in the idiosyncratic and illusory as the traditional and representational.

Related Programs

Authors on Art: Lynn Crosbie

13 March 2019

Join us for our Authors on Art series with acclaimed writer Lynn Crosbie, held alongside our winter exhibition, The Mime, the Model and the Dupe, a survey of Montreal-based artist Valérie Blass.

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Ceramics Workshop

3 March 2019

Led by seasoned clay instructor and ceramic artist Kim Jack-McConnell, this afternoon workshop will see participants create a functional piece of pottery using hand-building techniques.

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Family Art Workshop

18 February 2019

Join us for a free family workshop inspired by the sculptural works of Valérie Blass. Participants will make hanging mobiles together using a variety of recycled materials.

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