TORONTO, Ontario, January 26, 2012 – The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is pleased to launch its 2012 season with three visually stimulating and contemplative exhibitions: Tasman Richardson | Necropolis, Spectral Landscape and Daisuke Takeya | GOD Loves Japan. The opening celebration takes place February 4, from 2-5pm.

Featured in the MOCCA main space, Tasman Richardson | Necropolis is an immersive multi-media meditation on the nature of video and its strong affiliations with death culture. Consisting of six installations housed within a twisting, darkened superstructure, Necropolis channels visitors through stages of erosion, narcissism, acceleration, idolatry, self-doubt, and oblivion. Tasman Richardson | Necropolis is curated by Rhonda Corvese and presented by the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art.

For our widely acclaimed National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art program MOCCA presents Spectral Landscape. The expression “losing yourself in the wilderness” takes on new meaning in works by Peter Doig, Tim Gardner, and Sarah Anne Johnson. Here ambiguous, hallucinatory vistas collide with sublime, pastoral scenes and the idea of the ruggedness of the hinterland clashes with its ultimate fragility. In each case, the realism of the works is interrupted by a sense of sheer uncanny. These multifarious landscapes mix autobiography with illusion, and the banal with the extraordinary, offering striking images that suggest a shift in our perceived relationship with the natural world. Spectral Landscape is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and the National Gallery of Canada.

Daisuke Takeya | GOD Loves Japan, an installation in MOCCA media / retail space, is a time-sensitive project memorializing the earthquake/tsunami disaster that took place in Japan on March 11th, 2011. This installation intends to raise awareness of Japan’s long-term recovery needs and will encourage viewers to re-evaluate the meaning of love and empathy in our time. Daisuke Takeya | GOD Loves Japan is presented by the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art.

Links / URLs

• Learn more about Tasman Richardson | Necropolis
• Learn more about Spectral Landscape
• Learn more about Daisuke Takeya | GOD Loves Japan
• Learn more about the NGC@MOCCA program

Quote

• · David Liss, Artistic Director and Curator, MOCCA
  “MOCCA is excited about starting our season with three very distinctive visual experiences touching upon a very wide spectrum of relevant themes and issues. Visiting MOCCA this Winter will provide visitors with a particularly rich and varied experience of artistic production and thought.”

Tags / Keywords

• Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, MOCCA, National Gallery of Canada, NGC, NGC@MOCCA, Tasman Richardson, Necropolis, Spectral Landscape, Peter Doig, Tim Gardner, Sarah Anne Johnson, Daisuke Takeya, GOD Loves Japan, Japan, earthquake, tsunami, March 11, 2011.

About the National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art

The National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is a three-year program that will see the two institutions co-organize and co-present a series of exclusive exhibitions in MOCCA’s newly-renovated project space, drawn from the NGC’s exceptional contemporary art collection. These will include the presentation of single works, new acquisitions or full-scale exhibitions designed to complement MOCCA’s existing programming. Learn more about the NGC@MOCCA program.

About the NGC http://www.gallery.ca/

About MOCCA

The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art was founded from the former Art Gallery of North

York in 1999, with the mandate to exhibit, research, collect, and promote innovative art by Canadian and non-Canadian artists whose works engage and reflect the relevant stories of our times. In 2005, MOCCA relocated to the West Queen West Art + Design District in downtown Toronto, in the heart of one of North America’s most dynamic arts communities and functions effectively as a nucleus of energies for cultural production and exchange. Since 2006, MOCCA draws 40,000 visitors annually.

RSS Feed for MOCCA feed://www.mocca.ca/feed/rss/

For ongoing news, please go to http://www.mocca.ca/media-centre

Supporters

The National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is generously supported by

AXA Art Canada, Cineplex Media, World MasterCard^® and The Ouellette Family Foundation. The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is grateful for the patronage of THE ART DEPT., a leadership circle of MOCCA patrons.

All programs and activities of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art are supported by Toronto Culture, the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, BMO Financial Group, individual memberships and private donations.

# # #

Media Contact

Fayiaz Chunara

Head, Communications and Marketing

416.395.7490

fchunara@mocca.ca

Curated by Rhonda Corvese

親愛なるクローン、

あのさ。日本人でいるというのはもしかしたらいいことなのかもしれない。それにね、僕は君と一緒でいられて、幸せだし、誇りに思うよ。そして君も、僕と一緒でいられて、幸せで、誇りに思ってくれるといいな。

君の友人として、敬意を表するよ。

GOD LOVES JAPAN is a time-sensitive installation memorializing the earthquake/tsunami disaster that took place in eastern Japan on March 11th, 2011. The installation intends to raise awareness of Japan’s long-term recovery needs and encourages viewers to re-evaluate the meaning of love and empathy in our time.

This installation includes three works:

1. A neon sign work, All you need is love Maybe; 
2. A deconstructed video recording sculpture Everybody Loves You 2 (ELV2);
3. and Yes, an homage to Yoko Ono’s 1966 work CEILING PAINTING (YES PAINTING).

The title of the exhibition is Takeya’s personal response to Douglas Coupland’s 2001 book GOD Hates Japan, the story of characters lost in a malaise that swept Japanese culture after the collapse of their economy in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. In addition it illustrates the way some of these characters lived in the shadow of the 1995 sarin-gas assault on Tokyo’s subway system by Aum Shinrikyo, a religious death cult.

On March 11th, 2011, an earthquake/tsunami disaster devastated Japan’s east coast.  So perhaps Coupland is right, that God does indeed hate Japan and that the recent disaster merely reinforces his point that human (and divine?) indifference reigns.

GOD LOVES JAPAN aims to make the incident relevant by being a metaphor for how values that are shrugged away today with cynicism, such as ‘love’ and ‘care’, can be rebuilt and strengthened over time. By commemorating the one-year anniversary of the disaster in Japan, the exhibition aims to call attention to the still-ongoing recovery, hoping to strengthen international solidarity and to build bridges for future partnerships between peoples all over the world.

The installation includes signage with ‘All you need is love Maybe’, an ambiguous statement in red and white neon, with ‘All you need is love’ flashing in red neon, and ‘Maybe’ in unblinking white. This work seeks to question our responses the statement, asserting the Heisenberg Principle, that uncertainty is the only certainty.

These words invite the viewer to consider their personal responses to Everybody Loves You2 (ELY2), an interactive sculpture and video-installation composed of non-functioning debris collected by the artist after the 2011 tsunami/earthquake on Japan’s east coast. Functioning as a hybrid video-making booth and confessional, viewers are encouraged to interact with the installation and be recorded saying the phrase “I love you,” a phrase that has become a cliché through public discourse and mythic associations. Through this simulation of a stereotypical behaviour, viewers actively construct and deconstruct their aesthetic experience of everyday reality. The words “I love you” become a declaration of confession to a subject who is absent, questioning the notions of authenticity and reality. In addition, ELY2 is inspired by trends in internet communication (eg. Facebook, MySpace), and the Japanese youth-culture phenomenon of the print-club photo-booth. It transforms our physical experience with these media and questions replacement of spatial and social interaction with I.T. culture. This work in its earliest “functioning” form first premiered during Toronto’s Nuit Blanche 2007, curated by Michelle Jacques and exhibited at Xpace Cultural Centre in 2010.

Love survives. ELY2 evolves as a result of this interaction and integration, developing a relationship over time with viewers and the environment. By situating the dysfunctional, or deconstructed work as a victim in the recent earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan, the sculptural structure of ELV2 will appear as though love is dead (and GOD Hates Japan). However the audience will hear the voices of people whispering, “ I love you,” in a video loop, remnants of love merely being simulated.

Finally, viewers will be guided towards a hole located on the elevated area of the installation. Upon looking into the hole viewers will see a little sign saying “Yes” (YES). The work is surrounded by photographs of Takeya’s Facebook friends that are currently volunteering in the disaster areas of Japan. Yes suggests optimism and the audience peeping downward may appear to be humanitarian rescuers. The work is homage to Yoko Ono’s 1966 installation that inspired John Lennon, and perhaps what lead him to his idealistic hit song, All You Need Is Love, through her influence.

24 December: 11-4
25 December: closed
26 December: closed
27 December: 11-6
28 December: 11-6
29 December: 11-6
30 December: 11-6
31 December: 11-4
1 January: closed

TORONTO, Ontario November 16, 2011 - The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is pleased to launch our winter exhibition season with two spectacular projects;Ineffable Plasticity: the experience of being human and Human / Nature fromNovember 18 to December 31, 2011. The opening celebration takes place November 18, from 8-11 pm.

Curated by Toronto-based independent curator, artist, and all-round creative force Camilla Singh, Ineffable Plasticity: the experience of being human features works by Mat Brown, Sherri Hay, Faith La Rocque, Jordan MacLachlan, Anders Oinonen, and Susy Oliveira. Taking shape according to the most current work within each of the artist’s practice, Ineffable Plasticity considers the idea that all human attributes and activity are an expression of nature. The exhibition looks at nature as an unstoppable force that governs and defines us, challenging the notion that anything, whether psychological or physical, could be construed as unnatural.

In relationship to Ineffable Plasticity, the National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art program presents Human / Nature, which features a selection of sculptures, drawings and textiles by Arnaqurk Ashevak, Ed Pien, Marion Tuu’luq, and Ah Xian. Drawn from the National Gallery of Canada’s permanent collections of contemporary Canadian, international and indigenous art, each work presents an example of symbiosis between humanity and nature, artistically explored through mythology, cultural history and oral traditions. Human / Nature is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and the National Gallery of Canada.

Links / URLs
• Learn more about Ineffable Plasticity
• Learn more about Human / Nature
• Learn more about the NGC@MOCCA program

Quote
• Camilla Singh, Ineffable Plasticity

“Working on this exhibition has been a leap into the unknown and has afforded me the opportunity to witness the powerful influence an artist has over materials. All of the artists produced new works for the show which represent the most current facets of their practice. The subject matter is challenging and in some cases controversial, and its all expressed through a varied set of material vocabularies and elaborate installations.”

Tags / Keywords
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, MOCCA, National Gallery of Canada, NGC, NGC@MOCCA, Ineffable Plasticity, Camilla Singh, Mat Brown, Sherri Hay, Faith La Rocque, Jordan MacLachlan, Anders Oinonen, Susy Oliveira, Human / Nature, Arnaqurk Ashevak, Ed Pien, Marion Tuu’luq, Ah Xian.

About the National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
The National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is a three-year program that will see the two institutions co-organize and co-present a series of exclusive exhibitions in MOCCA’s newly-renovated project space, drawn from the NGC’s exceptional contemporary art collection. These will include the presentation of single works, new acquisitions or full-scale exhibitions designed to complement MOCCA’s existing programming. Learn more about the NGC@MOCCA program.

About the NGC  http://www.gallery.ca/

About MOCCA
The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art was founded from the former Art Gallery of North York in 1999, with the mandate to exhibit, research, collect, and promote innovative art by Canadian and non-Canadian artists whose works engage and reflect the relevant stories of our times. In 2005, MOCCA relocated to the West Queen West Art + Design District in downtown Toronto, in the heart of one of North America’s most dynamic arts communities and functions effectively as a nucleus of energies for cultural
production and exchange. Since 2006, MOCCA draws 40,000 visitors annually.

RSS Feed for MOCCA feed://www.mocca.ca/feed/rss/
For ongoing news, please go to http://www.mocca.ca/media-centre

Supporters
The National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is generously supported by Cineplex Media, Porter Airlines, and The Ouellette Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by AXA Art Canada. The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is also grateful for the patronage of THE ART DEPT., a leadership circle of MOCCA patrons.

All programs and activities of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art are supported by Toronto Culture, the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, BMO Financial Group, individual memberships and private donations.

# # #

Media Contact
Fayiaz Chunara
Head, Communications and Marketing
416.395.7490
fchunara@mocca.ca

For more information about the award, and to read the citation please visit museumsontario.com

Just a regular day doused in hot pink paint.
Cossette breaks a new advertising campaign for MOCCA

Toronto, October 05, 2011: Ordinary people doing everyday things forms the central theme in a new advertising campaign for the Toronto-based Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA). But, as you might expect from an institution so closely associated with innovation, there is twist.

The people are drenched in hot pink paint as they go about their lives in otherwise average urban settings. The attention-grabbing imagery is supported by the headline: get contemporary.

“We chose ordinary situations because we wanted to get across the idea that MOCCA and the work that it displays is accessible to everyone,” says Caitlin Keeley, copywriter at Cossette, who helped develop the campaign for MOCCA. “And we chose to have them appear in hot pink, which is a striking and contemporary colour. The paint is like the art experience that sticks with you,” adds Josh Day, the art director behind the campaign.

There are three print ads in the campaign shot by award-winning photographer Mark Zibert, featuring a man walking his dog in a park as a woman drinks from a fountain, a man trimming his backyard with a whipper-mower and a woman pushing a grocery cart in a parking lot. A video work was also produced, which will be presented online, and at Art Toronto 2011, the Toronto International Art Fair.

“It’s a great opportunity for MOCCA to be working with Cossette, one of Canada’s leading ad agencies. Their concept for the campaign articulately reflects MOCCA’s vision of conflating artistic innovation, provocative imagery and familiar everyday activities. I really think the public will enjoy the results,” says David Liss, Artistic Director and Curator, MOCCA.

The advertising campaign breaks today to coincide with a public Launch Party at THE HOXTON (69 Bathurst Street) on October 5, 6-10 pm. The ads will be running on bus shelters across the GTA in an effort to reach beyond the usual art crowd.

Relocated to the fashionable Queen Street West district six years ago, MOCCA’s mandate is to exhibit, research, collect, and promote innovative art by Canadian and international artists whose works engage and address challenging issues and themes relevant to our times.
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For More Information Please Contact:

Mark Smyka
Cossette
416.306.6594
Mark.Smyka@Cossette.com

Media Contact
Fayiaz Chunara
MOCCA
416.395.7490
fchunara@mocca.ca