A mixed-media exhibit by Ann Boutchko & Ninat Friedland.
At The Gallery, from January 15th, 2007 to January 19th, 2007
105 Accolade West Building, York University
By Gabrielle Charron-Merritt
Posted February 4th, 2007
The Gallery at York University is a white-walled space, with a heavy glass door with ambiguous handles, leaving visitors unsure whether to push or pull. It is immensely quiet, unless there is a multi-media exhibit. The Gallery is the newest and biggest of the five galleries at York University which exhibit undergraduate and graduate students’ art. You can find it on the first floor of the Accolade West Building. A few weeks ago, strange shapes caught my eye as I passed by between classes, and invited me in for a peek — namely a large wooden rib cage floating in a corner of the room. It is usually devoid of human forms whenever I walk in, but I guess the sight of me peering at art intrigued others to come and join me. Featured were the works of Ann Boutchko & Ninat Friedland, in an exhibit entitled Life Contained. Both artists' work bridged two and three-dimensional mixed media.
While the show as a whole was memorable, each artist had a few truly stand-out pieces. Ann Boutchko's painting “Building” was the first I examined: it depicted a high rise and a tree from a bird’s eye view. The whole scene was painted blue, as if the building had become part of the sky, and the tree branches arched towards the building, turning into the fine lines of the building’s windows. I was struck by the reality of this scene and the visual connection made between nature and architecture. Another of Boutchko’s paintings, “Raspberries,” worked like an optical illusion; she had painted raspberries on various pieces of acetate hanging from two wooden dowels, as if in a basket.
In the centre of the room was a varied display of sculptures. One was entitled “(In)Fertile Eggs”: Ninat Friedland had painted and dyed images onto chicken eggs. These made me laugh, as they reminded me of Ukranian Easter eggs from far, but upon inspection turned out to be intricate drawings of the female reproductive system and the fertilization process. Another by the same artist, “Fertility Goddess”, was a bronze sculpture of a beautiful round woman holding up an unwinding, multi-coloured ball of felt. Beside the goddess, Boutchko's piece "Moisture" used crystal resin to create an assortment of frozen droplets. In the centre of the gallery, on the floor, were bronze origami cranes that looked as though they were floating on imaginary waters. Titled "Forty-Two Cranes (or 958 short of one-thousand)”, Friedland described it as a conceptual piece; each was made from a piece of origami paper with a student's wish for the world on it (inspired by the story of how by making 1000 cranes there would be world peace). I saved this piece for last, even though it had caught my eye the instant I stepped into the exhibit, it held a special place for me, because I have loved origami cranes since my childhood.
Through the art, I had caught a glimpse of the women who had made these objects. Each piece had contained a little bit of the artist's life, but held it in suspension, saving it from the ravages of time and stress and late assignments. Even as I left the exhibit, I felt that everything around me was holding as still as possible. This wasn't everyone's reception, though; flipping through the customary comments booklet at the door, I found a variety of responses, such as “Is that piece supposed to represent a penis? I’m sorry, but I’m just not sure” (referring to Boutchko’s sculpture "Threatened Vitality").
It is unfortunate that The Gallery does not get more visitors. Many people walk by without noticing what hangs inside. I have even seen a girl doing her lipstick in the reflection of the glass doors. It is not a snobby place, with a tight-lipped curator following in your shadow. There are no security guards to tell you “don’t touch the art!" and there is no pressure to over-analyze and critique every piece. I find it is a calm place to wander through in between classes. And for those of you without an excuse to be on campus at York, there are always receptions once a week with free cocktail weenies, wine, and of course, art. Anyone who took the time to see Boutchko and Friedland's Life Contained could attest to how worthwhile the free art can be.
To find out about the weekly exhibits at The Gallery, visit yorku.ca/finearts/visa/thegallery/thegallery.htm.