STAGES biennial 2019

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STAGES biennial 2019

OFF-SITE LOCATIONS (to be announced August 1) 

Featured Artists: 

RAYMOND BOISJOLY 

DANIEL BUREN 

FASTWURMS

KENNETH LAVALLEE

JOAR NANGO 

SILKE OTTO-KNAPP

ANDREA ROBERTS

Curated by Jenifer Papararo

“What makes the whole of STAGES gutsier, and more fulfilling, than most public art projects is the willingness of its creators to expose Winnipeg’s unconventional and, at times, undesirable aspects and to allow public art to act as a kind of magnifying glass” 

  Natalie Haddad, Hyperallergic, 2017 

As an exhibition, STAGES sets out to activate the city of Winnipeg with temporary public sculpture, installation and performances by artists based in Norway, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Paris, Toronto and Winnipeg. The biennial takes place in different abandoned industrial sites, apartment buildings, parks and other public sites. This year, seven new works will be commissioned across the city.

Born in Boulogne-Billancourt, a small commune along the suburbs of Paris, Daniel Buren is a world-renown artist who for over fifty years has produced unforgettable artworks, controversial critical writings, thought-provoking public art projects and numerous collaborations with an impressive range of artists. In the early 1960s, Buren developed a radical form of conceptual art he called ‘degree zero of painting’ in which he deploys a series of 8.7 centimeter-wide vertical stripes to research what is painting: how painting affects and is transformed by the physical, psychological and social environments in which it is produced and consumed. All of Buren’s works are site-specific interventions that borrow and color the spaces they occupy. As one of many incredible artists taking part of this summer’s STAGES, Buren will re-create his 1981 site-specific installation Limited Time Only! at Eleven Evergreen Place in Osborne Village, Winnipeg.

Kenneth Lavallee will transform one of Winnipeg’s signature skywalks into a translucent colour-field and FASTWÜRMS will compose a ritualistic public performance on the grounds of nearly abandoned warehouse. Andrea Roberts will create a text-based intervention, quoting from an English translation of the 550 BC text by Cicero - Lorem Ipsum as well as present a sound performance, and Joar Nango will build a provisional sculpture applying contemporary indigenous methods near Fort Gilbraltar. Silke Otto-Knapp will present an 80-foot frieze of figurative and sculptural posters while Raymond Boisjoly disrupts Plug In ICA Staff and Board’s routes to the institute with text-based works.     

As one of Canada’s leading art institutes, Plug In plays an essential role in Winnipeg, building from and informing the city’s cultural scene. In addition to conducting research and facilitating discourse in the world of contemporary art, the institute continues to support the careers of artists, curators, critics and arts administrators while also reaching new audiences.

A strong feature of the institute’s ongoing research is the belief that contemporary art is a public concern. To engage the public, STAGES takes art out of the confines of the gallery into the public sphere.  Executive Director, Jenifer Papararo highlights how this process embodies a beautiful symbiosis between the artist and the environment that shapes, or is shaped, by art.

“Stages is grounded in a place, reflected on by the institution of Plug In ICA and the artists it invites; and hinged on the romance of chance encounters both open and awkward, and an interested audience who will see ‘the stage’ set as a whole with its mix of objects and performances, moving, breathing.”

STAGES 2019 is generously supported by:Presenting Sponsor | The Winnipeg FoundationFeatured Artist Sponsor | Mike NesbittMajor Sponsors | Daniel Friedman & Rob Dalgliesh; James & Leney RichardsonEngaging Sponsors | Susan Glass & Arni Thorsteinson, DIALOG design, BLDG architecture office incSupporting Sponsors | The French Embassy, Toronto; Downtown BizSTAGES would not be possible with our Community Partners: the Alt Hotel, Alliance Francaise, Martha Street Studio, Winnipeg Tourism, Stuido 393, Leon A Brown Ltd, Trotzdem Inc, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Festival de Voyageur and X-cues. For more information, please contact Rachael Thorliefson, Plug In ICA Special Projects Coordinator: rachael@plugin.org / www.plugin.org