CUT, DRAW, PRY

MAR 13 - 23, 2024

Opening Reception: MAR 15, 5 - 8 pm

GUEST ARTIST JOHN NOTTEN

A heavy rope, stretched, tugged and unfurled, strings together the rich story of an iconic object: the humble canoe. While it may occupy a warm, nostalgic place in the hearts of a nation, this symbol of recreation and exploration is also an artifact with a complex history. Its journey offers insight into the natural landscape, environmental sustainability, power and privilege.

Referring to three basic paddling strokes and to which ways in which the canoe has been dissected and reconfigured, Cut, Draw, Pry stems from the artist's personal connection to this beautiful craft while turning a critical eye to its historical and cultural role in the nation-building project of this place we now call Canada.

While the canoe is now embraced as an object of recreation and leisure, it has always been a functional Indigenous technology. Once it was appropriated by colonial settlers, this efficient craft was used to transform traditional Indigenous waterways into routes for profit and power. Cut, Draw, Pry investigates the intersection of the canoe’s role in the world of leisure culture with its historical use in the relentless process of reshaping the landscape.

Upending conventional notions of an idealized Canadian icon, this exhibition offers alternative perspectives to consider as it reshapes the romanticized colonial gaze of this much-loved vessel. As an avid canoeist, the work is also part of the artist’s on-going inquiry into the ways in which this craft has shaped his own life, perception of the environment and relationship to it. 

Artist Bio:

John Notten is a Toronto-based artist and educator. The immersive, interactive installations he creates offer a radical shift in the meanings of mundane objects and materials. Recently, his work has reimagined the artifacts of the ‘weekend getaway’ (canoes, Muskoka chairs, tents etc.), interrogating their alternate meanings in the context of Canadian history, particularly the legacy of privilege and power associated with leisure practices. As a perpetual educator, his hope is to foster ideas and awareness in an accessible way through interactivity and the aesthetic of play. Many of his works are large-scale installations in the public realm, including his current sculpture, Drawn to the Flame at Ontario Place as part of Lumiere: The Art of Light exhibition and his ongoing show, Flipping the Canoe at Todmorden Mills Heritage Site.