Human Nature, University of Sask Art Galleries, Oct 9 – Dec 15 2015

HUMAN NATURE

Curated by Corinna Ghaznavi

Artists featured: Mary Anne Barkhouse (Minden), Panya Clark Espinal (Toronto), John Dickson (Toronto), Soheila Esfahani (Waterloo), FASTWÜRMS (Creemore), Martin Golland (Ottawa), Sherri Hay (Toronto), Kelly Jazvac (London), Gareth Lichty (Kitchener),  Gavin Lynch (Ottawa), Lisa Myers (Port Severn), David Ruben Piqtoukun (Sutton West), Su Rynard (Toronto), TH&B (Hamilton)

We live in a world indelibly marked by human presence. We have inherited the consequences of industrialization, capitalism, colonization and globalization. The excess material prosperity of the ‘first world’ now threatens the very survival of habitats and ecosystems, and human and non-human animals. Human Nature presents fourteen contemporary Ontario artists whose works look at the state of the natural world and our impact on it.

Playing on the idea of human nature as a force that exploits and innovates, creates and destroys, the artists in the exhibition explore a range of critical issues such as water scarcity, endangered habitats, waste and sustainability, post-industrialization, colonization, and the link between global warming and extreme weather. Taken together, the works of these artists reflect on human constructions and the complex interconnections between nature, culture, and technology. Human Nature critiques and explores our collective past and our fragile present, while pointing to alternative ways of envisioning the future.

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