An Opulence of Squander
The Morris and Helen Belkin Art GallerySeptember 3 – December 8, 2024
Image: Kelly Wood, Garbage Bag (Negative), 1997.
Collection of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Anonymous Gift, 2005.
Curated by Weiyi Chang.
Featuring works by Lorna Brown, Alexandra Dikeakos, Geoffrey Hendricks, Stu Horn, Deborah Koenker, Richard Ibghy & Marilous Lemmens, Mike MacDonald, Robert Rauschenberg, Soft Turns, Howard Ursuliak, and Kelly Wood.
Featuring works by Lorna Brown, Alexandra Dikeakos, Geoffrey Hendricks, Stu Horn, Deborah Koenker, Richard Ibghy & Marilous Lemmens, Mike MacDonald, Robert Rauschenberg, Soft Turns, Howard Ursuliak, and Kelly Wood.
Taking its title from an essay by artist Kelly Wood, An Opulence of Squander brings together works largely from the Belkin’s collection and archive with artists that reflect on concepts of surplus and excess to question the dual ascription of artistic work as a form of both luxury and waste. The works in the exhibition are unified by their critique of the pursuit of perpetual growth under capitalist regimes and its demand for continuous production.
Measures of productivity, such as gross domestic product, gross national income and unemployment rates, are treated as indicators of a society’s collective social, political and cultural well-being. But the ongoing climate crisis challenges the doctrine of productivity, exposing the unfettered waste and excesses that are often a by-product of economic growth.
In lieu of the imperative to produce, An Opulence of Squander brings together artworks by Lorna Brown, Alexandra Dikeakos, Geoffrey Hendricks, Stuart Horn, Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens, Deborah Koenker, Mike MacDonald, Michael Morris, Robert Rauschenberg, Howard Ursuliak, Kelly Wood and the artist collective Soft Turns that recognize both the limits to productivity and the contradictory ideological premises that foster and justify the continued exploitation of people and nature.
For more information, visit the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.
Measures of productivity, such as gross domestic product, gross national income and unemployment rates, are treated as indicators of a society’s collective social, political and cultural well-being. But the ongoing climate crisis challenges the doctrine of productivity, exposing the unfettered waste and excesses that are often a by-product of economic growth.
In lieu of the imperative to produce, An Opulence of Squander brings together artworks by Lorna Brown, Alexandra Dikeakos, Geoffrey Hendricks, Stuart Horn, Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens, Deborah Koenker, Mike MacDonald, Michael Morris, Robert Rauschenberg, Howard Ursuliak, Kelly Wood and the artist collective Soft Turns that recognize both the limits to productivity and the contradictory ideological premises that foster and justify the continued exploitation of people and nature.
For more information, visit the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.