Louise NOGUCHI Nobuo KUBOTA, Naiomi YASUI, AKIRA, YOSHIKAWA

Exhibition Dates: June 14-28 July 2012

'TransFormal – a group exhibition with four Japanese- Canadian contemporary artists whose work touches in some way the idea of transformation.
Be sure not to miss the opening reception where Governor General Award for Visual and Media Art recipient Nobuo Kubota will offer one of his riveting performances of sound poetry. He will use the gallery itself as a resonator to share his improvised vocalizations that are guaranteed to enchant. Sculpture, photography and works on paper that relate directly to Kubota’s performance will also be on display.

Towering other-worldly forms that resemble robotic misfits are on offer from Louise Noguchi’s Shanghai Dragon series. Are they representations of out-dated visions of the future or romanticized Hollywood versions of the past? The ambiguity allows the viewer to make their own connections with these pink styrofoam giants.

Naomi Yasui uses the gallery walls to create an alchemical apothecary with her Alchemical Vessel Series. It is a collection of 59 porcelain vessels each representing one of the 59 elements from alchemist Torber Bergman’s table of the elements, published in 1775. Yasui believes “the nature of ceramics is a transformative experience; the process of moving a raw material through pyrotechnology is a phenomenon that can be described as magical or spiritual.'

We are very happy to welcome back Akira Yoshikawa to present new works at the Latcham Gallery.
Akira was included in our 2008, exhibition, Order/Disorder: A Sculpture Show, curated by Georgiana Uhlyarik. His poignant and mischievous interventions into the gallery space endeavour to focus our attention in the present moment. His investigations into order and chaos invite the viewer to consider the everyday materials he uses and transcend the “obsolete past or the unknown future” and experience the everyday sublime that is readily found in the here and now."… (mehr)