September 7-28, 2018
Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space
4th floor @401 Richmond St. W., suite 452
Open Tuesday – Friday, 11am-5pm, Saturday 1-5pm
Join the party of your dreams: dance party, birthday party, tea party, makeshift party, your local political party (that no one votes for).
Party like there is no tomorrow!
OMG, it’s a Party! is an experimental and curious multimedia project that offers views on expanding and challenging the concept of party as a form of social interaction, as well as representations of a political entity. First initiated through wordplay, and then activated by a composition of moving image and installation works by several Canadian and international artists, the project foregrounds and inquires into the cultural and political implications of party and its intricacies in the context of a contemporary society. In OMG, It’s a Party!, there is party for one person, for politically engaged individuals, for racialized bodies, and for culturally isolated communities. It sets out to develop new possibilities: Party is for everyone, tangible or intangible; it’s a call and response.
Works by Fang Di (Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea), Jennifer Chan (Toronto, Ontario), Lesley Loksi Chan (Dundas, Ontario), Will Kwan (Toronto, Ontario), Alvin Luong (Toronto, Ontario), and Karen Tam (Montréal, Québec).
Curated by Call Again (Henry Heng Lu + Winnie Wu), a Toronto-based initiative/collective committed to creating space for contemporary diasporic artistic practices and to expanding the notion of Asian art in the context of North America and beyond.
The exhibition runs in the Yerex/Bachir Presentation Centre at 401 Richmond St. W., 4th floor from September 7 – 29, 2018. There will be an Opening Reception on Friday September 7, 6-8pm with curators’ remarks at 6:30pm.
The exhibition is accompanied by a Screening of video works specifically drawn from Vtape’s collection, on September 28th followed by the Slow Dance Party with a playlist put together by Call Again in homage to their creative influences.
Then there is the After Party on October 13, organized by Alvin Luong, a discussion that dissects the exhibition’s interpretation of the word ‘party’ with participants involved in art, music, dance, and rave culture.
Image credit: Fang Di, “Triumph of the Skies,” 2017