Experience Exhibitions Conceptions of White

Conceptions of White

6 August 2022 – 13 November 2022

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About the Exhibition

Curated By

JOHN G. HAMPTON & LILLIAN O'BRIEN DAVIS

Organized & Circulated By

The MacKenzie Art Gallery

Galleries

RHW, Hill & Rawlinson Galleries

An exhibition that examines the myths and meanings behind the idea of a “White race”—a relatively recent invention that helped shape the modern world.

Conceptions of White is an exhibition offering context and nuanced perspectives that help viewers grapple with contemporary configurations of White identity. The exhibition examines the origins, travel, and present reality of “Whiteness” as a concept and a racial invention that classifies degrees of civility/humanity. Select historical objects and artworks illustrate White origin myths within their historical context, revealing Whiteness as a North American, settler-colonial invention of the seventeenth century, created alongside “Blackness” and “Aboriginality.” The contemporary artists in this exhibition complicate this historical foundation by examining how these acts of racialization are felt today through concepts of White guilt, anxiety, supremacy, benevolence, fragility, and power. These artists force us to confront the ideology of cultural erasure embedded in the social construction of Whiteness, the ramifications of its continually expanding borders, and the society fostered by this relatively young theory of racial categorization. Together, the diverse narratives, images, and concepts presented in Conceptions of White examine the existential, experiential, and ethical dimensions of engaging in classifications of Whiteness, while also drawing on the conceptual connections between colonial Whiteness and the aesthetic, social, and philosophical meaning we ascribe to the colour white.

The exhibition is framed through a biracial lens with both curators seeking a clearer understanding of their own relationship to Whiteness. John G. Hampton (Chickasaw/Canadian/American) is the Executive Director and CEO of the MacKenzie Art Gallery and Lillian O’Brien Davis (Jamaican/Canadian) is the Curator of Exhibitions and Public Programming at Gallery 44.

Research toolkit available here.

Artists in the Exhibition

Arthur Jafa
Barbara Meneley
Deanna Bowen
Fred Wilson
Hiram Powers
Howardena Pindell
Jennifer Chan
Jeremy Bailey

Ken Gonzales-Day
Michèle Lalonde
Nell Painter
Nicholas Galanin
Robert Morris
Ryan Kuo
Artist once known, after Leochares

Works in the Exhibition

Ken Gonzales-Day, The Wonder Gaze, St. James Park, 2006–2022,vinyl wall installation. Courtesy of Luis De Jesus Los Angeles. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Artist once known, after Leochares, Apollo Belvedere, plaster replica of Roman copy (c. 120–140 AD) of Greek Bronze (c. 330–320 BCE). Produced by the RMN Grand Palais workshop in Paris, from a cast of Apollo Belvedere comissioned by King Francis I shortly after it was put on display in the Vatican in 1511.

Nell Painter, Ancient Hair, 2019, photo documentation of installation. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery

Deanna Bowen, White Man's Burden, 2022, Installation of giclée prints on paper and oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Jennifer Chan, Aryan Recognition Tool, 2022, artificial intelligence-driven web application, https://aryan.toolsAI development supported by Andrew Matte; user experience design by Anu Kuga. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Howardena Pindell, Free, White and 21, 1980, video, 12 minutes and 15 seconds. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Garth Greenan and Bryan Davidson Blue. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Arthur Jafa, The White Album, 2018, video, 30 minutes. Donation 2020 from The American Friends of the Moderna Museet Inc. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Robert Morris, Portal, 1964, latex on aluminum. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Gift of Mrs. Robert B. Mayer. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Hiram Powers, Model of the Greek Slave, 1843, painted PLA printed replica from 3D scan of plaster sculpture. File courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, original purchased in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Barbara Meneley, White Land / Treaty 4?, 2022, 21 ink drawings on paper, assorted items on Plexiglass shelves (rocks, feather, tree bark, dried plant material, sand, vials of water, photographs, small video monitors). Collection of the artist, with support from SK Arts. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Michèle Lalonde, Speak White, 1968, extrait du film La Nuit de la poésie 27 mars 1970 par Jean-Claude Labrecque et Jean-Pierre Masse, 1971 vidéo, 5 minutes. © Michèle Lalonde, 1968. All rights reserved in all countries and in all languages.

Fred Wilson, Love and Loss in the Milky Way, 2005, table with 47 milk-glass elements, plaster bust, plaster head, standing woman, ceramic cookie jar. Courtesy of the Artist and Pace Gallery.

Nicholas Galanin, White Noise, American Prayer Rug, 2018, wool, cotton. Courtesy the artist and Peter Blum Gallery, New York.

Ryan Kuo, File: A Primer, 2018, keynote animation, 6 minutes and 20 seconds. Collection of the Artist.

Jeremy Bailey, Whitesimple, 2022, custom augmented reality filters. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by: Carey Shaw, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

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