The MacKenzie Art Gallery’s inaugural project in the RBC NEXT series is the award-winning Winnipeg (Treaty One)-based artist Luther Konadu with his new exhibition, No Further presented by RBC Emerging Artists program. Opening on 23 September 2023, the exhibition features a new body of work that advances emerging critical dialogues in the photographic medium.

No Further expands the artist’s ongoing exploration of portraiture photography, which began in 2015. Konadu refuses the conventions associated with the depiction of human subjects by incorporating experimental sculptural/architectural forms within his display strategies, in an approach that reacts and responds to the gallery context. Konadu directs his attention to the medium of photography itself and the compositional conventions established in the genre. By interrogating photography as a vehicle of access, the artist encourages viewers to consider both its limitation and its potential, and how it chooses what to capture with its viewfinder.

With a nuanced perspective of modern and contemporary photography, Konadu’s work recalls French semiotician Roland Barthes’ discussion of the photographic image as a complex interplay of signifiers—revealing layers of meaning embedded within the visual representation—or American philosopher Susan Sontag’s critical analysis of photography’s relationship to memory and truth—questioning the role of the photograph as both a document of reality and a subjective interpretation, raising awareness of the medium’s potential to shape our perceptions and memories.

The artist presents new insights that shed light on the evolving nature of the medium and its role in shaping our understanding of identity, representation, and the act of looking itself.

Curator Tak Pham underscores the importance of this exhibition within the artistic landscape, “I have always been impressed by Konadu’s fresh perspective and nuanced take on contemporary photography. In this new work, not only does Konadu challenge the way photography is exhibited, but he also compels us, the viewers, to ask questions about our own approach to images and the subjects that it captures.”

This exhibition is made possible by the RBC Emerging Artist Program, with the generous support of Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg Arts Council with funding from the City of Winnipeg. It will be on view from 23 September 2023-14 January 2024 at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Learn more about the exhibition here: mackenzie.art/exhibition/no-further/

 

CURATOR TOUR AND OPENING RECEPTION

A Curator Tour and Opening Reception will be held on Saturday 23 September from 3 PM – 4 PM, where visitors will get the opportunity to participate in an exhibition tour led by Curator Tak Pham and a chance to meet acclaimed artist Luther Konadu in person.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Luther Konadu is an artist and writer based in Winnipeg (Treaty One). His studio activities are realized through photographic processes that give way to sculptural components. He acknowledges the legacies of the photographic medium as an interpretive site for generating new conventions and expanding fixed narratives.

Konadu’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, Aperture, and FOAM International Photography Magazine. In 2019 he won three national competitions: BMO 1st ART!, the New Generation Photography Award, and the Salt Spring National Art Prize. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto; Remai Modern, Saskatoon; The Polygon Gallery, Vancouver; SBC galerie d’art contemporain, Montreal; Filter Space, Chicago; the Center for Photography at Woodstock, New York; and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.

ABOUT THE MACKENZIE

The MacKenzie Art Gallery is Saskatchewan’s oldest public art gallery, currently celebrating 70 years creating transformative experiences of the world through art. With a permanent collection that spans 5,000 years and nearly 5,000 works of art, we encompass both the University of Regina’s vast collection and one of Canada’s largest collections of Indigenous art, the Kampelmacher Memorial Collection. Through art, education, and immersive programming, the MacKenzie brings fresh perspectives that transform how people experience history, themselves, and each other.

The MacKenzie is located in Wascana Park, Oskana Kâ’asastêki/Regina in Treaty Four territory, the traditional—and contemporary—territory of the Nehiyawak, Saulteaux, Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people, and the homeland of the Métis Nation. We are grateful for the support of the Mackenzie Art Gallery Operating Endowment Fund at the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation, as well as the support of our core funders: the Canada Council for the Arts; SaskCulture; the City of Regina; the University of Regina; and the Saskatchewan Arts Board.

 
MEDIA CONTACT

Mackenzy Vida

Communications Coordinator

MacKenzie Art Gallery

mvida@mackenzie.art

(306) 584-4250 ext. 4271

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