TO GO BOLDLY
MAIN GALLERY AND INTRODUCTION GALLERY
May 25 to September 2, 2024
Curated by Anik Glaude
Sonny Assu, Ana Diab, Rosalie Favell, Dara Gellman, Sky Hopinka, Stefana Fratila, Shelley Niro, Alex McLeod, Rajni Perera, Claire Scherzinger, Brendan Lee Satish Tang, and Syrus Marcus Ware.
About the Exhibition
To go boldly explores how contemporary artists look to science fiction to confront the past, make sense of the present, and imagine the future. Through this genre, complex social and cultural topics, such as racial justice, colonial violence, gender identity, and ableism, can be explored in profound and accessible ways. Worldbuilding is one of the science fiction methodologies adopted by artists to achieve this goal. Creating their own worlds filled with otherworldly beings and fantastical settings allows artists to escape established conventions and establish new narratives for themselves.
To go boldly also delves into the relationship between science fiction and popular culture. Using Star Trek as an example, it explores how fandom can become a conceptual framework through which artists explore their own identities, aspirations, and critiques. The exhibition features newly commissioned artworks alongside existing pieces. Some of these works engage directly with the Star Trek universe through its recognizable iconography and beloved storylines. Others express similar themes but are influenced by other sources.
Ultimately, the exhibition aims to illustrate that space is not the final frontier, but rather a rich and diverse arena where science fiction, contemporary art, and fandom can coalesce.
Associated Programs
Summer Exhibitions Opening Reception
Saturday, May 25, 2024 | 1:30 PM to 4 PM | Free | Registration not required.
Kick off your summer season at the Varley with our Summer Exhibitions Opening Reception. Meet the exhibiting artists, join in guided tours, enjoy food and music, and get hands-on with family-friendly craft workshops and board games. Plus, don't miss the chance to meet a Star Trek-themed cosplayer as she roams the venue!
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Online Panel Discussion: “Close Encounters: Futurism in Contemporary Art”
Wednesday, July 17 | 12:30 to 2 PM | Free | Online | Registration required.
Inspired by our science fiction themed exhibition To go boldly, and the opening of York University’s new campus in Markham, this panel examines how futurist artists and curators envision the future they wish to inhabit. Panelists include exhibiting artists Brendan Lee Satish Tang and Syrus Marcus Ware, and curator Anik Glaude.
Learn more
Register
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Fandom Art: Printmaking workshop with Karen Law
Friday, August 2 | 6:30 to 8 PM | |Free | Drop-in
Join artist Karen Law at the Varley Art Gallery for a fun, fandom art workshop. Drawing inspiration from our current exhibition, To go boldly, participants will learn the art of relief printmaking to create unique prints on paper. Bring your own t-shirts or tote bags to personalize with your designs, too! All skill levels are welcome for this creative and engaging evening.
About the Artist
Karen Kar Yen Law is an emerging artist and educator living and practicing in Unionville, Ontario. Following the completion of Fine Art and Education degrees at Queen’s University, she was the 2021-2022 Emerging Printmaker Scholarship Residency holder at Open Studio Contemporary Printmaking Centre where she now practices as an artist member. Law was the winner of the 2023 Untapped People’s Choice Award at Toronto’s independent artists fair, Artist Project. Law’s work has been exhibited throughout Kingston and Toronto, Ontario including Union Gallery, the Isabel Bader Centre for Performing Arts, Gallery 1313, Myseum Toronto, and Open Studio.
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The Varley Art Gallery of Markham gratefully acknowledges the support of our sponsors and funders:
Image credit:
Thumbnail: Sonny Assu, The Away Team Beams Down to What Appears to Be an Uninhabited Planet (detail), 2016, Digital intervention on an Emily Carr painting (Vanquished, 1930), archival Pigment Print, 55.8 cm x 83.8 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Equinox Gallery
Cover: Rosalie Favell, Voyageur, 2018, oil on linen, 121.9 cm x 121.9 cm. Courtesy of the artist