Laiwan, Melinda Mollineaux, Craig Berggold, and Susan Stewart in Conversation with Amy Kazymerchyk

Description:

To accompany the exhibition Thought, outside, curator Amy Kazymerchyk recorded conversations with artists Craig Berggold, Laiwan, Melinda Mollineaux, and Susan Stewart.

In the first recording, Laiwan and Mollineaux discussed the historical context and conditions within which their respective artworks African Notes Part 1 & 2 (1982) and Cadboro Bay: Index to an Incomplete History (1998) were made, and the formal and technical restoration that was required to present these works in 2020. They reflected upon how the notion of cyclical dialectics resonates with the endurance of these artworks and their formal and conceptual qualities, as well as the artists’ personal histories, artistic practices, and social commitments.

In the second recording, Berggold and Stewart addressed the social and cultural climate in which their respective projects A Time to Change (1984) and Drawing the Line (1990) were made. They discussed their mutual interest in engaging visual culture towards social change, and the urgent need to make marginalized experiences visible that motivated each of their works. They also reflected on their projects’ reception within artistic discourse and discussed their precarious visibility within contemporary art.

Thought, outside was curated by Amy Kazymerchyk, a candidate for the MA in Critical and Curatorial Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her exhibition was presented with support from the Killy Foundation and the Audain Endowment for Curatorial Studies through the Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory in collaboration with the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia. Her research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.