Critical Distance PROGRAMMING PUBLIC ART: Billboard on Shaw by Morgan Melenka and Megan Gnanasihamany

Billboard on Shaw presented by Critical Distance, featuring Burtynsky Suite by Morgan Melenka and Megan Gnanasihamany, 2022.

Burtynsky Suite is composed of four reproductions of Carrara Marble Quarries, Cava di Calagrande #2 by the Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. The reproductions range in degrees of abstraction, but each, unlike the seemingly cool distance of the original photograph, contain the rough edges of the process of translation and the clear marks of a subjective artistic rendering.

This image functions as a microcosm of the exhibition The Equivalence of Alloyed Gold which uses the children’s game of “Telephone” as a formal conceit to work through the distillation process by which major themes of national identity, art history, resource extraction and art celebrity may have staying power. The exhibition began with the photograph which is also the basis of this work, but artists were only supplied with a description of the artwork lacking the artist’s name, the title of the piece, or other identifying details. Burtynsky Suite, created by the exhibition’s curators Megan Gnanasihamany and Morgan Melenka, points to the curators’ role as guides in the game of telephone and their choice of this famous Canadian artist to base the exhibition upon.

The Equivalence of Alloyed Gold is made possible through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Critical Distance gratefully acknowledges funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Burtynsky Suite is on view at 180 Shaw Street, outside Artscape Youngplace, through October to November, 2022.

Image:Morgan Melenka and Megan Gnanasihamany, Burtynsky Suite, 2022. 8 x 8 foot billboard at 180 Shaw Street in Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood.