Group Exhibition What is Left

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Wendy Coburn, Jeans, [undated]. Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art
Wendy Coburn, Jeans, [undated]. Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art

This group exhibition explores the intersection of memory and loss in the aftermath of change, inspired in part by the exhibition Fable For Tomorrow at Onsite Gallery, a survey of works by the late Toronto-based artist, activist, and educator Wendy Coburn (1963–2015).

Sophie Calle, Les Tombes (Father/Mother), 1990, (diptych). Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art
Sophie Calle, Les Tombes (Father/Mother), 1990, (diptych). Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art

Coburn’s photographs and sculpture, which embrace the changing nature of relationships, are made all the more poignant with her passing. Building upon themes in Coburn’s work, this exhibition explores the presence of absence and the intertwining of memory and felt experience. It features photographs by Stephen Andrews; works from Sophie Calle’s photographic series The Graves; seminal images from the series Sleeping Places by Marlene Creates; sculpture by FASTWÜRMS; images from Jeanne Randolph’s series Parking Lot Pandemic—an ode to Winnipeg depicting photographs of empty parking lots during a COVID lockdown; paintings by Mélanie Rocan; and photo-constructions by Natalie Wood, which echo the Middle Passage and the intercontinental voyages of enslaved Africans. 

Marlene Creates, Sleeping Places, Newfoundland, 1982, 1982. Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art
Marlene Creates, Sleeping Places, Newfoundland, 1982, 1982. Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art
Jeanne Randolph, Because crowded gatherings of people were forbidden, flyers or posters ceased to be stapled or glued to walls. There was nothing to announce. There were no invitations. Sidewalks were soon devoid of litter. Store shelves were pillaged even as the toilet paper industry insisted the planet would never run out of toilet paper. No doubt garbage was being produced., No. 25 in the series Parking Lot Pandemic, 2020 (printed 2021). Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art
Jeanne Randolph, Because crowded gatherings of people were forbidden, flyers or posters ceased to be stapled or glued to walls. There was nothing to announce. There were no invitations. Sidewalks were soon devoid of litter. Store shelves were pillaged even as the toilet paper industry insisted the planet would never run out of toilet paper. No doubt garbage was being produced., No. 25 in the series Parking Lot Pandemic, 2020 (printed 2021). Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art

The title of the exhibition, What is Left, lifts the veil on what remains when life recedes, dreams fail, and pandemics strike. And, much like on a beach newly exposed during low tide, marvels can be revealed and regeneration become possible.

Stephen Andrews, Near Ulaanbaatar, 2013. Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art
Stephen Andrews, Near Ulaanbaatar, 2013. Courtesy of the artist and Paul Petro Contemporary Art
  • Marlene Creates
  • Stephen Andrews
  • Sophie Calle
  • FASTWÜRMS
  • Mélanie Rocan

  • Jeanne Randolph is one of Canada’s foremost cultural theorists. She is the author of the influential book Psychoanalysis & Synchronized Swimming (1991) as well as Symbolization and Its Discontents (1997), Why Stoics Box (2003), Ethics of Luxury (2007), Shopping Cart Pantheism (2015) and My Claustrophobic Happiness (2020). Dr. Randolph is also known for her curation and as an engaging lecturer, performance artist, and musician. In universities and galleries across Canada, England, Australia, and Spain, she has spoken on topics ranging from the aesthetics of Barbie to the philosophy of Wittgenstein.

  • Natalie Wood
  • Wendy Coburn

Core Exhibitions

Curated exhibitions and public art presented in partnership with institutions across the GTA