Mark Gomes/Ginette Legaré at the Koffler Gallery (4588 Bathurst) to March 9. 416-636-1880 ext 268. Rating: NNNN
Rating: NNNN
Sculpture sometimes comes in the shape of familiar objects in unfamiliar groupings. For Slip, Ginette Legar turns the wall at Koffler into a visual ballet of kitchen and drawing utensils, while Mark Gomes mounts bins, ladders and a regulation-sized ping-pong table on the floor.Legaré’s installations are stunning, whimsical, balanced and light, despite being heavy on the silverware. In the first room, a series of pieces — from small globs of metal with eraser-bearing pencil ends through twisted metal water pipes with paint brush ends to a larger piece made from several bent pan bottoms — dance around Gomes’s chunky, masculine works. His three wire bins containing red-plastic-coated objects, and his table-like piece with a plastic top and a skirt of corrugated cardboard are substantial.
Gomes deftly weaves across the line between art and industrial design, taking perfectly functional items and creating something bigger and bolder. In the second room, his ping-pong table stands out. He’s covered it in layers of shaped corrugated cardboard to create an undulating landscape, and a nightmare for anyone interested in playing a bit of table tennis.
Each of Legaré’s works in this room seems to sing in unison. One wall holds 365 spoons. A series of forks stick out of another in a structured but delicate formation.
Slip is a curatorial symphony, and Gomes and Legaré are in perfect harmony.
Take advantage of a free guided tour of Slip and James Welling’s photography at the Art Gallery of York University on Sunday (February 2). The bus departs from the main entrance of OCAD (100 McCaul) at 1 pm. Call 416-736-5169 by Friday (January 31) to reserve a seat.
