The Learning Zone

by students in Materials and the Anthropocene

Visit the exhibition at https://ocad.libguides.com/the_essentialists

Created during the summer lockdown due to COVID-19, The Essentialists: material proofs in extraordinary times is an online exhibition querying materials, memory and values that shape and define our human-nature relationship. Working across various media — from foraged leaves to digital video — students create new visions of life, loss and survival in the Anthropocene.

The Essentialists explores, earnestly, and with a wink, how seismic change brings the material world back into focus. Individually and collectively, artists show what it means to live at new distances from, and, gain new proximity to, people, places, routines, purposes, things and belief. Like a seed that has sprouted into the concepts of “normal” and “natural” — just as materials in this exhibition — have been transformed.    –Penelope Smart, curator

Artists:

Minkyung An, Tina Fong Fiona Chan, Andy Chitty, Jessica Darzinskas, Anam Hasan Feerasta, Kristy Fung, Yujia Guo, Wesley Huang, Bisma Iqbal, Arashjot Kaur, Andria Keen, Abby Kettner, Julia Kota, Ronald Lam, Jennie Lau, Eileen Li, Griffin McAllister, Sydney Millet, Farzaneh Moallf, Cassie Pellerin, Eric Pon, Mashal Pouya, Sasha Shevchenko, Hio Lam Kylie Sio, Wei Sun, Janna Tjanetis, Hannah Warry-Smith, Yicheng Wu,Yixin Zhang, Daniel Zhou

Tutorial Lead/Curator: Penelope Smart

Curatorial Assistants: Farzaneh Moallef and Hio Lam Kylie Sio

Undergraduate Research Assistant: Angie Ma

Web Designer: Heather Evelyn

A special thank you to Dr. Pam Patterson for her guidance, dedication and vision which shaped Materials and The Anthropocene and our online exhibition.

Alea Drain, OCADU technical assistance (Toronto)
Pamela Dodds, artist (Toronto)
Daniel Payne, OCADU librarian (Toronto)
Joanna Black, professor and researcher (Winnipeg)
Becky Forsythe, curator and collections specialist (Iceland)
OCADU Writing and Learning Centre
OCADU Learning Zone

Thank you Abby Kettner for originally brainstorming “The Essentialists” in our Feedback Loops.

Natalie Mark and co-curators Yasmin Emery and Samiya Karim deliver a new flavour of an exhibition in the Learning Zone Gallery – House of Oriental: Northern Style on through May 27.

Mark describes House of Oriental: Northern Style, as an exhibition of works exploring pan-Asian Canadian foods: recipes developed from hybridity, alienation, assimilation, survival, and poverty. The works in this exhibition aim to explore not the most “authentic” or “real” ethnic foods, but to present the foods and experiences born out of the land’s rich (or poor) newcomer history. The exhibition includes works ranging from paintings to photography as well as a recipe book, compiling the foods behind the art.

Featuring artwork by:
Abbey Chong @eggba
Natalie Chuck @natachuk
Tina Chu
Kai Lumbang kai.en.tai
Mel Lou @otaku.mel
Natalie Mark @yakult.man
Loretta Miauw @loretta.miauw
Noelle Mok
Pauline Nguyen @lenorahuynh
Becky Wu beckywu.format.com

This month, the Learning Zone Gallery presents Toro, a solo exhibition by Donny Nie showcasing recent paintings, prints and digital animation.

Donny Nie references the sensations and processes of consuming food, to embody the continuous, and subtle shaping of an individual through the accumulative effect of innocent routine. Nie’s paintings and prints in Toro underline the exhaustion and exuberance, of the overwhelming possibilities in mundane, with anxious or curious surfaces.

On through March 29

Visit the Learning Zone Gallery to see Proud at OCAD U Art Show

Proud at OCAD U coordinators, Casey Helm and Teddy Schaub curated this exhibition and here is their perspective on this art show:

The PROUD at OCAD U Exhibition features the work of LGBTQ+ identifying students here at OCAD. Art Exhibition spaces can be inaccessible spaces, especially for those whose identities intersect in different ways. The theme is simple: there is none! The participants were encouraged to bring in work they felt like showing off. PROUD is a community space and focuses on claiming our own space here at OCAD. Copies of the PROUD Community Zine are also available for free in the Learning Zone!

List of participants:

Casey Helm
Jazmin Cordon-Ibanez
Rachel Finlay
J. Lee Bertram-French
Heidi Ku
Abigail LaChapelle
Vincy Lim
Rachel McCormick
Emily Saunders
Teddy Schaub
Proud at OCAD U Collaborative Artwork: Teddy, Casey, Jazmin, Vincy, Camille, Andres, Lee
Proud at OCAD U Community Zine Cover Collage: Teddy, Casey, Nic, Rachel, Lee, Annie

Image credit: Abigail La Chapelle, Jazmin Cordon-Ibanez, Teddy Schaub, Heidi Ku, Rachel McCormick, Emily Saunders

The Learning Zone Gallery presents a group exhibition called Perspectives.

This exhibition was organized by International Eyes, a student group which represents a community of students from culturally diverse backgrounds. It includes work in a variety of mediums, from painting to photography.

Contributors: Kalore Jingmei Cao, Raquel Gouvea Jose Felicia da Costa, Tim Hu, Nataly Kais, Ji Woo Lim, Kaylee Meyer, Tony Mulo, Ehiko Odeh, Michelle Scholz, Zhiyi Qian and Chenjun Zhu.

‘Perspectives’ is an exhibition showcasing the work of international students at OCAD U. While being international means different things to each student, it is oftentimes a big part of one’s identity. This is a small insight into the diverse body of work that international students are creating that highlights their abilities, personalities and passions.