Summer 2019 exhibitions

The Power Plant is pleased to present three solo exhibitions by international artists. Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige present the landmark series On Scams, alongside the first solo exhibitions in Canada by Mario Pfeifer and Thomas J Price.

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
On Scams
Curator: Lauren Barnes

On Scams by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (both born in Beirut, Lebanon, 1969) is a multi-part project exploring notions of trust and faith across geographical and virtual borders. Taking as their point of departure over 4000 scam emails collected since 1999, the artists explore the way that these messages’ emotional appeals and grounding in contemporary political events can prompt us to think afresh about the nature of belief and the geopolitical fault-lines of our time. In works across sculpture, drawing and installation, the artists use these emails to generate a reimagining of recent history. Like elements of a film in which fiction and reality are blurred, the exhibition’s works construct a web of stories.
 
Mario Pfeifer
If you end up with the story you started with, then you're not listening along the way
Curator: Gaëtane Verna
Assistant Curator: Nabila Abdel Nabi

The work of Mario Pfeifer (born 1981 in Dresden, Germany) centres on narratives often forced out of our frames of vision. The video installations presented at The Power Plant explore the complexities and contradictions of three distinct contexts. #blacktivist (2015) is a two-channel video installation produced in collaboration with Brooklyn rap group Flatbush ZOMBiES. Approximation (2014) was filmed with the Yaghan people in Tierra del Fuego, Chile, while Again (2018), confronts attitudes to immigration and justice in Germany. The exhibition’s title expresses Pfeifer’s resistance to preconceived conclusions and his perpetual interest in inviting us to question our own standpoints: his works compel us to think of our own behaviour and prejudices.

Thomas J Price
Ordinary Men
Curator: Justine Kohleal, RBC Curatorial Fellow

Since 2005, Thomas J Price (born 1981 in London, UK) has focused on creating what he terms "psychological portraits" in sculpture. Ranging in size from small busts to monumental bronze statues, Price’s works depict the bodies, clothing and characteristics typically associated with black men. However, these works are not representations of actual people. Instead, they combine facial expressions drawn from ancient, classical and neo-classical sculpture, stereotypes represented in contemporary news media, and observed individuals. Inside the gallery, newly commissioned works and several smaller bronzes and photographs challenge the erasure of black bodies within the traditions of classical sculpture. Outside, Price’s "Numen" series (2016) and a cast-bronze titled Cover Up (The Reveal) (2019) confront viewers with images of black male bodies on a monumental scale.

Summer programming at The Power Plant
Join us as Mario Pfeifer speaks with celebrated Canadian artist Stan Douglas, and Thomas J Price speaks with RBC Curatorial Fellow Justine Kohleal about their works as part of our In Conversation series. Experience a lecture performance and film screenings by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige. Artist members are invited to participate in one of three Master Classes with exhibiting artists.

Support for On Scams includes International Arts Partners: Ambassade de France au Canada and Institut Francais
Support for If you end up with the story you started with, then you're not listening along the way includes International Arts Partner: Goethe Institut; Supported by: Audio Spotlight by Holosonics and KOW.
Support for Ordinary Men includes Lead Donors: Steven & Lynda Latner; Supported by: Chisel & Stone Masonry and Hales Gallery.

Admission to The Power Plant is ALL YEAR, ALL FREE, presented by BMO Bank of Montreal Financial Group.

Director: Gaëtane Verna

For images, interview requests and more info please contact: media@thepowerplant.org / T 416 973 4927