2008 Grange Prize Winner Sarah Anne Johnson Debuts Emotionally Charged New Exhibition at the AGO this Weekend

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


2008 Grange Prize Winner Sarah Anne Johnson Debuts Emotionally Charged New Exhibition at the AGO this Weekend



TORONTO.- In House on Fire, a new exhibition of photo-based works and sculpture by 33-year-old Winnipeg-based artist Sarah Anne Johnson, the political meets the personal as Johnson explores the story of her grandmother's unwitting participation and mistreatment in a CIA research program in Montreal in the mid-1950s.

Opening at the Art Gallery of Ontario on July 4 and continuing through August 23, House on Fire features a series of personal photographs of Johnson and her grandmother augmented with drawings in pencil and paint, as well as nine small bronzes and a new sculptural work, a dollhouse, the work from which the exhibition takes its title.

“Johnson’s ability to combine media, working fluidly between sculpture and photography, is part of what has drawn so much attention to her work,” says Michelle Jacques, the AGO’s associate curator of contemporary art. “In her previous work, [Johnson’s] focus was on public and environmental issues. Now, with House on Fire, she’s gotten personal and her unique approach yields disarmingly affecting results.”

In the mid-1950s, as part of the CIA project “MK-ULTRA,” patients in the care of Dr. Ewen Cameron of the Allan Memorial Institute at McGill University , Montreal , were subjected to a series of mind-control experiments including shock and drug therapies and medically induced prolonged sleep. Johnson’s maternal grandmother, Velma Orlikow, who had sought Dr. Cameron’s help for postpartum depression, was one of these patients. It was not until 1977, when the details of MK-ULTRA were revealed in The New York Times, that Orlikow and her family finally learned what had been done to her. In 1979, the artist’s grandmother and eight other patients initiated the lawsuit Orlikow, et al. v. the United States . In 1988, the CIA settled out of court.

In 2008, Johnson was awarded the inaugural Grange Prize for contemporary photography. Launched in 2007, this unique, annual partnership between the AGO and Aeroplan recognizes the best in Canadian and international contemporary photographers. The $50,000 award is the largest of its kind in Canada , and is determined entirely by the public voting. Each year, candidates are selected from Canada and one other country. This year’s winner is Mexican photographer Marco A. Cruz. Next year’s partner country will be France .

Sarah Anne Johnson
Johnson was born in Winnipeg , Manitoba in 1976. She received her BFA from the University of Manitoba in 2002, and completed her MFA at Yale University in 2004. Her work is included in many distinguished collections including the Guggenheim Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Canada. She lives and works in Winnipeg , and is represented by the Julie Saul Gallery, New York and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto .








Art Gallery of Ontario | Sarah Anne Johnson | Grange Prize | Dr. Ewen Cameron | Allan Memorial Institute | McGill University |





Today's News

July 4, 2009

First U.S. Exhibition of Venetian Renaissance Sculptor Tullio Lombardo at National Gallery

Bonhams Old Master Sale Offers Best Of The Grand Tour With Paintings by Classic Artists

Leading Artists and Thinkers Gather in Charles Darwin's Home Town to Celebrate his Lasting Legacy

Linked Hybrid by Steven Holl Architects Named 2009 "Best Tall Building" in Asia & Australia Category

Maurice de Vlaminck, a Fauve Instinct: Paintings from 1900 to 1915 on View at Caixaforum Barcelona

Dali Collection in Florida to Move to Hurricane-proof Building

Museum of Art Lucerne Opens Silence: A Selection of Works from the Collection

Jewish Museum Announces Reinventing Ritual: Contemporary Art and Design for Jewish Life

Joslyn Art Museum Presents an Exhibition of Devotional Images Called Retablos

Aperture Foundation Announces Winners of the Strand's First Ever Photography Contest

The Ashmolean Museum Acquires an Extensive Collection of Drawings by Tom Phillips RA

Weapons Collection, Witness of Mexican History

What Are You Like? Self-revealing Artworks by People in the Public Eye

Corcoran Presents Claudia Smigrod, Neighborhood Watch

New Orleans Museum of Art to Present Skylar Fein: Youth Manifesto

The National Gallery of Australia to be "Stitched Up" by a Tag Crew of Knitters as Part of a Festival

D Documenta: A Two-day Conference Towards Documeta 13

2008 Grange Prize Winner Sarah Anne Johnson Debuts Emotionally Charged New Exhibition at the AGO this Weekend

British Artist Richard Woods Whimsically Transforms Various Structural Elements at City Hall.

Call for Applications - Kuenstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful