MKG127 is honoured to present etc. an exhibition of work by Laurel Woodcock.
Opening Saturday, January 5, 2-5 PM.
etc. consists of work by Laurel Woodcock that is being exhibited at MKG127 for the first time. The exhibition opens two days before the second anniversary of Laurel’s untimely passing.
A large portion of Woodcock’s studio practice culled from familiar language; a turn of phrase, song lyric, punctuation mark, typography, visual trope, or element of syntax. These became materials from which she explored the problems and possibilities of language, its formal and connotative qualities and malleable meanings.
“Laurel taught us about the power of words and language, and how permanence and the ephemeral can coexist. Incredibly thoughtful, supportive and unparalleled in her generosity, her influence ripples through the countless students whose trajectory she shifted. It’s difficult to separate Laurel’s work from who she was. Both her person and practice were curious, honest, witty and warm, and she continues to teach us beyond her time.”
– Juliane Foronda, artist and former student of Laurel’s
“Laurel’s work was about language that’s been polished like a stone. Language that’s been left in a rushing river to have its hard edges scoured off. I’m Sorry. So Sorry. Please accept my apology. The language of clichés and song lyrics, of pat phrases and empty promises: words passed around too many times, words over-handled. Words rubbed so smooth that we no longer feel or hear them. Words as holes, or voids, or vacancies. Laurel filled in these empty spaces, gave them texture, and made the words seem funny or weird or strange or uncanny. Who’s Sorry Now? Who’s Sorry Now? She made words catch in our eyes and throats, turned words upside down, and led us to the opposite side of language.”
– Nelson Henricks, Montreal based artist and educator
“Laurel. A paradox. Making a skyline and a cloud concrete, a clear day in aluminium covered with automobile paint, don’t tell me everything, tell me everything, again and again, and again and again in perpetuity through the elusiveness of her shadows as she disappeared around a corner.”
– Sandra Rechico, Toronto based artist and educator
“Laurel Woodcock was a master tasker;
a bright light; a wry sly dog;
a clever cookie and a funny bunny.
A lot was left unfinished including this quixotic declaration
Laurel Loved Hardy
and we love Laurel. ”
– Paulette Phillips, Toronto based artist and educator
Laurel Woodcock first showed at MKG127 in the group exhibition A to B curated by Micah Lexier in 2010. Her first solo exhibition at MKG127 was note to self (2011) followed by A Certain Darkness is Needed to See the Stars (2013). Laurel’s work has been exhibited widely in Canada including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Power Plant, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, and YYZ Artists’ Outlet (Toronto), the Contemporary Art Gallery, Western Front, Artspeak and Or Gallery (Vancouver), Optica and Galerie Articule (Montreal) and many other national and international locations including the United States, France, England, Scotland, Spain and Egypt. Her works are held in many private and public collections including the Canada Council Art Bank, BMO, TD Bank, McCarthy’s LLP, Oslers LLP, Faskens LLP, the University of Toronto and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
The exhibition continues until February 2.