How a Living Day is Made

For How a Living Day is Made, the exterior of the Doris McCarthy Gallery, as well as its foyer gallery are configured as the space of Dawn, hosting works that are concerned with practices of care-taking. The exhibition begins with a commissioned mural work by Walter Scott that appears on gallery’s facade, weaving into and out of two very large vitrines, continuing the narrative arc of his Wendy comic book series. Scott began self-publishing Wendy zines in 2011. The distinctive visual style of the series is rendered in black and white line drawings and half-tone backgrounds, chronicling the adventures and mishaps of Wendy as she struggles to break into an art world full of self-centred, conceited, cruel caricatures that are all too recognizable for any reader who has participated in gallery or museum culture.

The west gallery is configured as the space of Day, hosting works that reference the social and the logical. In bold vinyl lettering, a poem of Aisha Sasha John’s entitled I got to (2016) occupies an entire wall of the gallery space.

In an exhibition about making a living, this frankness deserves special attention: little else matters if you can’t pay the rent. But John is demanding something more. She doesn’t want enough money, she wants a lot of it. This poem is only literally about cash: money is power. The east gallery is configured as the space of Dusk, hosting works that reference intimacy and various kinds of symbology. Against the back walls of the gallery, drawing visitors into the space, are a set of seven ceramic wall works by Rachelle Sawatsky that are roughly shaped as stars. Hung along a conjoined set of walls, they evoke not only the night sky, but constellations and the associated traditions of astrological divination.

Images: 1) Aisha Sasha John, “Touch Me” (2016), detail (Photo credit: Yuula Benivolski); 2) Walter Scott, “The Shirt-Dress in the Urban Context” (2016), detail (Photo credit: Yuula Benivolski); 3) “How a Living Day is Made,” Day gallery (Photo credit: Yuula Benivolski); 4) “How a Living Day is Made,” Dawn gallery (Photo credit: Yuula Benivolski); 5) Rachelle Sawatsky, collection of seven untitled stars (2015), installation shot (Photo credit: Yuula Benivolski).