CONVERSATION PIECES

From Confederation Centre Art Gallery’s permanent collection, a selection of works in and about dialogue, from artists Marion Wagshal, Teresa Marshall, David Neel, David Haigh, Marcel Braitstein, D’Arcy Wilson, Michael Flaherty, Erica Rutherford, John Greer, Gerard Clarkes, Brian Burke, Maxwell Bates, Jack Nichols, Marcel Dzama, Jamasie Teevee, Jean Paul Lemieux, and Marc Gallant. On display in the Frederic S. and Ogden Martin Concourse Gallery.

"A conversation piece—something that sparks our curiosity, initiates dialogue, generates a response—the expression was originally attached to works of art, specifically images of people engaging in informal social activities, in the familiar settings and rituals of everyday life. A part of this very narrow definition still resides in how we often think of art’s particular way of addressing us. Whether generating a question, requiring our response, our imagination, or our participation, we tend to distinguish art from other modes of communication by its open-endedness. Needless to say, this sense of art as a conversation piece has also resulted in artists making connection and communication a theme of their work. This selection of works from the permanent collection includes works that represent, produce, embody, warp, translate or sometimes frustrate connection and sociability."
- Pan Wendt, Curator, Confederation Centre Art Gallery