Class | Artist Talk by Karen Asher
Friday, June 14, 2019 – 7pm
Followed by a Karaoke Party | 9pm to Midnight
Host | Stephanie Poruchnyk-Butler
With a performance by The Pinc Lincolns | 10:30pm
At Plug In ICA, Unit 1, 460 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Plug In ICA was proud to present an artist talk by Karen Asher in conjunction with her solo exhibition Class. Asher’s body of work engages the figure in location, the body in movement, the mundane in tension with the surreal, captured in moments of joy, melancholy and resilience. Her images offer a set of circumstances that enliven the vulnerability felt in the every day. For Class, the poignancy of life is imaged and imagined through her subjects on screen and in portrait, highlighting the empowering effect of improv, performance and pleasure. In this work, Asher uses the camera to condition spaces of agency, visibility and confidence, allowing an openness at the heart of what is seen and felt. Astute and playful, Asher’s approach to composition is instigated by the care, rigour and sensitivity inherent in her process. The camera lens in Asher’s hands has the possibility of offering respite from hardship and struggle.
In celebration of Asher’s solo exhibition, a karaoke and dance party, featuring a performance by The Pinc Lincolns, followed the artist talk.
Karen Asher received her BFA in photography from University of Manitoba. In 2010, she had her first solo show at Platform Centre. Since then, her work has been exhibited in CONTACT Photography Festival, Gimili Film Festival, the Pingyao International Photography Festival in Beijing, Truck Contemporary Art, Lantern Gallery, Lisa Kehlher + Projects, Flash Forward, and her recent solo exhibition, The Full Catastrophe, at aceartinc. Her work has appeared in various publications including Front Line, The National Post, Canadian Art, Border Crossings, and BlackFlash.
All programming is FREE and open to the public. Everyone welcome!
This talk is available in our online video archive.
Acknowledgments
Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art recognizes we are in the territories of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Métis, and Oji-Cree Nations. Plug In ICA is situated in Treaty 1 territory, the ancestral and traditional homeland of Anishinaabe peoples. Treaty 1 was signed in 1871, taking this territory from seven local Anishinaabe First Nations in order to make the land available for settler use and ownership (Referenced from the University of Winnipeg).
Plug In ICA extends gratitude to our artists, generous donors, valued members and dedicated volunteers, with special thanks to our Director’s Circle.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council. We could not operate without their continued financial investment and lobbying efforts. Plug In ICA relies on community support to remain free and accessible to all, and enables us to continue to present excellent programs. Please consider becoming a member of Plug In ICA and a donor at https://plugin.org/support or by contacting Angela Forget: angela@plugin.org
For more information on this event and our other education programs, contact Nasrin Himada at nasrin@plugin.org
For general information please contact: info@plugin.org or call 1.204.942.1043