Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art is so pleased to announce that this year’s Gala and Art Auction will feature two live artwork installations by renowned contemporary artists Dean Baldwin and Pat Lazo. 

Dean Baldwin has been exhibiting internationally for over ten years, and he lives and works in Toronto. He completed a BFA at York University and an MFA at Concordia. His installations, photography, and video are often on the subject of food and drink. Baldwin elaborately constructs immersive environments where he habitually “performs” the role of host. His work involves social practice, a form of artmaking recently described as “blurring lines among object making, performance, political activism, community organizing, environmentalism and investigative journalism, creating a deeply participatory art” (Randy Kennedy, The New York Times, March 24, 2013, p. AR1).

Plug In ICA has commisioned Dean Baldwin to create a site-specific installation for the 2014 Gala. The installation will occupy and engage the entire space, and requires the viewer’s participation to be realized. It is not meant to be viewed like a piece on a gallery wall, or enjoyed from a safe distance, but rather tangled up in the audience’s navigation of the party.

Pat Lazo is a visual artist living in Winnipeg, Canada. A prolific muralist and tattoo artist, Lazo has become a staple of Winnipeg’s public and commercial art scenes. Lazo’s murals can be seen around the world, including Montreal, Miami, Sau Paulo, and New York. With a career started as a youth involved in the early Canadian Graffiti movement, Lazo co-founded Winnipeg’s Graffiti Gallery in 1998, Canada’s first and only arts centre that is dedicated to hip hop and youth culture.

Over the last two years, Plug In ICA has partnered with Studio 393, a satellite space run by Grafitti Art Programming (Grafitti Gallery) to create a dynamic Youth Art Education Program. The proceeds from Plug In ICA’s 2014 Gala and Art Auction will benefit the continuation and development of this exciting program devoted to engaging local high school students with contemporary art. In celebration of the partnership between Plug In ICA and Studio 393, Pat Lazo will be creating a live artwork at the Gala that will later be available for auction.

Tickets: $185 

A charitable tax receipt will be available for a portion of the Gala ticket price. Tickets also include a one-year Plug In ICA membership.

For tickets:
1) call Plug In ICA during office or gallery hours at (204) 942-1043
2) visit the Plug In ICA Art Book Shop during gallery hours at 460 Portage Avenue
3) purchase tickets in our online shop

GALA SPONSORS 
De Luca Fine Wines
Delta Winnipeg
EQ3
Floral Elements Design Studio
Jon Holeman & Associates Private Wealth Management
Rinella Printers
Soirée Event Planning
URBANINK
Winnipeg Free Press
Freeman Audio Visual