Video: Artist Talk with Lou Sheppard | STAGES Speaker Series
Plug In ICA announced an artist talk by Lou Sheppard on February 2nd, 2023, as part of the STAGES Speaker Series in anticipation of his temporary public artwork for the STAGES biennial in August 2023.
Lou Sheppard works in interdisciplinary audio, performance and installation based practices. His work focuses on climate crisis, loss, queer ecologies and economies, responding to the material and discursive histories of sites, bodies and environments. Lou’s research is evidenced through graphic notations, scripts and scores which are often performed in collaboration with other artists and in community gatherings.
His recent work, Rights of Passage, commissioned by the Art Gallery of York University, was a three act drag and choral performance reflecting on the tension between the urban development in Toronto and local river systems. Other works, like A Strong Desire, asserted queer resistance to the DSM V diagnostic text for gender dysphoria by notating a dance work in the margins of the text.
Lou has participated in numerous residencies, including the International Studio Curatorial Program, La Cité des Arts, and as faculty at The Banff Centre. Lou’s work has been included in the Toronto Biennial and the Antarctic Biennial, and he is currently completing a public art commission for the Broadway Subway Project in Vancouver. Lou is a settler on the traditional and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq in Mi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia.
Acknowledgements
We are on Treaty 1 Territory. Plug In ICA is located on the territories of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. Our water is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation.
Plug In ICA extends our heartfelt gratitude to our generous donors, valued members, and dedicated volunteers. We acknowledge the sustaining support of our Director’s Circle. You all make a difference.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council, 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 enable us to continue to present excellent programs. Please consider becoming a member of Plug In ICA and a donor at https://plugin.org/support
For more information on this program and STAGES biennial, please contact: info@plugin.org or call 1.204.942.1043