PANYA CLARK ESPINAL
VAGABOND VITRINE
Exhibition
Koffler Gallery at the Mon Ton Window Gallery, 2010
Photo documentation by Isaac Applebaum
Before the demolition of the former Koffler Gallery’s building, Toronto artist Panya Clark Espinal removed a section of the display case that lined the main lobby of the Gallery. With Vagabond Vitrine, she transforms this uprooted institutional vestige into a temporary installation that converges with the existing architecture of a former College Street storefront, now the Mon Ton Window Gallery.
Through her mixed media installations, Clark Espinal questions notions of authenticity, reproduction, collection, and display. A skillful creator of experiences, her evocative re-invigoration of already existent images brings fresh perspectives and renewed intimacy to the act of looking. Recalling the current nomadic circumstances of the Koffler Gallery, the displaced structure of Vagabond Vitrine splices with the storefront window and its re-imagined contents, in a nostalgic search to recover purpose. Traces of a natural history diorama infuse the vitrine with the uncanny qualities of a lost Cabinet of Curiosities.
Alluding to outdated modes of museum presentation that still capture public affection with an aura of fantasy, idealism and romance, Vagabond Vitrine contemplates the history of cultural representation of nature. While evoking the constant transformation of the urban environment, the work offers a moment of wonder in the midst of daily rush or in the mystery of the night, bringing art to the everyday. Ultimately, the installation reflects on the unsettled connection between culture and nature, and on the pervasive power of the museum to equally educate and manipulate, enchant and ensnare.
Alluding to outdated modes of museum presentation that still capture public affection with an aura of fantasy, idealism and romance, Vagabond Vitrine contemplates the history of cultural representation of nature. While evoking the constant transformation of the urban environment, the work offers a moment of wonder in the midst of daily rush or in the mystery of the night, bringing art to the everyday. Ultimately, the installation reflects on the unsettled connection between culture and nature, and on the pervasive power of the museum to equally educate and manipulate, enchant and ensnare.
