Opening on Thursday, 9 April from 7 to 9 p.m. and continuing through to 16 May, the Susan Hobbs Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of work by Ian Carr-Harris.

Ian Carr-Harris presents 'A Boy’s Paper Crown, Ottawa, 1947', an installation that includes two reproductions of a paper crown worn by the artist as a child. One, of an appropriate size, rests on a side table; the other, much larger, sits on the floor. An image of a woman’s faces is caressed by a moving beam of light on an adjacent wall. Originally conceived for documenta8 in 1987, in this iteration Carr-Harris has redesigned its mechanical infrastructure and stripped the work of its colour. Author Jonah Lehrer writes that memory cannot be separated from its moment of recollection. The more we engage in the act of remembering the more the ‘original’ memory fades. Like a memory, this work has travelled both spatially and temporally. Across the decades it continues to shift shape.

Upstairs, Carr-Harris presents 'Combray', the third work in his ongoing investigation into pop-up books—which again, like a memory—fold back onto themselves to become palpable only when opened. Here, alongside Proust we stand witness as he tries to apprehend the paradise lost of his childhood through the famous petite madeleine. Presented as a silver locket dwelling in the body of the book, it continues to hold the key. However, instead of summoning involuntary memories long forgotten, the magic of this thing discloses a conversation about the complex subject/object relations central to the artists’ oeuvre.

Ian Carr-Harris was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1941. He has shown extensively in Canada, and internationally, including such exhibitions as the 8th Biennale of Sydney, Canadian Biennial of Contemporary Art, Documenta 8, and the XLI Biennale di Venezia. He has had solo exhibitions at Chelsea School of Art, London; The Power Plant, Toronto; Centre culturel Canadien, Paris; Centre d’art contemporain, Herblay, France; and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. His work has been included in exhibitions at Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation; Toronto; Musée d’art contemporain, Lyon; and Marburg Kunstverein, Marburg, Germany. His work is held in many public and private collections across North America and Europe.

Susan Hobbs Gallery is open to the public Wednesday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and by appointment. The gallery is located at 137 Tecumseth Street, Toronto.

For more information about this exhibition or the Susan Hobbs Gallery, please give us a call at (416) 504.3699 or visit www.susanhobbs.com.