With this exhibition, Barrie-based artist Sean George reconsiders what a monument might be at a moment when the idea of the monument itself is in question. Made during the COVID-19 pandemic and a year of activism against anti-Black violence and racism, the work reflects both ambivalence and optimism about how public space can be used to memorialize movements as diverse as disco, Black and Indigenous suffragist and feminist movements, AIDS and global folk art. Constructed in dresser drawers, briefcases and shadow boxes, these tactile works gather pop cultural artifacts, historical imagery, and highly personal mementoes such as IV bags and correspondence. Deeply collaborative in his artistic practice, George also works with Erin Lees Caribou, memorializing her resilience as an Afro-Indigenous woman who grew up in nearby Tottenham.
Curator: Emily McKibbon
