Mississauga, ON – April 26, 2024
by Lejla Pepeljak
Undergrowth by Sara Angelucci is now on at the Art Gallery of Mississauga! Until July 7, 2024, experience the relationship between photography, birds and social commentary by artist Sara Angelucci and curator Shannon Anderson for free.
Throughout the exhibition, traditional and experimental elements decorate the walls, including old Singer ads, and sounds of nature can be heard in the background.
A large sculpture (Sightings) greets us in the opening space, featuring two iconic Singer sewing machines stacked on top of each other with a peculiar bird perched above them both. Sara mentions how by “using the newest photographic technology, 3-D printing I made an exact replica of the extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker whose story is forever linked to the American industrial giant, the Singer Sewing Machine Company.” Speaking with curator Shannon Anderson, she revealed that the Singer Songbird pieces were created specifically for the AGM exhibition, so be sure to take a good look while you are there!
In the next space over, Aviary showcases the hybrid prints of Victorian style portraits merged with the features of extinct/endangered birds come to life. Surrounded by the sounds of the ‘Venetian Forest’ as Sara calls it, it’s almost like prints are coming to life and speaking like their bird counterparts. In particular, the combination of these old photographs, with figures dressed in the finest clothing of their era with feathers of these fancy birds, almost seems like they represent the person they overlap. In these pieces Sara touches on the relationship between the 19th century fascination of collecting, hunting and the division of nature vs. humanity. Read more here.
From Aviary collection, 2013
From layered photographs to hybrid concepts of human and bird, to video installations, these interconnected projects offer thoughtful and detailed attention to the natural world, humans’ relationship with it and how it can possibly heal.
Be sure to also join the AGM this Saturday, April 27, for a talk and workshop around bird safety in the urban environment; on May 9 with a workshop on how to grow your own native pollinator garden; and on June 15, the artist herself, Sara Angelucci will be giving a talk. More information is available here.
Undergrowth is co-presented by the Art Gallery of Mississauga, the Art Gallery of Sudbury, the Varley Art Gallery of Markham, and Tom Thomson Art Gallery.
Undergrowth is part of the CONTACT Photography Festival.
“Sara Angelucci is a Toronto-based artist working in photography, video and audio. Her work explores vernacular photographs and films, analyzing the original context in which images are made. Drawing attention to conventions of image making, her work foregrounds the cultural role vernacular images play in framing particular stories, creating histories, and memorialization. Her interest lies in drawing our attention outside of the image frame, pointing to the social and historic conditions which are the unspoken basis of the image.”
