"The Jennifer Show: Works by 8 Artists Named Jennifer"
2002-04-20 until 2002-06-16
Oakville Galleries
Oakville, ON, CA Canada

The common factor linking the work in The Jennifer Show is simple. Each artist has been chosen because she meets the basic requirement for the exhibition - her name is Jennifer. The curator chose Jennifer because it is her name, but which Jennifer and what work.

The work is not selected because it illustrates a point or elucidates a theme, and it does not attempt to show a shared aesthetic between artists named Jennifer. The act of coming together under the process of art and bringing artists' practices into the public realm are the most significant reasons for mounting this exhibition.

The parameter of Jennifer intentionally reduces the variables used in choosing artists for this group show to a name, while it simultaneously avoids readings that draw neat ties between the works. Issues of selection, relations between works and how these relations affect the way we engage with the individual works, namely the curatorial process, come to the fore. Since the works do not have to play to a theme, other than being made by a Jennifer, they are individually significant. Maybe what this theme does best of all is erase itself as it privileges the idiosyncrasies of each work and the curator's taste.

IMAGE:
Jennifer Reeves
Jackson Gets Back into the Driver's Seat,
Forgets Greenberg at the Bar, 2001
acrylic on panel
courtesy Max Protech Gallery, NY

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for Canada

Other Important Exhibitions in Canada