A reflection in praise of the human body

Italian-Canadian artists join forces in the Go Figure exhibition at the Columbus Centre's Joseph D. Carrier Gallery

The centuries-long obsession with the human figure speaks more to our species' narcissistic tendencies than it does to the object of our affection. Norman Brown explained this obsession, writing that "the human body is not a thing or substance, given, but a continuous creation. The human body is an energy system which is never a complete structure; never static; is in perpetual inner self-construction and self-destruction; we destroy in order to make it new." This tearing down and rebuilding of the human figure, while gazing over the murky pools into our own self-reflection, is happening right now at the Joseph D. Carrier Gallery in a show aptly called Go Figure.
Ross Bonfanti, Laurie De Camillis, Julie Campagna, Paula Ferracuti, Domenic Martino, Tony Martino, Frances Patella, Frank Perna, Sandra Tarantino, Anita Giancola are all local Toronto artists working in different media to portray the body as it works, plays, and generally exaggerates itself into pleasurable and painful states. The theme of the figure and its link to personal identity, archetype, symbolism and metaphor is torqued and compressed by various hands and speaks to the diversity of questions each artist is asking of the human condition.
Julie Campagna, the only sculptor in the show, explains that her work is autobiographical, "in each piece, I look to identify what vs. who. My sculptures are about scenes of circumstance and consequence". In viewing Campagna's bronze sculptures, the figures metamorphosis from fish into woman or from human into tree deletes the face and focuses instead on the body. "Every portrait is a self-portrait", she notes. "I start by writing down an event that has affected me in some way, and then I move to sketch and expand on that, then I go to my table to work, and from that point, so much can change." For Campagna, the inspiration begins in the word and then moves outwards into a kind of choreographed and multi-stepped process, from carving to mould-making, which can take up to six weeks to complete.
Artist Paula Ferracuti works in monoprints, poses a different question from the body because unlike Campagna who omits the face entirely, Ferracuti focuses exclusively on the facial expression. Most intriguing about the show is isolating which aspect of the body resonates with meaning for each artist. In the face, Ferracuti finds a narrative as well, "I think it's an emotional response. And in this show in particular, I have painted a lot of emotion into them. My work is generally seen as being emotionally evocative." Working in monoprint, an extension of the technique of print-making, Ferracuti's prints have the same effect as a painting would, except instead of acrylic or oil, she uses a printer's ink - without actually etching into the plate itself. This technique bridges the two mediums and offers an original take on the printmaker's preoccupation with replication. In Ferracuti's work, each piece is unique, because the absence of an etching makes the first press the only press possible.
Domenic and Tony Martino criss-cross the primitive with the sophisticated version of the female body. Bodacious curves move across the canvas, as both brothers paint the stark side of female/male power dynamics.
Also present in this exhibit are the ever-experimental Ross Bonfanti and Sandra Tarantino who are both very much involved in the happening A.W.O.L. gallery, which has become a veritable landmark of the Queen Street art scene. Bonfanti and Tarantino reveal the figure as a bizarre happening, protruding out from itself, the body forces you to look at it and consider the absurdity there.
All in all, this show is at turns reflective and humourous, concerned more with the curve than the line, with the flow than the stopping, the question rather than the answer.

Go Figure shows at the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery in the Columbus Centre, 901 Lawrence Ave. West. Until October 11. 416-789-7011.

Publication Date: 2003-09-21
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3155