Parker Kay & Michael Abel

Opening Reception: January 16, 7:00–10:00PM
January 16 – February 1, 2015

Originally, the architecture of the white cube was designed in a way that would allow the gallery to melt away in order to focus the viewer’s attention towards the artwork in the space. Rather than a void space, the gallery has turned into a space that says “whatever is inside these walls is art,” which gives these architectural features great power. Parker Kay and Michael Abel examine the architectural features of a gallery space and use these materials as the basis for sculptural installation. The walls, the floor, the wood and the drywall of the gallery become the artwork, negating any need for the inclusion of traditional art objects.

This is part of the Gladstone’s Come Up To My Room 2015 (CUTMR) is the Gladstone Hotel’s 12th annual alternative design event. 25 installations, 40 artists, and 4000 visitors, and with an extended run of 10 days! CUTMR invites artists and designers to show us what goes on inside their heads. Coming together in dialogue and collaboration, participants are limited only by their imaginations, making CUTMR one of the most exciting shows in Toronto. The exhibition, curated by Jaclyn Blumas, Robert Cram and Caitlin Plewes, as been running for over a decade and was voted the People’s Choice for the 2014 Toronto Design Offsite Festival.

Parker Kay is a multi-disciplinary artist who has exhibited in Canada and the United States. Kay strives to articulate concepts in the medium best suited to do so, for the most part using video, sculpture, images, and web-based media. Much of Kay’s work responds to an Internet-aware culture, while also exploring notions of embodiment, archival practices, and experience design.

Michael Abel is an artist born in Didsbury Alberta and is based out of Toronto, Ontario. Abel’s most recent pursuits are completing his masters in architecture at the University of Toronto, and editing a publication under the idea of art and architecture production in the age of network culture, which has created a discourse that he explores in his personal artist practice.