Animal teeth and human hair are not your typical wedding cake decorations. Just as you try to stomach the thought of this marital treat, the latest McIntosh Gallery exhibit is paired with a video creation focused on the vampire film genre.
London artist, Daniela Sneppova’s “I think I love you but I have chosen darkness” and Hamilton native, Fiona Kinsella’s “the wilderness” will leave art-seekers a sense of unease. The exhibit opens Thursday, Jan. 14 and continues until Feb. 27 at the gallery.
It is difficult to escape stereotypical constructs and yet we are often unconscious of them. In their exhibitions, Kinsella and Sneppova draw the viewer in to examine these constructs and question their generational influence.
For Kinsella, the wedding cake references traditional turning points in life, but its unexpected “decorations” of repellent items – animal teeth, hat pins, human hair, dental tools – contradict our expectations.
Sneppova’s video creation, based on her research into a 15th century Eastern European model, references the vampire film genre, specifically its female stereotype as the violent “fallen woman.” Each character’s interpretation reinvents the perspective of “women as helpless victims” and replaces it with an impressive power figure.
The exhibit opening begins at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. A free talk by Kinsella will be held on Friday, Jan. 15 at 12:30 p.m. Sneppova will also hold a free talk on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 4 p.m.
Also on Thursday, the Artlab Gallery is opening “Things You Should Know,” a Department of Visual Arts faculty and staff exhibit, at 5:30-7:30 p.m. The speaker Series with Lynne Cohen will follow at 8 p.m.
Other events at the McIntosh Gallery include:
A Concert by the Don Wright Faculty of Music Chamber Ensemble – Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 3:30 p.m.
Cercle de discussion avec Servanne Woodward, Département d’Etudes Francaises – Thursday, Jan. 21 at 5 p.m.
Concert – Don Wright Faculty of Music Chamber Ensemble – Tuesday, February 9 at 12:30 p.m.
For more information or for gallery hours, visit the website at www.mcintoshgallery.ca.