SUM Gallery’s first publication, documenting the Geoff McMurchy retrospective Time-Lapse: Posthumous Conversations. Including essay contributions from co-curators Yuri Arajs, SD Holman, and Persimmon Blackbridge as well as Paula Jardine and David Roche. 46 pages, full color. ($30)
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A memorial retrospective of work by Geoff McMurchy (1955-2015) features the B.C. artist’s assemblages of found materials. A quadriplegic artist, choreographer, dancer and arts administrator, McMurchy’s legacy includes mentorship of a generation of disabled artists. McMurchy was also the founding director of Kickstart, formerly the Society for Disability Arts and Culture.
A memorial retrospective of work by Geoff McMurchy (1955-2015) features the B.C. artist’s assemblages of found materials. A quadriplegic artist, choreographer, dancer and arts administrator, McMurchy’s legacy includes mentorship of a generation of disabled artists. McMurchy was also the founding director of Kickstart, formerly the Society for Disability Arts and Culture.
A retrospective of the work of a pioneering B.C. artist will be on display at a Vancouver art gallery for the next month.
The memorial exhibit Time-Lapse: Posthumous Conversations—A Geoff McMurchy Retrospective will provide a look at the artwork of Geoff McMurchy at Sum Gallery (425–268 Keefer Street), starting on October 29 and continuing until December 1.
McMurchy was a pioneer in disability arts communities—he was the founding director of Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture and he also worked with the B.C. Coalition of People With Disabilities in pursuit of accessibility and equality.
He was a visual artist and dancer who became quadriplegic after a swimming accident. Sadly, he died at the age of 65 in July 2015 in Victoria due to complications related to his quadriplegia.
The exhibit is curated by Yuri Arajs, SD Holman, and Persimmon Blackbridge, in partnership with Kickstart Disability Arts and All Souls at Mountainview Cementary.
An opening reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on October 29.
An online curator brunch talk will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on November 7, and curator tours will be held on November 12 (4 to 8 p.m.) and 21 (1 to 5 p.m.).
The closing reception will be held on A Day Without Art—an annual event observed by art galleries and organizations to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS—from noon to 6 p.m. on December 1.
Appointments to attend the gallery between noon to 6 p.m. from Tuesdays to Saturdays can be made through online booking.
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Curators re-create the disability-arts pioneer’s metaphorical world of sculptures and collectibles
SUM gallery presents Time-Lapse: Posthumous Conversations—A Geoff McMurchy Retrospective from October 29 to December 1. COVID-19 safety measures here
AMID ALL THE WORKS that disability-arts pioneer Geoff McMurchy made over his life, perhaps his greatest creation was his East Vancouver heritage home near the Drive.
An avid collector, McMurchy, who died in 2015 from complications due to his quadriplegia, scavenged and artfully displayed everything from wooden snakes to the glass flower frogs used for floral arrangements. String lights, his own large, reclaimed-material sculptures, shadow boxes, and candlesticks: they created a walk-through curiosity cabinet whose walls were painted lush green or emblazoned in yellow wallpaper. An elevator lifted him down to a garden that was equally visually striking, a textural artwork of spiky grasses and vibrant flowers punctuated by more sculptures—most stunningly, a spine with seven vertebrae curving up a weathered wooden fence.
SD Holman’s Spine.
Five years later, an ambitious new exhibit at the Pride in Art Society’s SUM gallery aims to give viewers an intimate look at McMurchy’s life and art—as well as a feel for what being in that home was like. Time-Lapse: Post-Humous Conversations—A Geoff McMurchy Retrospective spans artist SD Holman’s detailed photographs of the rooms in McMurchy’s house, captured in 2016; his own artworks; and what co-curator Yuri Arajs calls “ephemera” found in storage boxes provided to the curatorial team by McMurchy’s family.
As you walk through the gallery, you’ll see the snake collection installed along a wall, or his hundreds of plastic garden tags, the kind that label plant containers, jutting like flowers out of a table and scattered up along the wall behind it. Look for dozens of paper roses found in a jar in his home, and hundreds of alphabetic letters in wood and other materials, finding meticulous and meaningful placement in the show.
And then there are the eggbeaters. “In his home there was this huge metal basket full of eggbeaters,” explains Arajs, who curates the show with Holman and longtime McMurchy friend Persimmon Blackbridge. “So I installed them all in the air as a column. I think there’s 75 eggbeaters floating in the air. With this ephemera, we didn’t want to create ‘art’ per se; we wanted to create a little different experience than art. It’s a different way of showing the way this person thought and the way he collected.”
Curators found about 75 vintage eggbeaters in Geoff McMurchy’s collection, pictured here in SD Holman’s Beaters.
McMurchy was, after all, a multifaceted artist. The founding artistic director of Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture was also an accomplished dancer. He had danced before an accident changed the course of his life. The Vancouver Art School student was on his way to attend Nova Scotia’s College of Art and Design when a diving accident in Alberta broke his neck. Later, in Vancouver, he found his creative voice again and spent the next 15 years working toward accessibility and equal rights with the B.C. Coalition of People With Disabilities. Even more, he showed that there was creative and physical life beyond disability.
In one dance work performed at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, McMurchy performed in his wheelchair with sculptural metal wings that he had crafted from a metal car grill and feathers. The metaphorical wings take prominent place in the Time-Lapse show—as do other works that express the theme of flight, whether it’s through old bones or sticks and thrown-away kitchen implements.”He was able to put together rough, discarded items—some really ugly, destroyed shit—and put it together in a way that completed the vision of what flight is. There was always the optimism of what is possible.”
Arajs, who met McMurchy before he himself became artistic director at Kickstart from 2015 to 2019, comments, “Geoff had an ability to pull out objects and use them in a way that looked like gold. He was able to put together rough, discarded items—some really ugly, destroyed shit—and put it together in a way that completed the vision of what flight is. There was always the optimism of what is possible.”
McMurchy, who was also a member of the LGBTQ2SIA community, has a Pride outfit in the show—as creative as you might expect from someone so adept at putting things together. “There’s a tutu with an apron made out of that fake grass you sometimes see on doormats, with little paper roses and clear pockets,”Arajs says.”The headdress is made with an artist in Edmonton, and basically it’s made out of crows’ feathers stitched together.
“It’s all part of who made up that person,” Arajs continues, describing a show that pushes the bounds of what an exhibit can be. “That person was creative in so many different ways.” With a trio of curators, he adds, “That’s three different perspectives that have come together to give you a clear vision of who this person was.”
Look for numerous events, such as online talks and curator tours, during the run of the show. Timed-entry visits to the gallery are bookable online.
Donations and half of proceeds and from art sales at the exhibit will go to the Geoff McMurchy artist-development grant started in his name at Kickstart.
SD Holman’s Window, looking out on Geoff McMurchy’s beloved garden near the Drive.
Running until December 1, 2020, Time Lapse: Posthumous Conversations is a memorial retrospective of visual art by Geoff McMurchy. The founding Artistic Director of Kickstart Disability Arts, McMurchy was a pioneer in the local and international disability arts community. His legacy includes a generation of disabled artists who thrived under his mentorship. The exhibit is curated by Yuri Arajs, SD Holman and Persimmon Blackbridge in partnership with Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture and All Souls at Mountainview Cemetery.
Along with the exhibit, the Gallery will be hosting a series of select, special events throughout the Autumn.
Closing Reception: A Day Without Art – Tuesday, December 1st : 12 pm – 6 pm
SUM gallery is located at Suite 425 – 268 Keefer Street, Vancouver, B.C. To book Timed-Entry viewings and to reserve tickets to the special events visit sumgallery.ca SUM gallery’s COVID-19 safety guidelines can also be found on the gallery’s website.
Sum Gallery Where: #425 – 268 Keefer St. Info: sumgallery.ca Time-Lapse: Posthumous Conversations – A Geoff McMurchy Retrospective. A memorial exhibition of visual art by Geoff McMurchy, a storm force fag who blew open disability art in Canada and whose legacy includes a generation of disabled artists who thrived under his mentorship. Curated by Yuri Arajs, SD Holman and Persimmon Blackbridge in partnership with Kickstart and All Souls at Mountainview Cemetery. Opening reception, Oct. 29, 5-8 p.m. The exhibit continues until Dec. 1,
Subtitled Posthumous Conversations, the show and talks pay tribute to the late artist
SUM Gallery presents Time-Lapse: Posthumous Conversations—A Geoff McMurchy Retrospective from October 29 to December 1
VANCOUVER’S SUM gallery has announced a major exhibition and events to pay memorial tribute to late disability arts pioneer Geoff McMurchy.
Curated by Yuri Arajs, Persimmon Blackbridge, and SD Holman, the event is copresented with Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture and All Souls at Mountainview Cemetery. As well as timed entries to the exhibit itself, there will be curators tours, talks, and other events looking at McMurchy’s legacy.
McMurchy was known for his elaborate art assemblages, often made of pieces salvaged as he wheeled around the city’s alleyways.
The founding artistic director of Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture and a member of the city’s LGBTQ2SIA community, McMurchy died in 2015, having influenced a generation of artists in the community. An accomplished dancer and visual artist, he had suffered an accident in 1977 that left him quadriplegic.
Only later, in Vancouver, did he find his creative voice again and spent 15 years working toward accessibility and equal rights with the B.C. Coalition of People With Disabilities.
SUM gallery TIME-LAPSE: POSTHUMOUS CONVERSATIONS — A GEOFF MCMURCHY RETROSPECTIVE
Vancouver, BC, October 19, 2020 – Vancouver’s SUM gallery will be hosting select, special events surrounding their new, Autumn exhibit, Time-Lapse: Posthumous Conversations — A Geoff McMurchy Retrospective. This exhibit runs October 29th – December 1st, 2020 at SUM gallery (Suite 425 – 268 Keefer Street).
Time Lapse: Posthumous Conversations is a memorial retrospective of visual art by Geoff McMurchy, a storm force fag who blew open disability art in Canada and whose legacy includes a generation of disabled artists who thrived under his mentorship. Curated by Yuri Arajs, SD Holman and Persimmon Blackbridge in partnership with Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture and All Souls at Mountainview Cemetery.
DATES: Exhibit Dates | October 29th – December 1st, 2020 | Tuesday – Saturday | 12 – 6pmOpening Reception* | Thursday, October 29th | 5 pm – 8 pm Curator Brunch Online Talk* | Saturday, November 7th | 12 pm – 1 pm Curator Tours* | Thursday, November 12th | 4 pm – 8 pm Curator Tours* | Saturday, November 21st | 1 pm – 5 pm Closing Reception: A Day Without Art* | Tuesday, December 1st | 12 pm – 6 pm
LOCATION: SUM gallery | Suite 425 – 268 Keefer Street, Vancouver, B.C.
HOW TO ATTEND: SUM gallery is closely monitoring the COVID-19 crisis and acting accordingly by implementing precautions aligned with public health advisories. We are committed to making this and future exhibitions as safe and accessible as possible.
Timed-entry appointments to visit the TIME LAPSE exhibition can be made between 12 pm and 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday via online booking at www.sumgallery.ca
Drop-ins are welcome, but please give us a call at 604-200-6661 to ensure we can accommodate your visit.
Special events are ASL interpreted. Tours are ASL interpreted upon request.
NOTES FOR MEDIA:CURATORS: Yuri Arajs andSD Holman will be available to the media before the October 29th Opening Reception
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For more information, access to images or interview opportunities please contact:
A memorial exhibition of visual art by Geoff McMurchy, a storm force fag who blew open disability art in Canada and whose legacy includes a generation of disabled artists who thrived under his mentorship. Curated by Yuri Arajs, SD Holman and Persimmon Blackbridge in partnership with Kickstart and All Souls at Mountainview Cemetery.
Time-Lapse events:
Opening Reception Thu Oct 29th | 5 pm – 8 pm
Curator Brunch Online Talk Sat Nov 7th | 12 pm – 1 pm
Closing Reception + Catalogue Release Sat Jan 23rd | 12 pm – 6 pm
Timed-entry appointments to visit the exhibition can be made in advance through Square. Please review our updated Safety Guidelines for more information on how to access the gallery.
SUM gallery is Canada’s only queer mandated visual art gallery and one of only a few worldwide. SUM produces, presents and exhibits with a curatorial vision favouring challenging, thought-provoking multidisciplinary work that pushes boundaries and initiates dialogue. SUM brings diverse communities together to support artistic risk-taking, incite creative collaboration and experimentation and celebrate the rich heritage of queer artists and art.
