Toronto Empire of Dreams

Alex McLeod, City Flickers Stars (detail), 2009. Courtesy of the artist and Angell Gallery, Toronto.

Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art

June 19 - August 15, 2010

It is impossible in our current world to escape the influence of an environment altered by humans. Because of these created spaces, humans are changed physically, psychologically, and spiritually. The things that we build embody both our highest aspirations and our most base instincts to survive. “Empire of Dreams” is an exhibition of recent work by contemporary artists from Toronto that looks at ways in which humans exist within their built environments. The exhibition, being held at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto, focuses on interactions with the structures and architectures that shape humans’ relationships to their surroundings.

Within this context, the thematic scope of the exhibition is broad, as is the use of various media and techniques. Approaches range from traditional efforts in painting to more recent technologies such as video and multi-media installation. The artists selected for the exhibition range from young and emerging to more established artists of national and international significance. The backgrounds, birthplaces, and ethnicities of the artists also vary widely, yet are filtered through the common lens of living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the year 2010. Though the exhibition and the artwork do not always reference living in Toronto specifically, the shared experience of living in a large urban center in an era of rapidly increasing urban migration serves effectively as a microcosm of global experience. In large cities like Toronto, architecture, economics, politics, design,  ecology, and our social and cultural interaction are most fully shaped by our own built environment.

In addition to the critical issues raised through the exhibition, “Empire of Dreams” is also the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art’s biennial celebration of artists living in Toronto. Curated by David Liss, “Empire of Dreams” includes a publication documenting the exhibition and activities, which includes text from the curator, the participating artists, and prominent guest writers.

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