Jess Dobkin's Wetrospective
Art Gallery of York University re-opens our doors to the public this coming Thursday, September 2, with the first retrospective exhibition of Toronto’s performance art matriarch Jess Dobkin, curated by Emelie Chhangur.
Please register for a visit at https://AGYU.as.me/ . We will be open 7 days a week for the much anticipated Jess Dobkin’s Wetrospective.
Jess Dobkin’s Wetrospective
Curated by Emelie Chhangur
September 2 – 26, 2021
Collective Effervescence Opening Party: Friday, September 10, 7-10 pm [at capacity]
Internationally acclaimed artist Jess Dobkin, who splashed Toronto with projects including The Lactation Station Breast Milk Bar (2006–2016), The Artist-Run Newsstand at Chester Subway Station (2015–2016), and The Artists’ Soup Kitchen (2012), welcomes the public to the re-opening of the AGYU. With her Wetrospective, Dobkin invites us into 25 years of her playful and provocative practice with animated “litrine vitrines” (portable toilets) and a custom-designed augmented reality app. The exhibition is curated by award-winning, nationally celebrated curator Emelie Chhangur, Director and Curator of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, Ontario. Chhangur writes, “Dobkin upcycles her own archive of past performances in ways that constitute her concept of ‘bendy-time’. This exhibition demands of archives what we expect from performance: the live encounter of experience in a ritual of transformation.”
For the duration of the Wetrospective, ‘Archivists’ will be in attendance and on AGYU’s Instagram @a_g_y_u. Archivists include: Jess Dobkin, Shalon Webber-Heffernan, Nasim Asgari, Moe Angelos, Thalia Godbout, and Ella Tetrault.
A signed and numbered artist multiple will be given to the first 100 visitors to the gallery (starting September 5).
Covid Protocols: To keep within capacity limits, pre-registration is required for all events and in-gallery visits. AGYU visitors will be required to pre-screen on the day of their visit to the campus or attending associated events (the York U Covid Screening tool can be found here).
GALLERY HOURS: For Jess Dobkin’s Wetrospective, the AGYU will be open 7 days a week from 12–5 pm, with extended hours until 7 pm on Wednesdays.
You can book for events and gallery visits here: https://AGYU.as.me.
For accessibility and accommodation assistance please email agyu@yorku.ca. For more information, please visit https:/AGYU.art.
Stay tuned for weekly Wetrospective updates and event announcements!!
ANCILLARY EVENTS AND ACTIVATIONS:
Jess Dobkin’s Wetrospective includes a constellation of talks, tours and engagements featuring seminal cultural critic Ann Cvetkovich; artist and scholar Jehan L. Roberson; artist and archivist Joyce LeeAnn; and performance scholar Laura Levin.
• Thursday, September 9 • 3pm @ AGYU
You’re Welcome Wetro Tour with Emelie Chhangur and Jess Dobkin
• Saturday, September 18 • 3pm @ AGYU (and livestream)
Portals, Potions, and Archives with Jehan Roberson
• Monday, September 20 • 3pm @ AGYU
The Live Encounter Performative Gallery Tour with Laura Levin
• Tuesday September 21 • 7pm (livestream)
Archival Alchemy® with Joyce LeeAnn (co-presented with FADO Performance Art Centre)
• Thursday, September 23 • 3-4pm (livestream)
Hemispheric Encounters with Performance Art Archivists: Roundtable Discussion
• Friday, September 24 • 3pm @ AGYU (and livestream)
All the Feels with Ann Cvetkovich
Contact:
Fatma Yehia, Assistant Curator
416-736-5169
