Uriel Orlow
The Short and the Long of It 9.0
3 Feb–21 Apr 2012
Closing reception:
Saturday, April 21 from 2–5 PM
124–401 Richmond Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 3A8
Gallery hours:
Wednesday–Saturday, 12–5 PM
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art is pleased to present The Short and the Long of It 9.0, the first solo exhibition in Canada of the work of gifted visual artist Uriel Orlow. Curated by Scott McLeod, the show brings together four videos/projections with associated photographs, prints, drawings and texts. Working across these various media, the artist brings different image regimes and narrative modes into correspondence with each other. In so doing, he draws attention to the blind spots of historical representation.
The exhibition opens to the public on Friday, February 3, 2012. A closing reception, with the artist in attendance, will be held on Saturday, April 21 from 2 to 5 PM at Prefix, located at 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 124, Toronto. Prefix is open from Wednesday to Saturday, 12 to 5 PM, and by appointment. Admission is free.
At the heart of The Short and the Long of It lies an extraordinary episode that has all but disappeared from official histories; namely, the failed passage of fourteen international cargo ships through the Suez Canal in 1967. Caught in the aftermath of the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and Syria, the ships, which came to be known as the “Yellow Fleet,” were only able to leave when the canal was re-opened in 1975. While the crews remained stranded for more than eight years, their cold-war political allegiances gave way to the establishment of a communal social system. The exhibition interweaves, among other materials, vintage films and photographs shot by crew members with the artist’s own footage captured years later on location.
In addition to the exhibition and under the auspices of the Urban Field Speakers Series, Uriel Orlow will also present his acclaimed lecture-performance Aide-Mémoire, in which he explores the territory between travelogue, slide show, obscure history lesson and immersive soundscape. The event will be presented in three cities according to the following itinerary:
Thursday, April 19 at 6 PM
IDS Lecture Series
Cooper Union School of Art
New York, New York
Presented in partnership with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, The New School
Tuesday, April 24 at 7:30 PM
Urban Field Speakers Series
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art
Toronto, Ontario
Wednesday, April 25 at 6 PM
Museum of Contemporary Photography
at Columbia College Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
For tickets or other information about the lecture-performance, please visit www.prefix.ca.
About the Artist
Uriel Orlow was born in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1973 and currently lives and works in London. He studied fine art at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (London) and the Slade School of Art (London) and philosophy at the University of Geneva, graduating with a Ph.D. in fine art in 2002. He is currently a senior research fellow in art at the University of Westminster (London) and visiting lecturer at the University of the Arts (Zürich). In recent years, he has received solo and group exhibitions at Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum, Centre d’Art Contemporain (Geneva), Jewish Museum (New York), South African National Gallery (Cape Town) and Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), as well as at numerous film festivals. In both 2008 and 2009, he was the recipient of a Swiss Art Award at Art Basel. In 2011, his work was shown in the Swiss Off-site Pavilion of the 54th Venice Biennale.
About the Curator
Scott McLeod is a writer, curator and arts administrator. His work focuses on contemporary practices, with a specialization in photography, media and digital art. Since 2000, he has been the director and curator of Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, where he also serves as the editor and publisher of Prefix Photo magazine.
About Prefix
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art is a public art gallery and arts publishing house based in Toronto. A registered charitable organization, Prefix fosters the appreciation and understanding of contemporary photographic, media and digital arts. In 2010, Prefix celebrated ten years of programming excellence.
Acknowledgements
For their support of Uriel Orlow’s The Short and the Long of It, Prefix gratefully acknowledges its Official Catering Sponsor à la Carte Kitchen and its Official Hotel Sponsor the Sutton Place Hotel. Prefix also acknowledges the assistance of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and the Toronto Arts Council.
For more information, print-ready images or to schedule an interview with the artist, please contact:
Alysha Rajkumar
Operations Manager
T 416-591-0357
F 416-591-0358
E info [at] prefix.ca
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