TORONTO, February 9, 1998 -- The Art Gallery of York University presents an exhibition by noted British sculptor Alison Wilding from Feb. 12 to April 5, 1998. Alison Wilding came to prominence in the early 1980s as part of the diverse group of artists labelled New British Sculptors. Her work has been widely exhibited internationally, including exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh.

The exhibition, Territories, organized in collaboration with the Edmonton Art Gallery, marks Wilding's first solo presentation in Canada. The exhibition is guest-curated by Montreal independent curator Renee Baert, and features new floor works, wall sculptures and drawings produced between 1995 and 1997.

"The Art Gallery of York University is a unique, innovative visual arts resource within York, where students learn to think out loud with visiting artists, curators, critics, and gallery staff," said Gallery Director and Curator Loretta Yarlow. "We have been the first in Canada to show the work of many outstanding Canadian and foreign artists. Alison Wilding's exhibition, with Renee Baert as its guest curator, fits well in our mandate to bring the most challenging art of our time to the attention of our Toronto and York communities."

Alison Wilding's work is recognized by its strong emphasis on surface and materials, its juxtaposition of elements, and its acknowledgement of the body as a primary site of meaning. With a firm rooting in abstraction, and only the slightest of figural referents, Wilding's objects turn their direct use of materials and processes to unmistakably metaphorical ends. Her works' distinct forms and lush materiality invite bodily associations while avoiding any literal appeal to imagery. Hers is a highly original sculptural language that merges the physical, the psychic and the philosophical.

In the 1980s, during the height of 'deconstructive' photo- and textual-based approaches to art production, Wilding's work ventured in a different direction, one which anticipated many of the questions -- of embodiment, affect and other aspects of sensate existence -- that are such a preoccupation in art today. Her work, with its compelling combination of rigor and subtlety, continues to offer a model of particular pertinence to the work being developed by a new generation of artists. Hers is an art of unusual elegance, philosophical depth and erotic power.

The Art Gallery of York University will host a reception for the artist on Thursday, Feb. 12, from 6 to 8 pm. During the reception Alison Wilding and Renee Baert will briefly discuss the exhibition in an informal dialogue beginning at 7 pm. Admission to the gallery is free.

On Tuesday, March 3 at 7:30 pm, York English Professor Barbara Godard will give a public lecture based on Alison Wilding's exhibtion at the AGYU. Professor Godard has lectured extensively in the areas of semiotics, narratology, feminist theory and translation studies.

The Art Gallery of York University is located in Room 145, Ross Building (North), York University, 4700 Keele Street. The Alison Wilding exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Edmonton Art Gallery, and produced with the assistance of The British Council and The Canada Council Touring Office.

For more information, please contact:

Loretta Yarlow, Art Gallery of York University
(416) 736-5169
YU/013/98