Teaching a Stone to Talk

July 22, 2021 - January 2, 2022

Works from the Permanent Collection

Ron Bloore, Brian Fisher, Roy Kiyooka, Nobuo Kubota, Laurent Lévesque, Malcolm Rains, Gordon Smith, and Tim Whiten

Guest Curated by Adam David Brown

What it is like to be an artist, to keep making art? A leap of faith, a ruse?

The late artist, Sol Lewitt, famously announced that “The idea is the machine that makes the art.” (1) He was well aware that art usually begins with an idea and that when looking for something extraordinary, it is often best to begin with something ordinary. From there, your work begins.

An artist curates with a knowing of what it’s like to be an artist who keeps the ball in the air, a suspension of belief. An artist’s work reveals the process of being an artist.

Each morning you climb several flights of stairs, enter your study, open the window and slide your desk and chair out into the middle of the air. The desk and chair float 30 feet from the ground, up in the crowns of the maple trees. Then, wincing, you step out again, through the window and sit down on the chair and look over your desktop. You pour yourself a cup of coffee. Now, get to work.

Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keep you and your desk in the air. (2)

Adam David Brown

(1) Sol Lewitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art
(2) paraphrased from Annie Dillard, The Writing Life.

In our ongoing commitment to present our Collection through new voices, particularly, the voices of artists, Adam David Brown has been invited to select works from the Permanent Collection as a companion to his solo exhibition For The Time Being.

These works reflect Brown’s interest in the minute and the monumental, simple and humble materials, and expressions of the magnitude of the universe, its underlying patterns, and our insistent curiosity and ongoing inquiry.

It is an honour to work with artists, providing a platform for their voices in bringing forward stories from our Collection. Their particular knowledge of, interest in, and reverence for the work of their peers and heroes, offers a specific kind of insight that we are grateful to share with our audience.

More Exhibitions

For Posterity II: works from the Permanent Collection

For Posterity II: works from the Permanent Collection

Apr. 5, 2024 - Jun. 16, 2024

In celebration of our 50th anniversary, this exhibition celebrates the AGP's Permanent Collection as a cornerstone of our institution. For Posterity II is a new iteration, bringing forward additional works and juxtapositions to continue an exploratio...
More
For Posterity: works from the Permanent Collection

For Posterity: works from the Permanent Collection

Feb. 17, 2024 - Mar. 24, 2024

Gathering works from our early acquisitions, this exhibition reflects important gifts from key supporters and past exhibitions. The Art Gallery of Peterborough was founded as a contemporary gallery and its collection reflects this. Built with support...
More
Elemental: Earthen

Elemental: Earthen

Jan. 21, 2023 - May. 21, 2023

Curated by Chiedza Pasipanodya "The iron that makes our blood red was made in the final moments before a star died. For all of us, then, our very lifeblood began with a spectacular death in a solar system." Ziya Tong, The Reality Bubbl...
More
Blue

Blue

Nov. 12, 2022 - May. 21, 2023

works from the Permanent Collection "I want to die with my blue jeans on." Andy Warhol Is there a colour, other than the colour blue, that can encompass such a broad range of emotion? Serenity to despair, devotion to desolation, pu...
More
It’s All About ART Online Auction Preview

It’s All About ART Online Auction Preview

Oct. 21, 2021 - Nov. 21, 2021

Presented by George Ripoll, BMO Private Wealth Join us and our sponsors as we raise funds for our programs which bring inspiring and insightful contemporary art and education to our community. Build your collection with original fine artwork whi...
More
For The Time Being

For The Time Being

Jul. 22, 2021 - Jan. 2, 2022

Adam David Brown "Scales of time rise and fall through the works on display in Adam David Brown's exhibition. The slow shift of continents in 0 Degrees Latitude's equatorial rocks. The steady accumulation, sampling, and questioning of knowledg...
More
Teaching a Stone to Talk

Teaching a Stone to Talk

Jul. 22, 2021 - Jan. 2, 2022

Works from the Permanent Collection Ron Bloore, Brian Fisher, Roy Kiyooka, Nobuo Kubota, Laurent Lévesque, Malcolm Rains, Gordon Smith, and Tim Whiten Guest Curated by Adam David Brown What it is like to be an artist, to keep ...
More
Selections from the Collection in the Time of COVID

Selections from the Collection in the Time of COVID

Nov. 26, 2020 - May. 2, 2021

Guest Curated by Jane LowBeer winner of the 2019 Curator's Experience Jane Ash Poitras, Anne Meredith Barry, Jack Bush, Lucie Chan, Louis de Niverville, Jim Dine, Ivan Eyre, Brian Kipping, Nobuo Kubota,Robin Mackenzie, Michael Maglich, Jo...
More
Offering

Offering

Aug. 20, 2020 - Nov. 8, 2020

Works from the Permanent Collection Carl Beam, Michael Belmore, Ivan Eyre, Nobuo Kubota, Dyan Marie, Sanaz Mazinani, Shaan Syed, Oliver Tiura, Dennis Tourbin, and Bill Vazan In Russell and Lillian Hoban's 1964 children's book, Nothing t...
More

No items found.

Back to Top Skip to content