Cooper Cole Gallery, Art Basel’s online art fair OVR: 20C presentation of Chrysanne Stathacos

Art Basel OVR:20C Chrysanne Stathacos October 30-31, 2020 VIP Preview October 28, 2020 To register for Art Basel OVR:20C please follow this link. COOPER COLE is pleased to present an online exhibition of works by Chrysanne Stathacos for Art Basel’s online art fair OVR: 20C. This fair is specifically dedicated to art made in the 20th century and will focus on Stathacos’ works from the 1990s. Chrysanne Stathacos is an artist of Greek, American, and Canadian origin. Her conceptual practice encompasses printmaking, textile, painting, and performance, and explores the connections between ritual actions, Greek mythology, spirituality, and feminist thought. Amidst the AIDS crisis in the 1990s, Stathacos’ work became deeply engaged with body politics, and her commentary on issues of sexuality and gender became more pronounced. Through her work, Stathacos was creating images and experiences that connect issues of body, environment, and futurity. The works included in this presentation represent this pivotal moment in the artist’s practice. In the 1990s, Stathacos developed an artistic alter ego named Anne de Cybelle, who was enraged by the exclusion of women artists in the art historical canon. Cybelle was part self-portrait, part activist, and asked questions about how we see art history, conventional time, identity, and patriarchal social conventions. The canvas works included in this presentation are a result of this critical inquiry. Stathacos printed on her surfaces using intimate materials such as hair, clothing, condoms; and organic materials such as ivy, cannabis, and roses. Through her careful and repeated patterning she critically reflects on a history of vulnerability and loss, and transforms its remnants into poetic compositions that reflect on spiritual imagery. This presentation for Art Basel also includes Stathacos’ major interactive work 1-900-Mirror-Mirror (1993). This sculptural installation was made during the height of the AIDS crisis when Stathacos was living in New York, and was first exhibited at Andrea Rosen Gallery the year it was made. Grappling with the deaths of many friends and colleagues, Stathacos conceived of the work to discover what viewers might ask when confronted with their own image in an infinity chamber. Using a video phone, the artist would speak with viewers as they entered the booth and conduct tarot readings in order to create a space where people could ask questions about the future. The mirrored walls were meticulously printed on with hair and ivy, and exemplify the interconnected interests of Stathacos’ practice. In Conversation With Chrysanne Stathacos Friday, October 30, 2020, 2pm To join the Zoom meeting click here Meeting ID: 845 8934 1606 For more information about Chrysanne Stathacos please contact the gallery: info@coopercolegallery.com +1.416.531.8000 Chrysanne Stathacos(b. 1951, Buffalo, USA) is a multidisciplinary artist of Greek, American and Canadian origin. She studied fine art at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, USA (1969-1970); at York University, Toronto, Canada (1970-1973). Her work has encompassed print, textile, performance and conceptual art. Stathacos is heavily involved with and influenced by feminism, Greek Mythology, environment, eastern spirituality and Tibetan Buddhism, all of which inform her current artistic practice. Stathacos is widely known for her public interactive artworks which include 1-900 Mirror Mirror (1993) which was first presented at Andrea Rosen Gallery and traveled to Art Metropole, Toronto and Franklin Furnace, New York. The artist’s multidisciplinary practice includes performances—one of which was included in the public program of The Parliament of Bodies in documenta 14 — as well as paintings and prints that have been featured in numerous exhibitions including Gold Rush at Cooper Cole, Toronto (2018). Recently, she created performative installations from her Rose Mirror Mandala Series for exhibition projects by AA Bronson at Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2013); Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (2015); Grazer Kunstverein, Graz (2015); and KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2018). Her latest major work, The Five Mirrors of the World, was included in the 2nd edition of The Sculpture Park, The Madhavendra Palace, Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur ( 2018- 2020) curated by Peter Nagy. Stathacos has exhibited for over 40 years in museums, galleries and public spaces internationally. She will be included in the 13th Gwangju Biennale Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning directed by Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala in 2021. Solo exhibitions and projects include A Space (1978), Mercer Union (1980), Chromazone (1982), Art Metropole (1995), and Gallery TPW (1997), The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, (1999), all in Toronto, Canada; University of the Arts, Philadelphia, (1995), Creative Time, New York (1997), Participant Inc., New York (2004), Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt (2008), The Breeder Gallery, Athens (2017) and Situations, New York, (2018). She has been included by numerous institutions in group exhibitions including the ICA, Boston (1993), PS1, New York (1997), Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva, (1997) Ludwig Forum Museum, Aachen, Germany(1999), Candy Factory, Yokahama Triennial, Japan, (2001), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2006), Art Omi, Hudson, NY (2008)), Nuit Blanche, Toronto (2011). Her works are included in public collections including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria; Burchfield Penny Art Center, Buffalo; Fales Library, NYU; Moving Collection, AIT Hour Museum, Tokyo; Art Gallery of Ontario, and National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. The Chrysanne Stathacos fonds is located in the Archives and Library, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Stathacos currently lives and works between Athens, Greece and Toronto, Canada. Image: Rose Hair I, 1993-1994 Oil and ink on linen, printed hair and roses 48 x 28 in 121.9 x 71.1 cm CURRENT EXHIBITION Tau Lewis Triumphant Alliance of the Ubiquitous Blossoms of Incarnate Souls October 17 - November 28, 2020 Click here to view select works and images of the installation. COOPER COLE 1134 Dupont St. Toronto, Ontario M6H2A2 Canada info@coopercolegallery.com +1.416.531.8000 coopercolegallery.com #coopercole#artbaselovr#fineartmagazine