I know about hidden things, 2022
curated by
Letticia Cosbert Miller at Trinity Square Video, Toronto
with written contributions by
Danica Evering,
Camille Georgeson-Usher,
Karina Griffith, and Ronald Rose-Antoinette.
I know about hidden things is a collaborative project which foregrounds artist Juliane Foronda’s ongoing research concerning feminist hospitality, radical care, and traditions of gathering, and is framed by writer/curator Letticia Cosbert Miller’s exploration of the role care plays in the relationships formed between artist, curator, critic, and artwork.
Through a collection of objects, textiles, video, and text, Foronda considers the role of physical support structures such as weighted blankets (in the silence of growing things) and tableware (unit of measure), alongside emotional and ephemeral systems of healing (coping mechanisms). Surfaces, clusters, and lists challenge perceptions of time, language, and gravity, revealing the often concealed labour of care and hospitality in spaces and inanimate objects. Foronda contemplates the anonymous showings of care through the utility of a support pillow (of lack and surplus), or a makeshift wedge (valuable and flawed) – pondering the kind of care these items provide, whether it is imparted through their shape or material, and who cares for them, in return.
Accompanying the exhibition are contributions from writers Danica Evering, Camille Georgeson-Usher, Karina Griffith, and Ronald Rose-Antoinette who Foronda hosted in regular studio visits while developing work for the exhibition, and to whose observations she was able to respond and incorporate into her process. This intertwined approach to exhibition making investigates what hospitality and the generosity it imparts makes possible for the often disconnected processes of curation, art making, self-editing, and criticism. As a result, embedded within every aspect of I know about hidden things is a matrix of relationships fostered contemporaneously, a collective dialogue probing the boundaries of these factions and underscoring their symbiosis.
I would like to acknowledge the support of Trinity Square Video, the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, VACMA Scotland, Superframe, and MeetFactory. Special thanks to Emily Fitzpatrick for her ongoing support and care throughout the exhibition.
of lack and surplus, 2021
watercolour on medical or tracing/pattern paper, IKEA MULIG clothing racks
of lack and surplus, 2021
watercolour on medical or tracing/pattern paper, custom bevelled-bottom frame
coping mechanisms, 2022
3:29 minute video looped on 5 stacked CRT televisions.
you can view
coping mechanisms here.
unit of measure, 2021
plaster casts of the concave of spoons
how you hold, 2021
natural hand dyed cotton string, plastic bag, sand
in the silence of growing things, 2021
20lb weighted blanket, natural hand dyed cotton embroidery thread, painted shipping pallet
something like a tight-lipped smile, 2021
various found and fabricated 2D ephemera tied together in a rubber tourniquet, housed in a custom beet dyed shadowbox frame
magic hour, 2022
video projector installation, images of past light rainbows
Images courtesy of the artist and Trinity Square Video. Photography by Darren Rigo.
valuable and flawed, 2021
makeshift wedges (wood, tape, stone, paper, card stock)