Laurie Kang + Katie Lyle

Artists: Laurie Kang (Toronto) and Katie Lyle (Toronto)
Exhibition title: Fascia Lines
Opening: Thursday, August 30, 2018, 5h30 pm – 8h30 pm
Exhibition: August 30 to October 6, 2018
Text: Daniella Sanader

“Laurie, Katie—

Lately, I’ve been speaking with you both about how you tend to work on the floor. That is, you’re making images horizontally; with your eyes turned downwards and a curve in each of your spines. Katie, I can picture you sitting with pieces of loose canvas, legs extended in what’s almost a ninety-degree angle, adding new layers in paint. Laurie, perhaps you’re crouched or kneeling, treading back and forth around a large piece of photographic paper, spilling and spreading darkroom chemicals in wide arcs. As for me, I’m cross-legged on the carpet, laptop balanced on my thighs, some extra notes and papers near my left elbow. My right foot is falling asleep.

What remains in your bodies after a long day of work in the studio? Of course, there’s no start or end to this—to your work or mine. Do you know this idea of the “small dance,” from the choreographer Steve Paxton? It’s the dynamics of alignment and flow we enact in our bodies, even in moments of so-called perfect stillness. We’re in a constant state of adjustment and balancing; an infinite micro-choreography. So, when you’re working in the studio, when you’re biking around the city, when you’re sleeping, when you’re reading, when you’re eating—these movements aren’t distinct, but continuous, connective. They stretch, bend, and contract, they constitute one another—it’s an ongoing dance.

Laurie, Katie—how do your floors support you, what postures do they prompt? What kinds of images get made in that proximity, that curving-over, that encircling of arms and legs? I feel a sense of ongoingness in your respective practices—they are filled with gestures that are never finished. More layers are to be cut out and worked through, new tones will emerge under reactive chemicals and light. There are new support systems to stretch and fold across; new skeletons for new skins.

I’ve gotten up from the floor—I took a break to stand in my kitchen and chop some vegetables. Now I’m sitting at a desk, left leg crossed over the right. I’m taking notes about fascia and touch; I feel a slight stiffness in the back of my neck. Laurie and Katie: all this time, I’ve been carrying our conversations in each of my postures and I know there’s more to come.

Talk soon, xo
Daniella”

View full PDF of Daniella Sanader's text here

Press :
Art Viewer : Laurie Kang and Katie Lyle at Projet Pangée
Canadianart winter 2019 : Pleasure, Laurie Kang and Katie Lyle at Projet Pangée

Biographies
Laurie Kang (b. 1985, Toronto) works in photography, sculpture, and installation. Kang has exhibited internationally at Topless, New York; The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Cooper Cole, Gallery TPW,
8-11, The Loon, and Franz Kaka, Toronto; L’inconnue, Montreal; Carl Louie, London; Wroclaw Contemporary Museum, Wroclaw, Poland; Raster Gallery, Warsaw; Camera Austria, Graz, Austria; and Tag Team, Bergen, Norway. She was recently an artist in residence at Tag Team; Rupert, Vilnius; The Banff Centre, Alberta; and Interstate Projects, Brooklyn. Kang lives and works in Toronto and holds an MFA from the Milton Avery School of the Arts at Bard College.
Recent Press
Artforum Critics' Picks by Zeenat Nagree
Momus by Alez Bowron
CBC Arts by Casey Mecija
Esse Magazine by Alex Bowron
The Editorial Magazine by Darby Milbrath & Yaniya Lee
The Toronto Star by Murray White
Akimbo by Amy Fung

Katie Lyle (b. 1982 Victoria, Canada) works in painting, drawing and performance. She received her MFA from the University of Victoria in 2009 and her BFA from Concordia University in 2005. Selected exhibitions include: Erin Stump Projects, Toronto, Oakville Galleries, Oakville and 67 Steps, Los Angeles (all 2018); Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto; The Loon, Toronto (both 2017); G Gallery, Toronto; Evans Contemporary, Peterborough (both 2016); Erin Stump Projects, Toronto; Model Project Space, Vancouver; and The Nanaimo Art Gallery (all 2015). Lyle lives and works in Toronto and is represented by Erin Stump Projects.
Recent Press
C Magazine Reviews by Justina Bohach
The Editorial Magazine by Darby Milbrath
ArtSlant by Brad Phillips
Akimbo by Steffanie Ling

Laurie Kang and Katie Lyle would like to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.