Angela Grauerholz
Photography

Canadian Artist

MEDIA RELEASE

A major solo exhibition of photographs by Montreal artist Angela Grauerholz opens in Mercer Union's East and West Galleries Thursday October 11 at 8:00 pm and continues through to November 10. This will be the artist's first solo exhibition in Toronto and will offer local audiences an opportunity to view an extensive body of her recent work.

Shifting between the real and the imagined, the photographs of Angela Grauerholz bring into question the nature of fiction and representation, and the authority of representation. Considerably larger than conventional photographs, their scale immediately place them within the context of painting, advertising or cinema. The choice of nostalgic subject matter - an ocean liner at night, a shadowy park - combined with the characteristic softness of her photographs evoke vague yet familiar views of places.

Melding painting and photographic techniques, Grauerholz' approach limits detailed identification of a subject. Supported by such generic titles as Boat, Hospital, Couch, Crowd, her images conjure up multiple references and reminiscences, Stylistically, Grauerholz' work refers back to a romantic pictorialism practised in the early part of this century. Used as a point of departure, she makes both a play on archetypes associated with the urban environment, and with the history of photography.

Angela Grauerholz was born in Germany and has lived in Montreal since 1976, Since 1978 she has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Vancouver, Saskatoon, Calgary, Kingston, Toronto, London, Ontario, Montreal, Caen, France and Sydney, Australia (1990 Sydney Biennal). Grauerholz' work was last exhibited in Toronto in 1988 as part of the group exhibition 'The Historical Ruse: Art In Montreal', presented by The Power Plant.

To complement the exhibition, a public talk by Angela Grauerholz will take place at Mercer Union at 7:00 pm, just prior to her opening Thursday October 11. Admission is free, The exhibition will also be accompanied by a catalogue with essays by Johanne Lamoureux and Cheryl Simon. Angela Grauerhotz' exhibition continues at Mercer Union's through Saturday November 10.