Jon Sasaki: Homage

Curated by Sarah Milroy

Organized and circulated by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection⁣

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February 27 to April 26, 2025⁣

Artist Talk: Thursday, February 27, 12:00–1:30 PM⁣, 368 ARTlab

Reception: Thursday, February 27, 5:00–8:00 PM

'Homage' is a suite of photographs depicting petri dishes with bloomed microbial cultures derived from swabs of the palettes and brushes used by members of the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson, objects held in the archives of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. These works are monumental in scale yet they reveal microscopic detail, affirming a playful reverence towards the Group’s legacy while reframing the genre of landscape painting through the lens of photography. Through these glowing bacterial landscapes Sasaki has generated a new sublime, a counterpoint to the quotidian nature of what lies beneath. The artifacts from which the microscopic organisms were gathered are exhibited in dialogue with the photographs, presenting a poignant entanglement of past and present-day artists in the story of Canadian art. 

This iteration of Homage will feature a new work, commissioned by the School of Art Gallery and derived from holdings in the FitzGerald Study Centre Collection.

Exhibition Sponsors: Richard and Donna Ivey

Supported by Contact Photography Festival

Presented in partnership with FLASH Photographic Festival