GUEST ARTIST LECTURE SERIES: Steve Laurie

Come to the Toronto School of Art
for an artist talk by hot rod grease monkey

S T E V E      L A U R I E

6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 28th

410 Adelaide St. West, 3rd Floor

pay what you can + cash bar

The Toronto School of Art (TSA) is pleased to welcome Steve Laurie to our studios on Wednesday, April 28th, at 6:30 p.m. to talk about his work.

‘My interdisciplinary studio practice consists of designing and fabricating homebrew prototype machines, handheld tools and site-specific image-based installation projects. Considered by some people as “hyper-masculine” or examples of “boy art”, my work thoughtfully glimpses at the unfolding aspects of masculinity through the visual cues of working class consciousness, cultural truisms, prototypes and customs. I employ traditions of performance art, kinetic sculpture and mark making to consider how actions/processes such as burning rubber, engine revving and stereo thumping are used to communicate a sense of working-class kinship and residency. These everyday subversions are pared down in my work by building and demonstrating stylish petrol fired machines that generate tire smoke and sound through the output of torque, friction, heat, vibration and engine exhaust. The materials in my work reference Princess Auto and Canadian Tire as a means to concede to a type of lowbrow consumer glut that is bred from a vision of ‘ultimate’ performance and a yearning to tune and tweak. From a personal connection to a blue-collar lifestyle my artwork hints towards pastime activities like customization, modification and maintenance as insightful moments of spatial production and cultural expression.

’ – Steve Laurie

UPCOMING LECTURE: Alex McLeod
Wednesday, May 19th at 6:30 p.m.    www.alxclub.com

Organized by Camilla Singh for the Toronto School of Art.
idomyownstunts.com

Advertisement