Les petites tours (Steelcase), supported by Steelcase Art Projects, is the first sculpture of the sculpture garden series at Industrial Arts.
Opening:
November 5th, 2023 (Sunday)
1:00 – 3:00 PM
248 Steelcase Road East, Markham
Free parking on site
The project is on site until late April 2024.
About the project:
Slow down, take a moment. We invite you into a world where the everyday becomes extraordinary, and where play—purposeless yet profoundly meaningful—takes center stage.
Crafted from plywood, drywall, stucco, Tremclad paint, and other construction materials, Fleming plays with everyday objects, elevating them onto columns, making them both unreachable and untouchable, allowing them to exist purely as forms, devoid of their utilitarian roles.
Les petites tours (Steelcase) pays homage to the everyday objects that share our spaces and shape our existence. It’s a negotiation of the tension between functionality and expression, between the freedom to interact and the restrictions imposed by context. It asks us to pause and appreciate the present. Regardless of whether we opt to observe from afar or crave interaction, our experience is a component of this ever-evolving narrative.
This is a nod to childhood exploration and the simple joys of play.
About the artist:
Nicolas Fleming’s practice engages with construction materials, aesthetics, and building techniques that are adapted into immersive, art-dedicated contexts. Fleming diverts the primary functions of materials like drywall and plaster towards the formal creation of sculpture, painting, and large scale installations. The result are objects and spaces in which function is suspended, creating a tension between conceptual understandings of material culture and habitual modes of behaviour. Fleming holds a BFA from Concordia University, Montréal (2001), and an MFA in visual and media arts from Université du Québec à Montréal (2007). Since 2006, Fleming has presented numerous solo exhibitions in Québec, including at Centre Plein sud, UQAM Gallery, McClure Gallery, AXENÉO7, Galerie Trois Points, Maison des Arts de Laval, and Centre CLARK. He has presented solo projects in Ontario at Forest City Gallery, TYPOLOGY Projects, and Evans Contemporary. In recent years, his interest for architectural installation led him to combine the roles of artist, art installer, and artistic director, putting forth ambitious projects such as UNDOMESTICATED at Koffler Gallery (Toronto, ON), Gazes in Dialogue at Musée d’art de Joliette (Joliette, QC), Public Space at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington (Bowmanville, ON) and, most recently, A Mudroom at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.
