{"id":37223568449,"date":"2023-05-19T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mcmichael1.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=37223568449"},"modified":"2025-11-26T10:18:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T15:18:05","slug":"at-the-mcmichael-artists-spin-ecological-anxiety-into-fairy-tales-in-the-uses-of-enchantment","status":"publish","type":"media-article","link":"https:\/\/mcmichael.com\/fr\/article-media\/at-the-mcmichael-artists-spin-ecological-anxiety-into-fairy-tales-in-the-uses-of-enchantment\/","title":{"rendered":"At the McMichael, Artists Spin Ecological Anxiety into Fairy Tales in The Uses of Enchantment"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the McMichael, Artists Spin Ecological Anxiety into Fairy Tales in The Uses of Enchantment<\/h1>\n

NUVO Magazine<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

By: Rose Prata
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May 19, 2023<\/span><\/p>\n

Original URL: At the McMichael, Artists Spin Ecological Anxiety into Fairy Tales in The Uses of Enchantment | NUVO (nuvomagazine.com)<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Once upon a time, the ancient forest was a site of foreboding. In fairy tales, old-growth trees knitted together their lush canopies and tangled roots to create labyrinthine chambers of bewilderment where children were led astray. In every shadow, there lurked a snarling wolf or wart-faced witch bearing poisoned fruit. Nowadays, however, the forest has been razed to make way for shiny new housing developments. Some wolves have been reduced to endangered species, and genetically modified fruit is sold on most grocery-store shelves. We are no longer scared of getting lost in the wilderness. We are afraid of losing the wilderness itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Uses of Enchantment: Art & Environmentalism<\/em>, a group exhibition on view to October 29, 2023, at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, holds up a magic mirror to the most threatening monster currently in our midst: the climate crisis. In drawings, paintings, sculpture, performance, and audio, artists Shary Boyle, Carrie Allison, Shuvinai Ashoona, Qavavau Manumie, Bill Burns, Sara Angelucci, and Winnie Truong use folk-tale strategies to grapple with anxieties on a planetary scale. Fairy tales encourage children to use their imaginations to resolve fears and inner conflicts, according to Austrian American psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, whose 1977 book on the subject lends this exhibition its name.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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As the United Nations succinctly summarizes, \u201cSea levels are rising, the Arctic is melting, coral reefs are dying, oceans are acidifying, and forests are burning.\u201d Yet many of the world\u2019s politicians still aren\u2019t able to grasp the extent of the threat. Like Hansel and Gretel, they fatten themselves on gingerbread while ignoring the piles of bones stacked in the corner.<\/p>\n

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Shary Boyle (b. 1972), Black Gold, 2019, gouache and acrylic on paper, 36 x 51 cm, Private collection, Photo courtesy of the artist. \u00a9 Shary Boyle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>
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Shary Boyle, Revival Beach, 2011\u201315, ink and gouache on paper, 89 x 107 cm, Weisz family collection, Photo courtesy of the artist, \u00a9 Shary Boyle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In artist Shary Boyle\u2019s 2011\u201315 painting Revival Beach, amphibious beasts are recast as the innocents, and humans\u2014or \u201cplanet Earth\u2019s rogue species,\u201d as curator Sarah Milroy refers to us\u2014the villains. Our presence is indicated by our conspicuous absence in the plundered landscape<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Winnie Truong (b. 1988), False Eyes of a Reliable Witness, 2022, coloured pencil and cut paper collage, 61 x 50.8 cm, Private collection, Photo courtesy of the artist. \u00a9 Winnie Truong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

False Eyes of a Reliable Witness<\/em>, one of Winnie Truong\u2019s paper-cut collages from the 2022 series Herbaria, depicts a spread-eagled moth-like figure with bulging eyeballs staring out from the backs of its two heads. The creature balances delicately on browning grasses woven into Rapunzel-esque braids. Most of the bodies in this exhibition are feminized, correlating with the gender commonly assigned to planet Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf one takes these stories as descriptions of reality, then the tales are indeed outrageous in all respects\u2014cruel, sadistic, and whatnot,\u201d Bettelheim wrote of classic children\u2019s literature. \u201cBut as symbols of psychological happenings or problems, these stories are quite true.\u201d It\u2019s clear that scientists aren\u2019t scaring people enough by parroting data and statistics, so we find ourselves turning to storytellers, visual or otherwise, to create parables that get the point across.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Like the imp Rumpelstiltskin who turned straw into gold, the artists in The Uses of Enchantment<\/em> spin alarming reality into something palatable and appealing to the eyes. The only way to gain real power over the menace of climate catastrophe, however, is to call it by its true name. Wandering into murky, unknown territory is frightening, but a future without forests is far grimmer. By commanding us to confront what we fear with their use of bewitching visuals, it might indeed be artists that guide us out of the metaphorical woods.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Media wishing to request an interview with exhibition artists, curators, or to obtain high-resolution images of the artworks are asked to contact Sam Cheung at\u00a0<\/span>scheung@mcmichael.com<\/a> or 905.893.1121 ext. 2210.<\/span>
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Ces informations sont aussi disponible en fran\u00e7ais.\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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ABOUT THE MCMICHAEL CANADIAN ART COLLECTION<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, and the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation. It is the only major museum in the country\u00a0devoted exclusively to Canadian art. In addition to touring exhibitions, the McMichael houses a permanent collection of more than 6,500 works by historic and\u00a0contemporary\u00a0Canadian artists, including Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, Indigenous artists and artists from many diasporic communities in Canada. The Gallery is located on 100 acres of\u00a0forested\u00a0land and hiking trails at 10365 Islington Avenue,\u00a0Kleinburg,\u00a0north\u00a0of Major Mackenzie Drive in the City of Vaughan. For more information, please visit mcmichael.com.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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MEDIA CONTACTS<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>

Sam Cheung<\/strong><\/span>
\nMedia Relations and Communications Coordinator<\/em><\/span>
\nMcMichael Canadian Art Collection<\/span>
\n905.893.1121 ext. 2210<\/span>
\nscheung@mcmichael.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Grace Johnstone<\/strong><\/span>
\nDirector, Communications, Marketing and Sales<\/span>
\nMcMichael Canadian Art Collection<\/span>
\n905-893-1121 x2265<\/span>
\ngjohnstone@mcmichael.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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