POTPURRI

Farihah Shah (Toronto), Ed Pien (Toronto), Court Gee (Toronto),

Rob Nicolls (Toronto), and Suzy Oliveria (Toronto)

Union Station with OCAD U, Toronto

Jan 7 - Feb 1, 2019

A collaborative public art exhibition features OCAD U Alumni and faculty employing floral imagery as a vehicle to discuss identity politics, virtual realms, mortality, and image veracity.

In response to Union Station’s January theme, ‘The Possibility of Transformation”, OCAD U’s public art intervention Potpourri transforms the Oak Room with an immersive greenery-inspired indoor trellis.

Responding to the room’s rich hues and elegant architecture, this temporary art structure transmutes the visitor experience into a vibrant and organic garden environment, complete with flora-inspired artworks and overhead Douglas Fir beams. The contrast of dark oak and soft spruce invokes an eclecticism of natural materials providing fertile grounds for an artwork exhibition. Shifting away from free-standing white walls that divorce exhibition from site-specificity,

Potpourri presents an untreated timber structure to showcase artworks, converting Union Station’s Oak Room into a visitor-friendly flora experience.