Modus Operandi

Ginette Legaré and Louise Noguchi are two artists based in Toronto. The pairing of their work in this exhibition arises from parallels in their working process rather than a similarity of materials or iconography. Although the work differs visually, it converges in the play with a psychological space between the familiar and the unknown, and how we as viewers perceive what we are looking at.

Ginette Legaré collects commonplace objects consisting of various materials such as wood, glass, leather, and metal. These objects are discreetly altered and arranged on the wall. The familiarity of the materials, and the evidence of some former use value, is transformed by their placement within a new and ambiguous matrix of meaning. Louise Noguchi melds together two photographic portraits; one of a murderer or murderer's victim culled from the mass media and one of herself mimicking their pose. By cutting each photograph into thin strips that are then woven together, the identity of the individual, and by extension any determination of innocence or guilt, is thrown into question.

Michele Theriault, in her catalogue text for this exhibition, identifies their strategy as one of claiming a space for the "in between," that is, a space that "opens up an imaginative zone for relationships that can't be easily circumscribed." These elusive relationships are central to the work of Legaré and Noguchi and create an often perplexing reading of things we might take for granted.

Ginette Legaré's work has been exhibited in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Amsterdam; Louise Noguchi's work has been exhibited in Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Saskatoon, and Calgary.

Modus Operandi, organized in collaboration with Cold City Gallery in Toronto, will travel to the Canadian Embassy Gallery in Tokyo in November 1996. The Contemporary Art Gallery is the only Canadian venue.