Elise Rasmussen, Checa, 2015. Courtesy the artist and Erin Stump Projects.
The Canadian Art Foundation auction takes place during our 21st annual gala on September 22. In anticipation, we asked members of our art-advisory committee to select their favourite works on the auction block. We’ll be publishing their selections periodically leading up to our auction preview on September 15, when all of the works will be on view at Waddingtons.
Top Pick for Corrie Jackson, Assistant Art Curator, Royal Bank of Canada: Elise Rasmussen’s Checa (2015)
“Elise Rasmussen’s Checa works have been haunting me for a while now, and her recent installation of this body of work at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto only amplifies my absorption. The black and white photos document a performer, clad in a Constructivist costume, navigating through an interpretation of Alphonse Laurencic’s “checa” prison cell. This cell is a space which is said to have employed aesthetics from Wassily Kandinsky’s philosophies to psychologically torture prisoners during the Spanish Civil War.”
“The walls of this space won’t let your eyes rest, the floor cannot be paced upon, but rather each step must be cautiously considered. The dancer’s tension and activation of the space plays out through these still, black and white, documentary images. If you get the chance, stop by Harbourfront Centre in Toronto before September 18th to see more of Rasumssen’s Checa project.”
Visit canadianart.ca/gala2016 for information on gala tickets, and to view our full auction catalogue.
