The Disappearing Sky features the work of Saskatchewan-based artist Zachari Logan and Baker Lake artist Ruth Qaulluaryuk. Sharing a distinct visual language of flora and foliage, Qaulluaryuk’s embroidered textiles and drawings capture patterns of floral and plant design associated with the tundra groundcover of northern environments, while Logan’s large-scale works on paper verge on tapestries, addressing the implicit and intimate link between land and body in his exploration of the intersection of the body, queer identity, memory, and place. Providing no clear landmarks, locations, or points of view, the ground underfoot takes on allegorical dimensions in both cases, pointing to movement in space and to landscapes that extend the body in every direction.
The Disappearing Sky: In conversation with Zachari Logan
On Wednesday, February 17, Art Gallery of Guelph Director Shauna McCabe hosted a virtual conversation with artist Zachari Logan. Addressing the development of his recent work on view in the exhibition The Disappearing Sky, the discussion focused on the visual language throughout Logan’s pastel drawings and how the natural topographies he cultivates speak to both interior and exterior worlds through an exploration of the intersection of queer identity, memory and place.
Image detail: Zachari Logan, Nel Mezzo Del Cammin Di Nostra Vita (detail), 2018, pastel on black paper, 394 x 59 in.
Gallery
About the artists
Ruth Qaulluaryuk
Ruth Qaulluaryuk (b. 1932) is from the Back River area of the Keewatin Region of the Northwest Territories, much of which is today’s Kivalliq Region of Nunavut. Like many Inuit, she lived a nomadic existence until she and her family moved to the settlement of Baker Lake in the early 1970s. To contribute to the family income, Qaulluaryuk began to sew clothing and craft items. In 1974, two of her wall hangings appeared in the Crafts from Arctic Canada exhibition, and her drawing Tundra with River was selected for the fourth Baker Lake Annual Print Collection that same year. She has continued to contribute work to exhibitions in Canada and the United States. As well as the collection of the Art Gallery of Guelph, her work is in the collections of institutions across Canada.
Zachari Logan
Zachari Logan (b. 1980) is a Canadian artist working mainly with large-scale drawing, ceramic and installation practices. Logan’s work has been exhibited widely, in group and solo exhibitions throughout North America, Europe and Asia, and can be found in public and private collections worldwide, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Remai Modern.
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