Fondazione Giuliani is very pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Rome of renowned Canadian artist, Liz Magor. For over four decades Magor’s practice has primarily concentrated on sculpture, exploring our persistent and complicated relationship with things. Working with common, everyday objects that often go unnoticed, she uses various sculptural techniques to transform them into new forms, somewhere between still life and the uncanny. Things such as blankets, weathered clothing and discarded toys are found in relationships that generate a sense of meaning and care beyond their original use or need.
The exhibition at Fondazione Giuliani presents a selection of works produced in the last five years that considers Magor’s understanding of the presence of ‘agency’ within inanimate, material objects and her enquiry as to the source of their intrigue and emotional resonance. The way in which Magor’s work draws attention to apparently mundane objects seems particularly relevant to current discussions about the economy of things and the role of material in our social, political and psychological lives.
The exhibition is the third and final stop of a travelling exhibition, organised by Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea in collaboration with the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver and presented in partnership with The Douglas Hyde in Dublin, and Fondazione Giuliani.
Liz Magor (born 1948 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. Magor studied at the Vancouver School of Art and at Parsons School of Design in New York. In 2021, she was awarded the highest French cultural award, Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) for her contribution to the landscape of contemporary art, both in France and internationally. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in 2009 she was recognized with the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts, and in 2001, was recipient of the Governor General’s Award for achievements in visual and media arts in Canada. In 1987, she exhibited at documenta 8 in Kassel, Germany, and in 1984, she represented Canada at the Venice Biennale.
She has presented numerous solo exhibitions most recently at The Douglas Hyde, Dublin; Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, UK (2023); the Carpenter Center for the Arts, Cambridge; the Renaissance Society, Chicago; the David Ireland House, San Francisco (2019); The Modern and Contemporary Art Museum of Nice, France; Kunstverein in Hamburg, Germany; Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland (2017); and Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2016). Her work has been included in group exhibitions including Le Crédac, Ivry sur Sein, France (2020); Musée d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2019); Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2017); Glasgow Sculpture Studios (2016); Marcelle Alix, Paris (2015); Orange County Museum of Art, Santa Ana; Musée d’art contemporain de Montreal (2012); Seattle Art Museum; Wattis Institute, San Francisco; Vancouver Art Gallery; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (2003); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2001); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1995); Museum of Modern Art, New York (1992); Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff (1989); and Biennale of Sydney (1982).
We thank the Canada Council for the Arts for its support of this exhibition.
With additional thanks to Marcelle Alix, Paris, Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, JW Anderson, London and Daniele Ascarelli, Rome.