Lost and Found
A Public Art Project by Holly Ward and Kevin Schmidt
Curated by Yan Wu
Co-presented by Markham Public Art and the Varley Art Gallery of Markham
On view: January 27 to May 5, 2024
Main Gallery, Varley Art Gallery of Markham
Lost and Found is a public art project conceived by artist duo Kevin Schmidt and Holly Ward. The project unfolded as a series of constructed situations along the Rouge Valley Trail in Unionville throughout the summer and fall of 2023. Augmented by specially designed t-shirts and musical carts, it is brought to life through everyday activities embodied by local community groups and amateur musicians. In January 2024, the project transitions to the Varley Art Gallery to formalize a visual language that frames individual experiences along the trail as ‘artworks’ through the presentation of objects and ephemera in an interactive installation.
Wandering, practicing, improvising, and experimenting are revealed here not only as preparations but as substantial activities in themselves. Lost and Found locates these activities in public space, designating chance encounters as a potential site for the formation of publics.
Holly Ward’s work explores the role of aesthetics in the formation of social realities, while Kevin Schmidt’s practice delves into the artist's role in a spectacle-driven society, exploring faith, mythmaking, craft, and popular culture. Their collaborative projects include Eye of the Beholder, sculptural cameras obscura situated outside of Dawson City for the Midnight Sun Camera Obscura Festival (2016), and The Pavilion, a 22-foot geodesic dome located in rural Heffley Creek BC, serving as a catalyst for artistic experimentation, and being performed as an interdisciplinary life-as-art project (2011-)
Click HERE for a virtual tour of the exhibition.
Co-published by Markham Public Art and the Varley Art Gallery of Markham, the publication Lost and Found, A Public Art Project by Kevin Schmidt and Holly Ward is now available for online ordering.
A collaborative effort between the artists, the curator, and the designer, the publication Lost and Found, A Public Art Project by Kevin Schmidt and Holly Ward is conceived as the third presentation space in this project. It juxtaposes documentation of activities and events previously taken place on the Rouge Valley Trail and in the exhibition space of the Varley Art Gallery, capturing the diverse cultural heritages of the area, the unique urban natural setting of the trail, and the shifting re/presentation of aesthetic experience. Centred around a conversation between the artists and the curator and with a Foreword by Niamh O’Laoghaire, Director of the Varley Art Gallery, delineating the history of public art in Markham, this reflection traces the project’s trajectory, from initial inspirations to conceptual and artistic strategies, to aspirations for civic public space.
Project Coordinator: Alessandra Pozzuoli
Design: Mark Bennett
Copy Editing and Proofreading: Rosemary Heather
Printed in Canada by Andora Graphics
Price: CAD $15. Available to order at Art Metropole. Click here to visit their online shop.
PUBLIC EVENTS
Winter Exhibitions Opening ReceptionSaturday, January 27, 2 to 4 PM | Free.Join us in celebrating the opening of winter exhibitions at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham, including Holly Ward and Kevin Schmidt’s public art project Lost and Found and the collections-based installation A butterfly flaps its wings curated by Anik Glaude, along with the book launch for Gathering Fictions A Dialogue on Painting. Kevin Schmidt and Holly Ward will lead a tour of their exhibition alongside curator Yan Wu in the Main Gallery, while artists Janet Jones and Michel Daigneault will discuss their work on display in the Collections Gallery.
Artist Talk with Holly Ward and Kevin SchmidtSaturday, March 2, 2 to 4 PM | Free. Kevin Schmidt and Holly Ward will delve into the process of conceiving the public art project Lost and Found. They will discuss its inception, research, artistic strategies, and manifestations in the context of their general practice and past projects.
Found Sounds, in conjunction with Lost and Found Publication LaunchSaturday, April 6, 2 to 4 PM | Free.Join us at this celebratory musical event. Musicians from Lost and Found will gather to play in the exhibition space, performing material they practiced along the trail or in the gallery, or improvising on their own instruments and the musical carts created by the artists. The artists will be in attendance. The project publication, co-edited by the curator and the artists, and centred around a conversation between the three, will be launched at the occasion.
Bus transportation is available from downtown Toronto (Spadina and Bloor) to the gallery (subject to capacity). To register please contact Alessandra Pozzuoli at apozzuoli@markham.ca.
Lost and Found Musician Practice SessionsSaturdays and Sundays, 2 to 4 PMThroughout the exhibition's run, the amateur musicians who played along the Rouge River Trail during the summer and fall will animate Lost and Found. Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, visitors will encounter a musician or musical group practicing their respective instruments in the gallery space.
Banner image: Seniors' tai chi group from 105 Gibson Centre, sporting Lost and Found t-shirts, practicing along the Rouge River Trail in the summer of 2023. Photo by Hugh Li.
