MAIN SPACE:
BUFFET TOI & MOI
Shelly Low
Eyelevel Gallery, Halifax, NS
From September 3rd – October 9th, 2010, Eyelevel Gallery hosts Montréal artist Shelly Low in her solo exhibition Buffet Toi & Moi.
Opening reception: September 2nd, at 7pm.
Inspired by the name of a Chinese restaurant in downtown Montréal, called Noodles U & Me, Shelly Low addresses our relationships with identity politics, questioning what is Chinese, and what is considered to be “Chinese” in her recent body of work Buffet Toi & Moi. Drawing from personal experiences surrounding a Polynesian/Chinese restaurant called La Pagode Royale that her parents owned in the eighties, Low offers a discourse around notions of cultural authenticity and her own relationship to this inherited culture.
Buffet Toi & Moi brings together video loops, a wall of ceramic dishes, light boxes and an iconic projection resembling signage of a Chinese restaurant. The interdisciplinary nature of this installation presents us with the atmospheric qualities of a restaurant, investigating the marketing and commodification of ethnicity through food, and exploring how ethno/cultural stereotypes are presented, then consumed. Low invites us to consider how we define an ‘authentic’ experience as consumers in North American restaurant culture.
Born and raised in Montréal, Quebec, Shelly Low draws from the immigrant experiences of her parents and confronts her Chinese heritage by addressing the invented, ephemeral and vague nature of cultural identity. Working with mixed media including photography, video and installation, her recent production centers around the ubiquitous Chinese restaurant. She has been exhibiting in artist-run centres, museums and galleries across Canada and in the States for over fifteen years, with recent solo exhibitions in Québec, Ontario, and Manitoba. Throughout her career she has been the recipient of many awards, prizes and grants, with several works, which are part of the Canada Council Art Bank, the Musée du Québec Prêt d’Oeuvres, and the Claridge Collection. Shelly Low holds an MFA from Concordia University, and currently teaches at Champlain College.