Lessons: The Artistry of Learning features work by artists dedicated to the accumulation and sharing of knowledge. While it might be tempting to think that an artist produces work alone in one’s studio, creativity in fact rarely takes place in isolation. Much thought, experimentation, and dialogue can inform art production. Thinking through, trying out and testing different techniques, for example, may come about through a wide array of interactions, ranging from engagement or studying with mentors, friends, partners, instructors, elders, knowledge keepers, communities, collectives, and the like.
Works by Moses Amik Beaver (1960-2017), Zoe Gordon, Sarah Link, Jean Marshall, Riaz Mehmood, Crystal Nielsen, and Mavourneen Trainor come together, collectively making evident how artists both accrue and communicate knowledge. The contexts in which they each learn, work, and teach are incredibly wide-ranging and so Lessons honours each one’s and, more broadly, all artists’ dedication to processes of learning in meaningful, exciting, and dynamic ways.