For several years now, the playful sculptural work of Toronto-based artist Roula Partheniou has engaged the complexities of human perception. Deftly manipulating visual cues of colour, form and scale, Partheniou creates objects that sit coyly between abstraction and reproduction—while they may resemble familiar items at first glance, closer examination reveals subtle surprises.
In House & Home & Garden, her first solo museum exhibition, Partheniou presents an installation environment that skews our perception of the materials of everyday life. Providing a unique context and architecture for Partheniou’s practice, Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens—formerly a private home—becomes a space in transition. Rooms seemingly undergoing renovation are joined by uncanny sculptural objects that evoke the activities of both residents and contractors. Seamlessly blending actual and fabricated construction materials, and presenting replicas of once-functional objects like light bulbs, candle stick and toys, Partheniou proffers a scene poised between the order of daily routine and the chaotic upheaval of change.
Installation shots by Toni Hafkenscheid.
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Awards:
Recipient of a Curatorial Art Writing Award and an Honourable Mention for Monographic Exhibition of the Year from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries.