Panya Clark Espinal

In The Silence and the Storm, 64 full-scale reproductions of paintings by Canadian artist Tom Thomson were removed from David Silcox’s book of the same title. Five by seven inch sections of the reproductions were repainted by the artist and the “rematerialized” paintings were then mounted over the reproductions, with a border of the reproduction still visible. The installation plays with our notions of what is real in our experience of art, and examines our assumptions surrounding authenticity.

Originally shown at the McMichael Canadian Art Gallery in Kleinburg, Ontario, the group of 64 paintings were developed as an installation alongside 64 pots of fragrant Narcissus flowers. These flowers made reference to archival documentation of the exhibition space, once the living room of Signe and Robert McMichael. This work has also been shown without the flowers.

• Essay — The Silence And The Storm