Kingston’s art scene is reaching new heights this winter with “Midheaven.”
On view from Jan. 30 to March 29, “Midheaven” is the final exhibition staged in the Agnes’ off-site garage space at the Rideau Building, which has served as the gallery’s temporary home during construction of the new Agnes facility. The show was curated by Emelie Chhangur, director and curator at the Agnes, and created by artist Stacey Sproule in collaboration with Erika DeFreitas, Sara Keller, Ambivalently Yours, and Victoria Cheong.
“This is our last show before we move into our new landmark building,” Chhangur said in an interview with The Journal. “So, this means we’re turning a corner.” That sense of transition is central to Midheaven, which Chhangur views as a culmination of the Agnes’ experimental work in the garage space.
Sproule was invited to create the exhibition through what Chhangur called a “wild invitation to do whatever she wanted in the space.” The result’s a unique solo exhibition composed entirely through collaboration.
“It’s experimental research at its heart,” Sproule said in an interview with The Journal. “I’m always conscious of trying to create structures that are more supportive for artists.”
The exhibition blends hand-drawn animation, projection, sound, and participatory objects into a calm, blue-hued environment. It opens with the piece “We Begin and End with Blue,” Sproule’s collaboration with DeFreitas, which fills an entire wall with drawings, sketches, and written memories exploring water, atmosphere, and the colour blue. The work emerged from months of correspondence between the two artists, creating what Sproule described as an “intuitive exchange”.
In the next space, “Only Sky,” co-created with Keller, projects clouds drifting slowly across the wall. Using rotoscoping and camera-less cyanotypes, the artists “took a picture in collaboration with the sky,” creating a looping image that feels subtly alive.
The exhibition continues with “Seen by Water through Wind,” made with Ambivalently Yours, which draws viewers into a small room layered with wall drawings and animated imagery. Ambient sound from the auditory art piece “Sonne,” Sproule’s collaboration with Cheong, carries throughout the entire space, blurring the boundaries between individual works.
Chhangur emphasized that this blurring is intentional. “The exhibition operates differently because it’s composed collaboratively, where that bleeding sensibility is actually a part of the artwork,” she said.
The experience concludes with “Luminiferous Aether,” Sproule’s only completely solo work, a tarot deck presented in a quiet, blue-lit room. Visitors are invited to draw a physical card while images from the deck flicker briefly on screen, creating an animation.
Framed as both an exhibition and an artwork, Midheaven rewards taking your time. Low lighting, calming blue tones, and ambient sound firmly anchor you in the space, creating an unforgettable experience fit to end this chapter of Agnes’ legacy.
Tags
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Midheaven, Visual art
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