Richard Serra's Shift - a new movie, a new move to protect and a gala with the Globe, the McMichael Gallery and the Art Gallery of Hamilton

For Immediate Release

Richard Serra's Shift: An Evening of Film and Conversation. Saturday June 27, 2015

There is a world famous sculpture in a King Township field northwest of Toronto that the public is not allowed to see. This Saturday a new film about American Artist Richard Serra and the sculpture known as Shift, will be premiered in King City at the Kingbridge Conference Centre on Jane St. Following the movie a panel of well-known Canadian Art Experts will talk about the sculpture that is considered one of the most important site-specific works in the country. The evening gala is being hosted by Shelley Falconer, the new CEO of the Hamilton Art Gallery.

75-year old Richard Serra is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist known for working with large-scale assemblies of  sheet metal. Serra was involved in the Process Art Movement. He has created a number of memorials in Europe and North America to honour those who lost their lives to the WW2 Nazi genocide. His ionic Tilted Spheres  stands in the departure lounge of Toronto Pearson Airport's Terminal One. He lives and works in Tribeca, New York and on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. 

Shift  is a sprawling outdoor concrete installation that was created between 1970-1972 on private farmland in King City, where it remains today. Despite being one of Serra's seminal pieces, and one of Canada's most important site-specific sculptures, few people have  ever gotten to see it. While the art piece is protected by local legislation, the owners of the land have fenced in the field and posted no trespassing signs..

Following the film, there will be a panel discussion with some of Canada's leading art specialists who will discuss, Issues of Site: The Role of Sculpture in Public and Private Spaces. The panel includes art journalist James Adams (The Globe and Mail) and the CEO of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection Victoria Dickenson.

The evening is sponsored by Arts Society King, King Township Historical Society, King Heritage Advisory Council, King Township Public Library and King’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture. Tickets - $20 Adults  / $10 Students + HST can be reserved by calling: 905.939.9357, or bought online on the ASK website: http://www.artssocietyking.ca/a-shift-in-the-landscape.html 

STEPHEN WEIR
Stephen Weir & Associates | stephen@stephenweir.com 
109 Castlefield Avenue, Toronto, ON
CANADA. M4R 1G5
Tel: 416-489-5868 | cell: 416-801-3101 
www.stephenweir.com twitter: sweirsweir 

Dorian FitzGerald- The Throne Room, Queluz National Palace, Sintra, Portugal 2009 =acrylic paint and caulking on canvas 
320.5 x 396.6 cm The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Purchase, 
Photo by The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Christine Guest.

ART GALLERY OF HAMILTON

Invites the media to tour this show, meet the artists and curator, & yes take selfies at the new exhibition:

are you experienced?

Bilingual media preview 10.30 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.

THURSDAY JUNE 25th

From abstraction to figuration, are you experienced? features seven of the world’s top contemporary artists. The works of Nadia Belerique, Jessica Eaton, Olafur Eliasson, Dorian FitzGerald, Hadley+Maxwell, and famed Korean artist Do Ho Suh, are spread out over 8,000 square feet of gallery space. This groundbreaking exhibition is accessible, often familiar, and boldly outrageous. These are works that will engage audiences, young and old alike, on many levels.

Curator Melissa Bennett will be present to provide tours of the exhibition. 4 artists expected to attend.  Interviews are available. Explore are you experienced? in advance of the evening opening. The show runs until January 3 2016. 

RSVP to steve@artgalleryofhamilton.com  

Steve Denyes, Manager, Communications

[T] 905.527.6610, x 255 |  [E] steve@artgalleryofhamilton.com

Art Gallery of Hamilton, 123 King Street West, Downtown Hamilton L8P 4S8

Issued by Stephen Weir

on behalf of the Art Gallery of Hamilton

stephen@stephenweir.com