Exhibition - Current

TEENAGER HAMLET 2006

"Teenager Hamlet 2006" was filmed during five consecutive days in July, 2006. A structure, but no dialogue or script, was devised which would use everybody and everything that was available to the video's creator, painter turned director Margaux Williamson. The intention was to see what kind of story was at the centre of these resources. The resulting footage, assembled into a feature-length film over the next two years, includes: a group of "Hamlets" (who think a great deal about injustice and their own impotence); a group of "Ophelias" (who give high value to beauty and its power); and a group of "aktors" in the woods who try and map out what the story of Hamlet looks like in 2006. A startling hybrid of make-believe and documentary, art and politics, "Teenager Hamlet 2006" raises questions about how we live in stories today.

Toronto - The Toronto International Film Festival presents Future Projections, seven installation-based works with inspired connections to the history and the culture of cinema. Presented outside the cinema space and throughout Toronto , Future Projections continues a remarkable city-wide collaboration with leading cultural institutions, bolstering Toronto 's reputation as a centre of excellence and innovation. Venues include the Institute of Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum , the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art , Stephen Bulger Gallery/CAMERA, Craig Scott Gallery , Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects and the Drake Hotel. The seven installations will be offered as free, non-ticketed events. 

"With Future Projections 2008 we are continuing to explore new film-based art forms and the diversity of ideas with dynamic links to film culture, says Noah Cowan, Artistic Director, Bell Lightbox. "Bell Lightbox will be a year-round incubator for ideas, and inspirations and we will look forward to fostering new experiences and relationships." 

This year, Future Projections features a diverse array of moving-image talent, well-known visual artists Glenn Ligon and Margaux Williamson share space on the programme with emerging talents Samuel Chow, multidisciplinary artist Clive Holden and Marco Brambilla, and established film directors Srinivas Krishna and Philip Haas, approaching the gallery for the first time. 

Painter Margaux Williamson uses Shakespeare's Hamlet to explore the conflicts, confusions and contradictions of her downtown Toronto peers in her first feature-length video project. An installation consisting of film stills, screen tests, paintings and a screening create what Williamson calls a "weird parallel universe to mainstream cinema" in the very neighbourhood where Teenager Hamlet 2006 was shot. Williamson's project and her simulation of the traditional commercial movie experience pose compelling questions. Curated by Steve Gravestock, presented by Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects in association with Future Projections. Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, 1082 Queen Street West . September 4 through 13, daily from noon to 5 p.m., nightly screenings in the Gallery at 7:30 p.m. from September 5 - 10. Admission is free, but space is limited; to reserve, email intern@januaryfilms.ca or call 647-723-6477. Opening September 5 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.