From hut to art

The WKP Kennedy Gallery in North Bay will be taking ice huts to a whole new level with its latest exhibition.
Details are included in the following news release issued by the gallery:
____________________________________________________________
ICE FOLLIES: Contemporary Artworks on a Frozen Lake

This March, we will present an exhibition of artist-animated ice-fishing huts situated upon the flat white expanse of Lake Nipissing (at 600 square kilometers one of the largest lakes in Ontario). Bringing together artists from across Northern and Southern Ontario, from various art-making communities, ICE FOLLIES will create temporary public art works that echo or metaphorically address, or incorporate the idea or the reality of an ice-fishing hut and install these works on the frozen lake.

North Bay and the WKP Kennedy Gallery are perfectly situated for this project. The city is located on the shores of Lake Nipissing and is traditionally known as one of Canada’s best ice-fishing locations. ICE FOLLIES will feature snowmobile, walking, snowshoeing and skiing tours of the seven sites. This project will allow the gallery to present contemporary sculptural artworks in an austere, yet interesting (and unavoidable) setting, while at the same time celebrating our community and our Northern landscape.

Although the WKP Kennedy Gallery has a long history of gallery exhibitions and participation in cultural events across the city and region, ICE FOLLIES is a first for us. Artists chosen bring to the project their own ideas about: the wilderness, architecture, our relationship to nature or lack thereof, the whimsical in public spaces and the ironic connections between contemporary art practice and a disappearing wilderness. We have also chosen artists who have worked with structures and assemblage or within the politics of hunting.

We will be working closely with the Ministry of the Environment in North Bay to ensure that artworks are respectful of the lake and the environment and that the icy sites are returned to their original state after the three-week run of the exhibition. We will also work with various local fishing lodges and community groups to arrange this important and unique exhibition.

The exhibition is slated to run from March 6th, 2004 to March 20, 2004. The lake will, we hope, be beautifully snow-covered during those weeks. The opening reception will take place on Friday, March 5, 2004 and snowmobile tours will start at 11 am, Saturday, March 6th.