Is sleep in crisis? An exhibition in Toronto

The Art Museum at the University of Toronto presents a collective exhibition about sleeping and its social and cultural function.

Jon Sasaki, A Rest, 2016. Video, 10:20 min. Based on a choreographed solo performed by James Phillips originally commissioned by the Toronto Dance Theatre. Courtesy of the artist and Clint Roenisch Gallery, Toronto

The collective exhibition “Figures of Sleep”, on show at The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, considers the cultural anxieties manifest in the popular and critical imagination around the collapsing biological function of sleep under economic, social and technological transformation.

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

“Figures of Sleep”, exhibition title, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.1 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.2 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.3 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.4 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.5 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.6 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.7 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.8 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.9 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

Img.10 “Figures of Sleep”, exhibition view, The Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2018

If the night was the space of mystic quandary, and a creative catalyst and spiritual and cultural resource, today’s globalised capitalism and market and military demands for 24/7 service hours are stretching human body and mind in unprecedented ways. Is sleep in crisis? Exceedingly, artists have adopted the motif of sleep as a cipher for material, aesthetic, existential and political considerations of these urgent cultural concerns.

In this gallery: works on show

In this gallery: works on show

In this gallery: works on show

In this gallery: works on show

In this gallery: works on show

In this gallery: works on show

In this gallery: works on show

In this gallery: works on show

Rodney Graham, Halcion Sleep, 1994. Textile and single-channel video. Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery

Sophie Calle, The Sleepers—Raphael Brossard, 1980. 7 black and white photographs, 1 text, Edition of 5, each photograph 5 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin, Paris/New York

Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Untitled (Question Projections), 1981-2003. 35mm slide projections, variable dimensions. Collection of Hamburger-Bahnhof, Berlin

Rodney Graham, Halcion Sleep (detail), 1994. Tessuto e video monocanale. Collection of Vancouver Art Gallery. Courtesy l’artista

Tehching Hsieh, One Year Performance 1980-1981 (Clock Piece), 1980-1981. Performance ephemera and 16mm film documentation transferred to video. Courtesy of the artist and Sean Kelly Gallery, New York

Liz Magor, Burrow, 1999. Polymerized alpha gypsum, textile, stain, 58 x 198 x 137 cm. Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery

Gabriel Orozco, Sleeping Leaves, 1990. Axo dye print (Ilfochrome), 31.7 x 47.7 cm. Collection of the National Gallery of Canada

Jasmeen Patheja, Action Hero Satya, Meet to Sleep action organized by Blank Noise, Bangalore, 2015. Digital photograph. Courtesy of the artist

Exhibition dates:: Figures of Sleep
Curated by:: Sarah Robayo Sheridan
Exhibition dates:: until 3 March 2018
Location:: The Art Museum – University of Toronto
Address:: 15 King’s College Circle, Toronto

Is sleep in crisis? An exhibition in Toronto

The Art Museum at the University of Toronto presents a collective exhibition about sleeping and its social and cultural function.

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