I am really excited about the upcoming exhibition at Red Bull 381 Projects, “What It Really Is”. Curated by my friend Nick Brown, the show aims to survey recent sculptural production in Canada with a particular emphasis on artists who use everyday materials “as a means of apprehending, mimicking, and animating elements of the real and perceived world.”

Jennifer Rose Sciarrino, Supposed Stalactites (Purple and Green Pendants), 2008

It also features a stellar lineup of Canadian sculpture-based artists, including Kerri Reid‘s recreated discarded objects, Kristan Horton‘s amazing stop-motion video of everyday objects transforming into one another, Kristi Malakoff‘s delicately constructed mushrooms, Liz Magor‘s iconic gypsum storage spaces and Jennifer Sciarrino (one of my all-time favourite people and artists)’s thousand-layer paper stalactites.

Kristi Malakoff, Speisepilze/Giftpilze (Fairy Ring), 2008

The exhibition opens tomorrow night, Tuesday, Jan. 27th, from 6 – 9 pm at 381 Queen St W. A catalogue, which includes texts by Nick Brown, Tejpal S. Ajji and a conversation between Toronto sculptor Jen Hutton (also amazing) and Liz Magor, is being published in conjunction with the show as well.