Georgia Dickie at COOPER COLE

Artist: Georgia Dickie

Exhibition title: Jerky Out, Gnar In

Venue: COOPER COLE, Toronto, Canada

Date: March 6 – April 17, 2021

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and COOPER COLE, Toronto

COOPER COLE is pleased to present Jerky Out, Gnar In, a solo exhibition of the work of Georgia Dickie.

For this exhibition, Dickie presents a space of precarity in which boundaries are flexible and tangled with our lived experiences. Over the past year, the artist’s short walk between her home and studio has narrowed the patterns in her collecting of discarded objects, and in turn shaped the way her new sculptures have evolved.

Dickie’s artistic logic is based in rebalancing and eschewing the values assigned to material objects. The artist uses found materials, collects them in her studio, and goes through a process of shaping assemblages that create a new set of relations between materials. Often appearing physically or conceptually precarious, Dickie’s works remain liminal, and intentionally question what it means to attain subjectivity. In some cases, this means the artist continues to adjust the works for a period of time, including during installation. By contrast, works with the most fragile appearance—for example made of shopping bags and cardboard— are in fact densely doused in adhesive and completely impenetrable.

Dickie’s artistic approach subverts the way we relate to familiar objects and sculpture. Her work transcends these boundaries both physically and conceptually, creating a space that counters capitalist growth models, essentializing categories, and linear narratives. Embedded in this methodology is a deep environmental consciousness that up-cycles the remnants of a hyper-consumerist culture. The title Jerky Out, Gnar In references the nature of consumption in relation to waste production, creating a somewhat arbitrary dichotomy that mirrors Dickie’s practice and its engagement with chaos, entropy, containment, and impermanence.

Georgia Dickie (b.1989, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) earned her BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2011. She was one of the recipients of the 2020 Sobey Art Award, and the 2014 recipient of the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts Artist Prize. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions internationally including Oakville Galleries, Oakville (2019), Rolando Anselmi, Berlin (2018), Jeffrey Stark, New York (2017), Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2017), Cooper Cole (2017), Springsteen Gallery, Baltimore (2016), Art Museum of U of T, Toronto (2016), The Power Plant, Toronto (2013), and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto (2012). In February 2015, she was the Canada Council for the Arts artist in residence at Acme Studios in London, UK. Dickie currently lives and works in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Georgia Dickie, Maquette for Dream Home, 2021, Cardboard box, found objects, glue, hi-hat cymbal and stand, and found metal base, Cardboard box: 12 x 37.5 x 29 inches Base: 16 x 33 x 33 inches Hi-hat and stand: 41 x 22 x 25 inches

Georgia Dickie, Jerky Out, Gnar In, 2021, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Georgia Dickie, Maintenance, 2020, Paper bag with mixed media contents and glue, 8″ X 14.75″ X 10.5″, 20.32cm X 37.46cm X 26.67cm

Georgia Dickie, Moment of Serious Poignancy (Throne), 2021, Found objects, plastic, chair, and tape, 37″ X 24″ X 32″, 93.98cm X 60.96cm X 81.28cm

Georgia Dickie, Time It! That’s Fastic! (Quadriptych), 2021, Found objects and mixed media collage on wood, 156.25″ X 24.5″ X 3.75″, 396.87cm X 62.23cm X 9.52cm

Georgia Dickie, Jerky Out, Gnar In, 2021, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Georgia Dickie, In awe of plum loin, 2021, Found objects, stool cushion seat, measuring cups, wood, and wood stain, 33″ X 12″ X 8″, 83.82cm X 30.48cm X 20.32cm

Georgia Dickie, Jerky Out, Gnar In, 2021, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Georgia Dickie, Scene, special (patio), 2020, Found objects and cardboard on wood, 8.5″ X 9″ X 10″, 21.59cm X 22.86cm X 25.4cm

Georgia Dickie, Jerky Out, Gnar In, 2021, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Georgia Dickie, Grease she who see you, 2020, Mixed media collage, cardboard, and found objects, 60.6″ X 25.6″ X 5.9″, 153.92cm X 65.02cm X 14.99cm

Georgia Dickie, Jerky Out, Gnar In, 2021, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Georgia Dickie, In order to build the new medium, 2020, Found objects, wood, metal, and paint, 2 units: 49 x 16.75 x 11.75 inches and 62.25 x 22.75 x 4.75 inches

Georgia Dickie, Privet, 2021, Found objects, metal, ceramic plate, shop towel, apple core, paper bag, plastic bin, plastic bag, metronome, foam, and glue, Dimensions variable

Georgia Dickie, Jerky Out, Gnar In, 2021, exhibition view, COOPER COLE, Toronto

Georgia Dickie, Privet, 2021, Found objects, metal, ceramic plate, shop towel, apple core, paper bag, plastic bin, plastic bag, metronome, foam, and glue, Dimensions variable