Articles of Faith

September 16 - December 4, 2021
Group exhibition at the Mitchell Art Gallery, MacEwan University, Edmonton AB
Curated by Carolyn Jervis
Pigment ink on vinyl adhesives; mirror, wood, ceramic, plastic, shell, gemstones, ash, wax, glass, metal, bone, string.

“...it is not without reason that faith has been compared to an anchor that has caught on the bottom and checked the vessel in its course, while the open and free ocean stretched beyond as far as the eye can reach. And who shall break the anchor from his heart? When you shake it loose in one place, faith settles its hold somewhere else....”

– Jean-Marie Guyau, The Non-Religion of the Future: A Sociological Study

Articles of Faith brings together artworks that explore how faith tethers us, often through ancestral practices, and whether or not we choose it. Featuring the works of Borys Tarasenko, Emmanuel Osahor, Olivia Johnston, and Thirza Cuthand, this exhibition demonstrates the omnipresence of faith practices that at once provide us a deeply historical visual language to describe sacredness where it is often neglected, while also colluding with colonialism and other systems of oppression.

Articles of Faith is informed by the experiences artists shared with curator Carolyn Jervis and sociologist Dr. Robin Willey in interviews conducted as part of a four year multi-sited ethnographic research project that explores relationships between art and faith. - curator Carolyn Jervis