IntoThis

Marx Ruiz-Wilson

Conversations about contemporary Art

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    Episode #30 - Yam Lau

    In Episode #30 Yam Lau talks to Marx about his views on what is to be an artist. He also shared  the incredible story of getting to meet his biological father during his 40s, this story involves a very enthusiastic group of young artists in china and the secret Chinese police! Yam Lau is a Toronto based artist, professor and community organizer. He was born in Hong Kong and moved to Canada when he was 15 years old. He completed his MFA at the university of Alberta in 1997 and then moved to Toronto where he has been working and living since then. He is represented by Christie contemporary in Toronto As an artist, Yam explores new expressions and qualities of space, time and the image through the application of painting, computer-animation and digital video. In this conversation he talks about the concept of trying to make the world lighter with his art, this comes through in his work as the space being one of the major characters in his pieces. Yam teaches at York University just north of Toronto in the department of visual art and art history, throughout this conversation we talk about his reading on how the relationship between students and art degrees have evolved and become more “professionalized” Finally Yam is also a community organizer, he leads an ongoing art space hosted in his home, he invites artists to create an exhibition responding to his house architecture and he sees this project as an empowering activity for himself and his artists friends given that it lays outside of any commercial endeavour. Another of his projects in collaboration with artist Michal Yuan was called Donkey Institute of Contemporary Arts, this project was realized in Beijing China around and the premise of adapt to the convention of the street peddler who meanders through Beijing neighbourhoods with a donkey selling products. In this case the donkey was dragging a cart with an retrofitted series of wooden modules or boxes that served as a mobile display in which the texts, works and videos displayed, were accessible to passers-by.  Thanks for listening!

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    Episode #29 - Nicolas Fleming

    In Episode #29 artist Nicolas Fleming talks about his development as an artist and his continuous cross-pollination between his work as an artist and art installer. Nicolas Fleming is an artist who works and lives in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He received his BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada and his Masters in Visual Arts from the University of Quebec in Montreal also in Montreal, Canada. Nicolas’s work relies on construction materials and building techniques developed in daily work, adapting construction site aesthetics to art-dedicated spaces. By diverting the primary functions of commercial building materials, especially drywall and plaster, he elevates these materials and techniques through the fine arts of sculpture and painting. He re-purposes construction materials to create compelling aesthetic combinations for the viewer to discover. Nicolas Fleming’s cross-disciplinary artistic practice spans over 15 years. Since 2018, Fleming has been instrumental in presenting ambitious exhibition projects notably at Evans Contemporary, Koffler Centre for the Arts, Art Gallery of Burlington, Patel Brown Gallery, Musée d’art de Joliette and Visual Arts Centre of Clarington. Rooted in his personal experience as an art handler, he attempts to expand the initiatives of contributors to these projects by asking them to not limit themselves to their initially attributed roles. This is an acknowledgment of his preference for the shared experience of multiple perspectives brought forth within these exhibitions. Nicolas Fleming’s work can be found in Patel-Brown Gallery’s website Thanks for listening!

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Conversations about contemporary Art