Adrian Raymer: Rejects

May 1 – June 9, 2019 
Student Gallery

My grandfather James spent the last years of his life in a small flat in Burlington, Ontario, estranged from his family. Following his death in 1997, all of his possessions were sold by a nameless German couple he shared the apartment with, leaving nothing but whatever my grandmother Marie had in her custody. Twenty years later, I found a forgotten box of slides bearing the words, “Waltons – Rejects,” filled with images of James and Marie in their twenties attending a party, and this project began.

In Rejects, I reenact the scenes in the 35mm colour slides found in the box and narrate a new history for the original images, looking at how we lose context as the truth becomes distorted and lost over time. Dancing on the line between fact and fiction, I present the props sourced and used within my reenactments as real artifacts, their history solidified in their existence within the old slides, the re-creations, and the installation.

- Adrian Raymer

Events:

Opening Party
Wednesday, May 1
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Exhibition Tours
Daily 2:30 pm

All events take place at The Image Centre (formerly Ryerson Image Centre), unless otherwise noted