Storytellings opens Nov. 14 at Modern Fuel

*14 November – 12 December, 2009*
Reception: Saturday 14 November 2009 @7pm

*STORYTELLINGS *
Lucy Chan, Peter Kingstone

The work by *Peter Kingstone* and *Lucie Chan* in Modern Fuel's latest
exhibition /*Storytellings*/ gives a voice to stories from communities
that might have otherwise gone unheard. Taking up the entire gallery,
/Storytellings/ presents a major video installation by each artist,
putting these stories centre-stage.

Kingstone's /*100 Stories about My Grandmother*/ is a four-channel video
installation that weaves together documentary portraits of male sex
workers telling stories about their grandmothers. By presenting these
stories, Kingstone subverts some expectations viewers might have about
the subjects of his videos, positioning them more as individuals than
types. Visitors to Modern Fuel are invited to lounge in the cozy
environment created for these videos and listen to the thoughts and
memories of an often marginalized community.

Chan's video installation /*Yearning to See*/ was created during a
residency in Banff where she drew portraits of people that she met while
asking them if there was a "personal cultural lesson" they might share.
She took the "cultural lessons" that she received from the Canadians,
immigrants, and international visitors she met during the residency,
along with their drawn portraits, and created several animations that
have a luminous and dream-like quality. The mysterious narratives of
these lessons, which often deal with loss and longing, and the stillness
of the searching faces in the portraits, are meant to cause the viewer
to stop and wonder.

/Storytellings /raises issues of social/cultural voyeurism at the same
time that it bridges the distance between people, creating an intimate
space for encounters that play with and displace assumptions.

*Lucy Chan *was born in Guyana and currently lives and works in
Vancouver, BC. Recently her work has shown at the Mount Saint Vincent
Art Gallery in Halifax, the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, and the
Doris McCarthy Gallery in Scarborough, Toronto. Her work is drawing,
installation and animation based, addressing cultural loss, personal
narrative, and fleeting intimacy between people.

*Peter Kingstone* is a single channel and installation video artist. He
lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He holds a Philosophy/Cultural
Studies Degree from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, and
Masters of Fine Arts from York University, Toronto, Ontario. His single
channel pieces are distributed by Vtape.

For further information, contact: Michael Davidge or Bronwyn McLean
Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre
21A Queen St, Kingston, ON, K7K 1A1
(613) 548-4883
modernfuel@bellnet.ca
www.modernfuel.org ###