Mark Gane is most familiar to the public as a leading Canadian musician and founding member of Toronto’s internationally acclaimed band, Martha and the Muffins. Yet his engagement with visual practice has a long history and extends across (and beyond) the span of his professional career as a recording artist and producer. As a student at Toronto’s Ontario College of Art in the mid to late 1970s, Mark’s interests in painting were especially influenced by the collage work of Louis de Niverville, then a faculty member. Today, that influence remains visible in Mark’s recent Fitness Landscapes (2004-2016), which mark a return to the techniques explored during those formative years.

This exhibition situates Mark’s recent visual practice within a broader exploration of themes which have informed his work in both visual art and music. With the appropriation and modification of body images from popular media, Mark’s Fitness Landscapes visualize the metamorphoses of forms which, in turn, challenge our perception of the boundaries between human and inhuman. Fragmented and isolated from one another, as they seemingly float across the expanse of each picture plane, these figures express a sense of alienation which resonates in a world increasingly consumed by the interface between technology and the body.

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Mark Gane: Fitness Landscapes, 2004 - 2016 is scheduled for installation in February 2017, at the Carnegie Gallery in Dundas, Ontario.

Installation Images: Janusz Wrobel