AnTARCTICA
In a two-part installation at 259 Lake Shore Blvd E and Ryerson Image Centre’s New Media Wall, Ware imagines a world where racialized people have survived the “black death spectacle” writ large on the nightly news; survived the catastrophic impact of the Anthropocene; and survived the crushing effects of white supremacy. Drawing on the shared language of speculative fiction and political activism, Ware creates a portal that takes us to eleven characters in the summer of 2030, each with birthright citizenship to the only habitable place on earth: Antarctica. Their task? To begin terraforming for the new colony.
Dainty Smith as Jessica (left) and Ravyn Wngz as Sabian (right). Syrus Marcus Ware, Antarctica, 2019. Installation and performance on view at 259 Lakeshore Avenue East, Toronto Biennial of Art, Toronto. Photo: Triple Threat. Courtesy of Toronto Biennial of Art.
This work is created in conjunction with Ancestors, Do You Read Us? (Dispatches From The Future).
EXHIBITION HISTORY
2019
Biennial, Antarctica, 259 Lakeshore, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Presented by the Toronto Biennial of Art.
2020
Antarctica ( + Live Performance), The Theatre Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Presented by Summerworks.
2021
Group exhibition + festival, Data Thieves: what our archives tell us, Never Apart Gallery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Presented by Massimadi and Nigra Iuventa.
PRESS
Monk, Philip. “The Shoreline Dilemma”. Canadian Art. Oct 10, 2020.
Pabani, Aliya and Angela Shackel. “Short Format: Syrus Marcus Ware”. Toronto Biennial of Art, Artist Interview, Syrus Marcus Ware. Nov 22, 2019.
Reizman, Renée and Eunice Bélidor. “Inaugural Toronto Biennial Focuses on Climate While Dismantling Eurocentric Ideas”. Hyperallergic. Oct 22, 2019.
Shades of Noir. “Antarctica”. Disabled People: The Voice of the Many. 2020.
Photos courtesy of Larissa Isler (Ryerson Image Centre), Triple Threat (259 Lakeshore Ave. - Toronto Biennial of Art), and Edwin Isford @deadwinisford (Never Apart Centre).