iThe Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University (formerly AGYU)York University Keele Campus, North York
Jeanne Randolph with John Monteith, Fabulous Neoconstantinopolitanism
Randolph's recluse La Betty staged with Vasarely, Albers and Motherwell from York's collection and a rug by John Monteith. Visible Vault; fully open Wed and Sat.
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La Betty has left the room, but her shawl and abandoned red shoes are still here. She is Jeanne Randolph's invented recluse, a trust-fund shut-in in a Vancouver condo over English Bay who buys only what has celebrity endorsement and a breath-taking price. "It is probably accurate to say consumerism replaced her insanity," Randolph writes.
The room is staged as her "collection", drawn from York University's. Josef Albers colour studies run along the top, Robert Motherwell's 1970 painting Open sits in the middle and four Victor Vasarely prints flank it, hung salon-style in a grid. You look at it over John Monteith's hand-tufted rug, laid on the floor like a stage. If La Betty's shopping logic rubs off on you, Yorkdale is a few stops down Line 1.
Entry is free. You can see it all from the hallway Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 5pm, but the Study Centre opens only Wednesdays and Saturdays, or by appointment. The online curatorial essay explains the Byzantine joke in the title.
Look for
La Betty's shawl and red shoes
The only traces of Randolph's recluse in the room: a shawl and a pair of red shoes left behind, as if she has just stepped out.
John Monteith's rug, Grands Ensembles #1.1
A hand-dyed, hand-tufted and hand-carved abstract rug on the floor in front of the wall, its pattern starting from drawings of architectural spaces.
The Albers squares
Josef Albers colour studies from the early 1970s run along the top of the grid, each in his nested-square pattern.
Motherwell's Open between the Vasarelys
Robert Motherwell's 1970 painting Open hangs at the centre of the grid, with two Victor Vasarely prints from the 1960s on each side.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Cheap Culture
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want a full exhibition: this is a single study room holding one staged vignette.
Also at The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University (formerly AGYU)
On now nearby
Image credits
4
- Jeanne Randolph with John Monteith, Fabulous NeoconstantinopolitanismCourtesy of The Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery of York University (formerly AGYU)
- body — mind — distanceCourtesy of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography
- From the Laurentian Highlands to a Higher PlaceCourtesy of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography
- Static and NoiseCourtesy of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography