2005
Changing to Summer
Born in Kenya of Indian descent, Brendan Fernandes immigrated to Canada in 1989. He completed the Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art and earned his MFA from Western University and his BFA from York University. He has exhibited widely including exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Art and Design New York, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the National Gallery of Canada, MASS MoCA, the Andy Warhol Museum, and the Guangzhou Triennial. Fernandes has participated in numerous residency programs including the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Work Space and Swing Space. He was an Ontario representative for the Sobey Art Award. Fernandes is based between Toronto and New York.
As a Kenyan-Indian-Canadian, Brendan Fernandes reclaims his cultural hybridity through the act of tanning. Changing to Summer documents the gradation of the artist’s skin as textile motifs are emblazoned onto his body. With the paisley decals layered on top of each other, he then exposes his torso to UV tanning lights which render his skin into a range of different tones and shades. This is a figurative attempt to reconcile his identities and hold on to his cultural histories. A tan, viewed by some with negative connotations of the working class and manual labour, here becomes a positive reclamation of the artist’s body and multicultural heritage.
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The Blackwood
University of Toronto Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Road
Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6
[email protected]
(905) 828-3789
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The Blackwood is situated on the Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, Seneca, and Huron-Wendat.