The SCHIRN also had to present its new exhibition digitally first. But now the museum has reopened and Magnetic North. Myth of Canada in Painting 1910 - 1940 can still be visited on site until 8/29, although there are still some restrictions and regulations due to Corona. So immerse yourself in ancient forests in remote regions, majestic views of the Arctic or the magic of the Northern Lights: the paintings of Canadian modernism create a mythical, an imaginary Canada. Full of the joy of pictorial experimentation, artists such as Franklin Carmichael, Emily Carr, J. E. H. MacDonald, Lawren Harris, Edwin Holgate, Arthur Lismer, Tom Thomson, and F. H. Varley from the cities deep into nature, in search of a new painterly vocabulary for the young nation's cultural identity.
In the exhibition "Magnetic North. Myth of Canada in Painting 1910-1940", Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt presents Canadian modernist painting from a contemporary perspective. With around 90 paintings and sketches as well as video works and documentary material, the comprehensive presentation illuminates the works of the artists surrounding the so-called Group of Seven from Frankfurt's twin city Toronto, which were extremely popular in Canada. On view for the first time in Germany are major works from Canada's major collections, including Mt. Lefroy (1930) by Lawren Harris, Terre Sauvage (1913) by A. Y. Jackson, and The West Wind (Winter 1916/17) by Tom Thomson. At the same time, the exhibition subjects Canadian modernist painting to critical revision. From around 1910 to the late 1930s, the Group of Seven painted landscapes that for many still epitomize Canada. The country, which only became a more or less independent state in 1867, is founded on a long colonial history. Before the first settlers from Europe arrived, it had already been the territory of indigenous peoples for thousands of years. With images of sublime mountains and unspoiled nature, the Group of Seven created a romantic vision of a pre-industrial retreat and stylized the land as terra nullius, a supposedly uninhabited wilderness. Their works paint an overwhelming landscape beyond the realities of indigenous peoples and modern city life, and the expanding industrial use of nature. The painting of the Group of Seven is thus not least a product and at the same time a testimony to cultural hegemony as well as the exclusion of the First Nations. In the exhibition, cinematic works by Algonquin French artist Caroline Monnet and Anishinaabe filmmaker Lisa Jackson, among others, open up a counter-narrative. Indigenous criticism is included and questions are raised about national identity formation and a conscious approach to the land.
DIGITORIAL® The Schirn is offering a Digitorial® to accompany the exhibition. The free digital mediation offer is available in German and English at www.schirn.de/digitorial
