Risa Horowitz’s work focuses upon collection and endurance. In Trio we watch as she teaches herself how to play a Franz Schubert piece for piano, cello, and violin (opus 100, d929, adante con moto). Video documents the best performances over nine weeks of practice. Perfection however is not her goal:
‘While the project relates a desire for me to share my successes and failures in a public sphere, there was no guarantee that I would in the end be able to play the piece so well that it sounds professional: in fact, the opposite is true. Trio evokes the will to grow, to nurture the self, and to share vulnerability without falling into cliché. The work is funny, it makes people laugh, but it also taps into a sort of heartbreak that accompanies aspiration, hope, and failure’
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Risa Horowitz is based in her hometown, Toronto,and she has lived and worked as a visual artist, writer, and art gallery programmer in seven Canadian provinces. She has exhibited her works in Canadian galleries including Plug Inc ICA, The Saidye Bronfman Centre, The Mendel Art Gallery, and several artist-run-centres, and in the UK and in Brazil. Reviews of her work have appeared in the Globe & Mail, while her critical writing has been published in Canadian Art, Border Crossings. C-Magazine and BlackFlash. Risa has been awarded grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts and was the 2006 recipient of the K.M. Hunter award for excellence in Visual Arts. Risa is a Board Director at InterAccess Electronic & Media Art Centre Toronto, where she is also a member of the Programming Advisory Council. Her work Corners was shown in fall 2007 at Forest City Gallery in London, Ontario; upcoming exhibitions include Trees of Canada at MKG127 Gallery in Toronto. In the summer of 2008 Risa will be artist in residence at La Cité, the Paris Studio.
Production credits Creator/Producer Risa Horowitz thanks Jukka Nurmela [audio engineering]; Heather Tuach [string lessons]; Linling Hsu [violin savior]; InterAccess; Wendy Tokaryk; Ed Bamling; Aubrey Fernandez; Brian Richards; Tom Montvilla; Jeremy Rotzstain [tech research]; David Rokeby [all the answers]; Dana Samuel; Esther Brown.
Catalogue Essay 'Practice make Imperfect (I'm perfect)' by Ihor Holubizky, a self-taught musician based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. He writes about art, culture and society.
Artist's website: <www.risahorowitz.com>
Media Release download
Opening night snaps
Image credits. (from top) Trio, installations, Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, New Brunswick 2006; Trio [learning sessions] video stills, 2006 |
