I Really Should... - 2001
Neon, transformers & acrylic
12" x 72" x 2.75"
Edition of 5 + 1 AP
Collection of Justina M Barnicke Gallery, Hart House, University of Toronto
Exhibition History:
2002 Wynick-Tuck Gallery (Toronto ON); 2007 Justina M Barnicke Gallery (Hart House) University of Toronto (Toronto ON); 2015 University of Toronto Art Centre (Toronto ON);
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I Really Should... (Fridge: 2 Versions & Detail) - 2000/2001
Permanent black magic marker on fridge
65" x 26" x 25.5" approximately
First image: Installation view of 12345 at The Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver 2000
Second image: Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, donated by the artist
"In this work Kelly Mark has covered the front of a refrigerator with a series of statements, handwritten in Magic Marker, all beginning with the words “I really should.” This work was created at the WAG for Mark’s exhibition Important Instructions For Changing the World in 2001. In a home, the fridge is commonly used to display items such as notes and lists. By transforming the refrigerator into an extensive to-do list, the artist presents the inner turmoil of her everyday life. This generic list highlights guilt-inducing inadequacies as well as prescriptions for self-improvement. The truth and sincerity of the individual statements is undermined by an understanding that they probably won’t happen." - Winniepg Art Gallery collection description
Exhibition History:
1999 Kate's Apartment (Toronto ON); 2000 Hamilton Artists Inc (Hamilton ON); 2000 Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver BC); 2001 Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg MB);
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Knife Collection - 1995/2002
Ongoing life long collection project started in 1995. Exhibited differently each time shown
This view: Stainless steel knives & stainless steel magnetic knife strips
55" x 113" x 1/2"
Installation view: Kelly Mark: Bout Time at Wynick/Tuck Gallery. Toronto, ON 2002
I have numerous works that have turned into life long accumulative projects, time based yet also dealing with modes of collection, counting, and inane obsessions. This work began in 1995 while I was living in Halifax and working as a waitress. I began by 'collecting'...stealing knives from other restaurants, friend’s apartments, airplanes etc, as long as each knife was unique. Every other year or so I like to show this work in a new format. This current version utilizes wall mounted magnetic knife strips creating a piece which roughly measuring 5’ x 9’. The work tends to mark upon not only the obsessive nature of collecting but also the particular oddities and forms that such collections can take. The innocuous and banal ‘butter’ knife has become my form of participating in this culture while keeping my sense of humour about such things intact.
Exhibition History: (in various formats)
1995 Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery (Halifax NS); 1996 Articule Gallery (Montreal QC); 1996 Dofasco Gallery (Dundas ON), 1996 The Palace at 4 am (London ON); 1998 Ace Art Inc - Site Gallery (Winnipeg MB); 1999 Kate’s Apartment (Toronto ON); 2000 Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver BC); 2000 Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Toronto ON), 2001 Burlington Art Center (Burlington ON); 2001 University of Waterloo (Waterloo ON); 2002 Wynick-Tuck Gallery (Toronto ON); 2002 Museum of New Art (Detroit MI US); 2003 Art Gallery of Windsor (Windsor ON); 2005 Ottawa Art Gallery (Ottawa ON);
Details & other installation views...
This view: Stainless steel knives & stainless steel magnetic knife strips
55" x 113" x 1/2"
Installation view: Kelly Mark: Bout Time at Wynick/Tuck Gallery. Toronto, ON 2002
This view: Stainless steel knives
44" x 48" approx
Installation view: Kelly Mark: 12345 at Contemporary Art Gallery. Vancouver, BC 2000
This view: Stainless steel knives & concrete blocks
7.5" x 12" x 18'
Installation view: Kelly Mark: Literally at Ace Art/Site Gallery. Winnipeg, MB 1998
This view: Stainless steel knives
Dimensions variable
Installation view: Layers at Wynick/Tuck Gallery. Toronto, ON 1997
This view: Stainless steel knives
14" x 24" x 3"
Installation view: Compact Abundance at Articule Gallery. Montreal, ON 1996
This view: Stainless steel knives, galvanized steel shelving & brackets
4' x 6' x 1'
Installation view: Kelly Mark Works at MSVU Art Gallery. Halifax, NS 1995
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Origami Transfer - 1999
Folded paper street car transfers & steel shelves
5 sets @ 29" x 17" x 2.5" each
Exhibition History:
1999 Kate's Apartment (Toronto ON); 2000 Hamilton Art Gallery (Hamilton ON); 2000 Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver BC); 2000 Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Toronto ON);
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Chess Set - 1998
Salt & pepper shakers, ceramic tiles & wood
18" x 18" x 5"
Edition of 10 + 2 AP
Exhibition History:
1998 Wynick-Tuck Gallery (Toronto ON); 2003 Alliance Francais (Toronto ON); 2007 Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto (Mississauga ON); 2008 MSVU Art Gallery (Halifax NS); 2008 Vox Gallery (Montreal PQ); 2010 Kenderdine Art Gallery (Saskatoon SK); 2011 Art Gallery of Windsor (Windsor ON);
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Take-Out - 1997
Paper napkins & glass clip frames
29" x 39" x 1/8"
Exhibition History:
1996 Articule Gallery (Montreal QC); 1996 Dofasco Gallery (Hamilton ON); 1997 Eye Level Gallery (Halifax NS); 1997 Art Gallery of Windsor (Windsor ON); 1998 Ace Art Inc - Site Gallery (Winnipeg MB);
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SALT SERIES 1997
Salt Series: Salt Set 5,727,472 - 1997
Salt shakers, salt & plexiglass
5" x 30" x 3"
Collection of McCarthy Tetrault
Salt Series: Salt Set 6,089,876 - 1997
Salt shakers, salt & plexiglass
5" x 30" x 3"
Private Collection
Salt Series: Pillar (Approx 100 Million) - 1997
Salt shakers, salt & plexiglass
6.25" x 7.5" x 37"
Private Collection
Exhibition History: (in whole or in parts)
1996 Articule Gallery (Montreal QC); 1997 Eye Level Gallery (Halifax NS); 1997 Art Gallery of Windsor (Windsor ON); 1998 Wynick-Tuck Gallery (Toronto ON); 1998 Ace Art Inc - Site Gallery (Winnipeg MB); 2011 Saint Mary's University Art Gallery (Halifax NS); 2012 Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa ON);
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25 Hundred - 1997
Crumpled paper and wood lath
8.5' x 8.5' x 2"
Exhibition History:
1997 Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto ON)
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JAR SERIES 1994-1996
White Jars - 1994
288 mason jars & mixed media
5' x 6' x 3"
Collection of Mount Saint University Art Gallery. Halifax, Nova Scotia
Exhibition History:
1994 Anna Leonowens Gallery (Halifax NS); 1994 St Mary’s University Art Gallery -offsite City Centre (Halifax NS); 1995 Lethbridge University Art Gallery (Lethbridge AB); 1996 The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Victoria ON); 1996 Dalhousie University Art Gallery (Halifax NS); 1996 Museum London (London ON); 2004 MSVU Art Gallery (Halifax NS);
Black Jars - 1996
144 mason jars & mixed media
3' x 6' x 3"
Collection of Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton Ontario
Exhibition History:
1996 Dofasco Gallery (Dundas ON); 1996 Articule Gallery (Montreal QC); 1997 Wynick-Tuck Gallery; 1998 Ace Art / Site Gallery (Winnipeg MB);
Clear Jars - 1996
50 glass bottles w/ 50 different clear liquids
24" x 22" x 3"
1-50 in order: Paint thinner, tremclad clear, witch hazel, mineral oil, tap water, isopropyl rubbing alchohol, hydrogen peroxyde, dish soap, miracle bubbles, glass cleaner, mineral spirits, methyl hydrate, varsol, rain vision repellent for glass, kodak photo flo 200, neutralite, turpentine, kodak fixer, kodak hypo-clearing agent, contact cement cleaner, evian, ez-ze spot remover, future floor wax, johnson's baby oil, lacquer thinner, dextrose solution, sodium chloride, liquid sugar twin, heinz vinegar, canada dry tonic water, no-name club soda, absolute vodka, sauza tequila, propylene glycol, almond extract, tame hair spray, listermint mouthwash, life sparkling water beverage, lily white corn syrup, nasal decongestant, anhydrous magnesium, ban clear anti-perspirant, ammonia, perrier,
poly peel wallpaper remover, rose water natural essence, orange flower water, anisette liqueur syrup, gordon's gin, captain morgan rum.
Exhibition History:
1996 Articule Gallery (Montreal QC);
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34,628 - 1996
34,826 assorted nails & wooden tool box, counting project
1' x 3' x 10"
Exhibition History:
1996 The Khyber (Halifax NS)
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Defiled - 1995
Hand files & painted steel shelf
6" x 14" x 3"
Filed against each other on one side until smooth
Private Collection
Exhibition History:
1995 Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery (Halifax NS); 1996 Owens Art Gallery (Sackville NB); 1996 Wynick-Tuck Gallery (Toronto ON); 2007 JM Barnicke Gallery (Hart House) University of Toronto (Toronto ON); 2008 Cambridge Galleries (Cambridge ON); 2008 MSVU Art Gallery (Halifax NS); 2008 VOX Gallery (Montreal PQ); 2010 Kenderdine Art Gallery (Saskatoon SK); 2011 Art Gallery of Windsor (Windsor ON);
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Split Axes - 1995
Axe handles, metal clips, wood glue, wood filler & varnish
3' x 12' x 2"
Split w/ an axe and then repaired
Installation view of Kelly Mark Works at MSVU Art Gallery. Halfax, 1995
Collection of Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, Halifax NS
Exhibition History:
1995 Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery (Halifax NS); 1996 Mercer Union Gallery (Toronto ON);
Ingrid Jenkner: “Kelly Mark Works” Halifax: MSVU Art Gallery, 1995 (catalogue excerpt)
"In the case of Split Axes, individuation within uniformity arises from a single act repeated on a quantity of identical objects. After sustaining a violent blow at the top, which split them to varying degrees, the axe handles were filled and varnished over the length of the split. Each now displays the mark of its difference as a scar. (An earlier “Hits” series entailed striking objects against one another or against surfaces, and exhibiting the marked or deformed results). The resemblance of the bladeless axes to bones or limbs gains force in the presence of the sawn-apart or “dismembered” Mended Stool, which grows almost poignant as a metaphor for the embodied subjective experience.
The visible accumulation of acts performed on objects builds a history into these works. Characteristically, the possibility of narrative is both advanced by thematic linkages that permit metaphorical operations, and rescinded by the laconic, affectless presentation. As if to warn the viewer away from private territory, the latter strategy signals the artist’s distrust of the autobiographical gesture. But, by resisting the assignment of a storytelling function to representational elements in her work, Mark licenses a critical response that undercuts their referential illusion. Mark’s selection and deployment of objects associated with gender-specific household tasks hints at a bi gendered subjectivity. The kitchen and the pantry appear to merge with the home workshop and the tool shed. The processes used to assemble the work also resemble clichéd household tasks – readymade for nomination as art processes via a numbing repetitiveness that also aligns them with factory work.”
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Mended Stool - 1995
Maple stool & pronged mending plates
30" x 15" x 15"
Collection of Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery. Halifax, Nova Scotia
Exhibition History:
1995 Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery (Halifax NS);
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Hemlock Line Drawing - 1995
5 hemlock landscaping ties & 6" galvanized spikes
6" x 6" x 30"
Installation view of Sculpture-Drawing at the Khyber, Halfax, 1995
Collection of St. Mary's University Art Gallery, Halifax NS
Exhibition History:
1995 The Khyber (Halifax NS);
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Random Pipe Grid - 1995
2" rusted steel pipe cut into 3" sections, 4" galvanized casing nails & graphite
66" x 66" x 3"
Installatin view of Object Lessons at AGNS, Halifax, 1995. Curated by Robin Metcalfe
Collection of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax NS
Exhibition History:
1995 Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Halifax NS);
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Split Pipe - 1994
Rusted steel pipe split open w/ torch & then spot welded back together at the ends.
6' x 8' x 2"
Installation view of Selected Works at Anna Leonowens Art Gallery, Halifax, 1995
Private Collection
Exhibition History:
1995 Anna Leonowens Gallery (Halifax NS);
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Hit Series 1992-1996
1000 Cast Iron Hits - 1996
Cast iron bars hit together 1000 times
10.5" x 2" x 2"
Private Collection
Exhibition History:
1996 Gallery B312 (Montreal QC), 1996 Gallery Connexion (Fredericton NB); 2003 Wynick-Tuck Gallery (Halifax NS);
Tantrum - 1995
20 gauge galvanized sheet steel hit inumerable times
4' x 4' x 1'
Exhibition History:
1995 The Khyber (Halifax NS);
1000 Hemlock Hits - 1994
Hemlock landscaping ties & steel handles. Hit together 1000 times.
6' x 6' x 6"
Collection of: The Agnes Etherington Art Gallery, Queen's University. Kingston, Ontario
Exhibition History:
1998 11th Biennale of Sydney (Sydney Aus); 2000 Agnes Etherington Art Gallery (Kingston ON);
1000 Hemlock Hits (Video) - 1994
Single-channel video: 12 minutes, 30 seconds, colour w/ sound
Video Documentation of 1,000 Hemlock Hits
Collection of: The Agnes Etherington Art Gallery, Queen's University. Kingston, Ontario
Exhibition History:
1998 11th Biennale of Sydney (Sydney Aus); 1999 Art Gallery of Hamilton -Messages Film Festival (Hamilton ON);
10,000 Hits - 1992
Square stock steel hit together 10,000 times
12" x .25" x .25"
Private Collection
Exhibition History:
1992 Anna Leonowens Gallery (Halifax NS); 1996 Owens Art Gallery (Sackville NB); 2007 Kenderdine Art Gallery (Saskatoon SK); 2008 Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery (Halifax NS);
1,000 Hits (Slab) - 1992
Steel hit together 1000 times
8" x 6" x 2"
Private Collection
Exhibition History:
1992 Anna Leonowens Gallery (Halifax NS); Owens Art Gallery (Sackville NB);
500 Hits - 1992
Round stock steel hit together 500 times
12" x 1/2" x 1/2"
Private Collection
1000 Hits - 1992
Round stock steel hit together 1000 times
12" x 1/4" x 1/4"
Private Collection
