郭安然个展《恕我直言》 “With All Due Respect”首次亮相大多伦多
（《国际艺术新闻网》记者王蕾多伦多报道）2024年9月7日，缝合计划画廊(SSEW Project )为年轻艺术家郭安然（Anran Guo）举办了其在大多伦多地区（GTA）的首次个展《恕我直言》（With All Due Respect）。展览将持续至10月5日，共计28天。开幕式于9月7日下午在SSEW Project画廊举行，吸引了50余名艺术家及艺术爱好者前来观展、交流。
On September 7, 2024, SSEW Project held the first solo exhibition “With All Due Respect” for young artist Anran Guo in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The exhibition will run until October 5, spanning a total of 28 days. The opening ceremony took place at the SSEW Project Gallery at 2 pm on September 7, It attracted more than 50 artists and art lovers to visit and exchange ideas.
《恕我直言》展览在郭安然研究生毕业展作品《一切都好》的基础上，融入了从加拿大安大略省各地收集的百余只诱饵鸭。这些诱饵鸭不仅成为观众的观察者，还扮演了潜在的猎物，映射出观众自身。通过解构鸭子诱饵的运作逻辑，郭安然将其作为人类社会的隐喻，号召观众直面自己的从众心理和自我欺骗，以及自身对充斥着欺骗和剥削的制度权力结构的贡献。
The “With All Due Respect” exhibition builds on Anran Guo’s graduate show “Everything is Good” and incorporates over 100 decoy ducks she collected from various parts of Ontario, Canada. These decoy ducks not only serve as observers of the audience but also play the role of potential prey, reflecting the audience themselves. By deconstructing the operating logic of duck decoys, Anran Guo uses them as a metaphor for human society, urging the audience to confront their own herd mentality and self-deception, as well as their contributions to institutional power structures filled with deception and exploitation.
诱饵鸭历史悠久，最初是为获取食物实用目的。猎人将成群的诱饵鸭放置在河塘湖面上，以营造出一个水肥鱼美的景象，诱使飞行中途经此地的水禽被吸引，从而落入狩猎场。这种看似简单的工具承载了关于模拟、引诱和欺骗的复杂叙事。在《一切都好》中，10只诱饵鸭被涂上黄色玩具鸭的颜色，摆放在由脆弱结构支撑的虚假水面上。整个结构由宜家凳子和双层加高的木跷组成，鲜亮的蓝色布料岌岌可危地高悬着，仅凭假鸭自身的重量支撑通过一只只小黄鸭漂浮在蓝色水面上的欢快场景和引用明清画家朱耷（八大山人）动物画中的白眼，构建了一个视觉寓言，探讨人类社会中的欺骗与假象。
Decoy ducks have a long history, originally used for practical purposes of obtaining food. Hunters placed flocks of decoy ducks on the surfaces of rivers, ponds, and lakes to create a scene of fertile water and abundant fish, attracting waterfowl flying by and thus luring them into the hunting ground. This seemingly simple tool carries a complex narrative about simulation, seduction, and deception. In “Everything is Fine,” 10 decoy ducks are painted the colour of yellow toy ducks and placed on a fake water surface supported by a fragile structure. The entire structure is composed of IKEA stools and double-layered wooden stilts, with bright blue fabric hanging precariously, relying only on the weight of the fake ducks themselves. Through the cheerful scene of little yellow ducks floating on the blue water and the reference to the white eyes in the animal paintings of Ming and Qing painter Zhu Da (Bada Shanren), a visual allegory is constructed to explore deception and illusion in human society.
艺术家郭安然
加拿大视觉艺术家卡洛·塞斯塔表示：“这位年轻艺术家非常有趣。她改变了日常物品的用途，通过对象和雕塑来表达自己的想法，提出了一些重要的问题。尽管这些作品看起来可能并不直接，但她用这种精确的方式来传达她的社会意识。这不仅展示了她的创造力，还引发了观众对社会问题的思考。”
Canadian visual artist Carlo Cesta remarked, “This young artist is very interesting. She changes the use of everyday objects, expresses her ideas through objects and sculptures, and —–raises some important questions. Although these works may not seem direct, she uses this precise way to convey her social awareness. This not only showcases her creativity but also triggers the audience’s thinking about social issues.”
加拿大视觉艺术家丽莎·内博尔说：“这些鸭子就像旅行者，从四面八方赶来，在这个空间里汇聚在一起。细观察了每一只鸟，它们每一个都有自己的性格。”她表示，自己热爱户外活动，尤其喜欢鸟类和水，所以无法做到客观评价。当她第一次进入这个空间时，感觉就像置身在水中，周围环绕着鸟儿，特别是那些会游泳和漂浮的鸟类。
Canadian visual artist Lisa Neighbour said,“They are like travellers, coming from all directions and gathering together in this space. After carefully observing each bird, I found that each of them is like a creature with its own personality.” She mentioned that she has always loved outdoor activities, especially birds and water, so she can’t make an objective evaluation. When she first entered the space, she felt like she was in the water, surrounded by birds, especially those that can swim and float.
现场照片
加拿大艺术评论家、艺术支持者安德里亚·卡森·巴克（Andrea Carson Barker）表示，她非常喜欢安然的展览《恕我直言》。她说：“鸭子诱饵看起来非常有趣。每个诱饵虽然相同但又各具特色,收集每个诱饵似乎都花费了相当多的劳动。每个诱饵鸭都有自己的个性和历史，不仅反映了在场观众的个性，作为诱饵吸引他人的欺骗方式，为作品提供了一种发人深省的黑暗底色，非常有趣。”作为一名艺术支持者、倡导者，巴克表示，她大力支持任何敢于尝试不同事物的人，尤其是在吸引新观众参艺术方面。她认为，对当地社区而言，创建像 SSEW Project 这样的画廊是非常勇敢的做法，它开辟了一个充满可能性的世界。她还表示，为打造值得一看的“标志性”画廊，SSEW Project已经实施了推广宣传、多方合作以及举办有趣的活动等一系列措施，未来有机会成为万锦领先的创意空间。
Canadian art critic and supporter Andrea Carson Barker expressed her admiration for Anran’s exhibition “With All Due Respect.” She said, “The duck decoys are very interesting to look at. Each decoy is the same but has its own characteristics, and it seems that a lot of labour has been spent on collecting each decoy. Each decoy has its own personality and history, which not only reflects the personality of the audience present but also serves as a deceptive way for decoys to attract others, providing a thought-provoking dark background for the work, which is very interesting.” As an art supporter and advocate, Andrea Carson Barker stated that she strongly supports anyone who dares to try different things, especially in attracting new audiences to participate in art. She believes that for the local community, openning a gallery like SSEW Project is a brave approach that opens up a world of possibilities. She also mentioned that in order to create an “iconic” gallery worth seeing, a series of measures such as promotion and publicity, multi-party cooperation, and hosting interesting events have been implemented, and there is a chance for SSEW Project to become Markham’s leading creative space in the future.
SSEW Project画廊负责人韦雨落解释，这个展览是艺术家郭安然多年积累的想法。早在郭安然研究生毕业展上，《一切都好》这个装置就已吸引了她的注意，如今艺术家将这101只诱饵鸭放置在一起后更加延伸了这件作品。
SSEW Project Gallery director Anita Yuluo Wei explained that this exhibition is an idea accumulated by artist Anran Guo over many years. As early as Anran Guo’s graduate thesis exhibition, the installation sculpture Everything is Fine had caught her eyes. Surrounding the installation, these addtional 101 pieces of decoy ducks were now put together and extended her concept.
现场照片
本次展览以西方传统生活中的物品，清晰地暗示当代社会议题。创作者的态度明确，百年老鸭与可爱的小黄鸭，营造出历史与当下对话的空间，观者与雕塑物体对视的场域。装置看似现代，但其创作理念隐约反映出亚洲年轻艺术家对东方儒家思想的审慎思考，强调艺术创作对社会的责任。创作者希望通过视觉语言打破文化隔阂，促进沟通与理解。
This exhibition uses items from traditional Western life to clearly indicate a contemporary social issue. The creator’s attitude is clear, and the century-old decoy duck and the cute little yellow duck create a space for dialogue between history and the present, and a field where the viewer and the sculpture object look at each other. The installation looks modern, but its creative concept vaguely reflects that young Asian artists are deeply influenced by Eastern Confucianism, emphasizing the responsibility of artistic creation to society. The creator hopes to break cultural barriers through visual language and promote communication and understanding.
艺术家讲座将于9月21日下午2点至3点半举行，小组研讨将于10月5日下午2点至4点进行，对谈嘉宾：玛丽亚·哈普菲尔德(Maria Hupfield)，杰森·卢汉(Jason Lujan)，布兰登·维克德(Brandon Vickerd)。画廊开放时间为每周四至周六下午1点至6点，或通过预约参观。
An artist talk will be held on September 21 from 2 to 3:30 p.m., and a panel discussion will take place on October 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. Artists in conversation: Maria Hupfield, Jason Lujan, Brandon Vickerd. The gallery is open Thursday to Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m., or by appointment.
SSEW Project画廊于2024年4月正式对外开放，主打包括本地和全球的亚裔艺术家。作为万锦市唯一的现当代艺术画廊，也将参加今年即将到来的艺博会Art Toronto。在十月的展会上，他们将为艺术家喻慧、Hayley Chiu、郭安然、胡婉芝、林可婕、马焘、史泂文举办群展。
SSEW Project Gallery officially opened in April 2024, focusing on Asian contemporary artists, including local and global Asian artists. As the only newly opened contemporary art gallery in Markham, it will participate in this year’s 2025 Toronto Art Fair in October. They will bring a group exhibition by artists Hayley Chiu, Anran Guo, Brubey Hu, Kejie Lin, Tao Ma, Jiongwen Shi, and Hui Yu.
关于郭安然
生于1996年，是一位酷儿女性艺术家，目前在加拿大汉密尔顿和多伦多两地生活工作。她本科毕业于多伦多大学艺术与艺术史专业，研究生毕业于同校视觉艺术专业。
郭安然的艺术实践主要由雕塑和装置艺术的形式呈现。她的作品运用隐喻并富有趣味性。郭安然通过对日常物品最小化的干预，操控日用品的形态和编辑视觉信息，由此对社会和政治现象进行多层次的解读和批判，从而构建独特的视觉寓言。这些日用品使她的作品具有很强的可读性，并引发观众对社会中隐性权力动态的反思。作品曾在密西沙加市美术馆(Art Gallery of Mississauga), 汉密尔顿艺术家协会(Hamilton Artist Inc.), Centre[3] 艺术与社会实践中心(Centre[3] for Artistic and Social Practice)，多伦多大学艺术博物馆(Art Museum at the University of Toronto)等地展出。她是2018 University of Toronto Shelley Peterson Student Art Exhibition评审奖和2020 Visual Arts Mississauga 42nd Annual Juried Show of Fine Art一等奖的获得者。郭安然的艺术实践得到安大略省艺术基金会的支持。她的作品被谢尔丹学院和北美的私人藏家收藏。
Anran Guo ( born in 1996）, is a queer female artist currently based between Hamilton and Toronto. She grew up in China and moved to Canada in 2014. Guo holds an Honours Bachelors of Art in Art and Art History and a Master of Visual Studies in Studio Art from the University of Toronto.
Guo’s practice focuses primarily on sculpture and installation. Her works are metaphorical and playful, offering layered readings that often critique social and political systems. Employing semiotics in the manipulation of the visual information on, or the form of found objects, Guo constructs visual fables. Her works transform simple everyday objects through minimal intervention. The everydayness of these objects makes Guo’s work accessible and provoke critical reflection on the invisible power dynamics at play in society.
Guo’s work has been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, Hamilton Artist Inc., Centre[3] for Artistic and Social Practice, and the Art Museum at the University of Toronto. She was the Juror Award recipient in the 2018 University of Toronto Shelley Peterson Student Art Exhibition and the First Place Award recipient in the 2020 Visual Arts Mississauga 42nd Annual Juried Show of Fine Art. Guo’s works have been collected by Sheridan College and by private collectors in North America.
