18 July to 22 August 2015
Opening Saturday 18 July from 2 to 5 pm

Blind White
Jen Aitken, Abbas Akhavan, Aude Pariset, Nicolas Sassoon, Rachelle Sawatsky, Mark Soo
Curated by Miguel da Conceicao and Yasmin Nurming-Por

Diaz Contemporary is pleased to present BLIND WHITE, an exhibition of six national and international artists: Jen Aitken, Abbas Akhavan, Aude Pariset, Nicolas Sassoon, Rachelle Sawatsky and Mark Soo. Invited to respond to the intersection of technology and the phenomenology of light, each selected artist approaches these concerns through differing material practices. Central to the works of each artist selected for the exhibition are the role of technology, science, obsolescence, consumer culture, labour and tracing the void. As an exhibition, BLIND WHITE proposes an oscillation between scientific or technological senses of knowing and philosophical or spiritual senses of understanding, that suggest a rhizomatic form of looking.

Adjunct programming includes an event with Rachelle Sawatsky hosted by Kunstverein Toronto on Sunday 19 July at 68 Broadview Ave, 8pm. Sawatsky will read excerpts of her writing alongside a digital slideshow of recent paintings and drawings, including a parallel text to Daylight Recordings (for Marlow Moss) – her contribution to BLIND WHITE.

Jen Aitken (Toronto) received her MFA in 2014 from the University of Guelph, Ontario. Recent exhibitions include: Hamilton Artists Inc.; Evans Contemporary (Canda); and Kamloops Art Gallery. Aitken is represented by Battat Contemporary (Montreal).

Abbas Akhavan (Toronto) received his MFA from the University of British Columbia in 2006. Recent exhibitions include: Montreal Biennale; Western Front (BC); Kunstraum Krezberg (Germany); Museum Stombeek (Belgium); Museum Stuck (Germany); Maraya Art Centre (UAE). Akhavan is short listed for the 2015 Sobey Art Award. Akhavan is represented by The Third Line (Dubai).

Aude Pariset (Berlin, Paris) received her MFA from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2007. Recent exhibitions include: Giverma Gambino (Germany); Kunstverein Nurnberg (Germany); K11 Art Foundation (Hong Kong); and Palais de Tokyo (France). Pariset is represented by Sandy Brown Gallery (Berlin).

Nicolas Sassoon (Biarritz, Vancouver) received his MFA from Ecole Européenne Supérieure de l’Image, Angoulême, France in 2007. Recent exhibitions include: Vancouver Art Gallery; the New Museum (US); 319 Scholes (US); Eyebeam (US); May Gallery & Residency (US); Contemporary Art Gallery (Canada); Charles H. Scott Gallery (Canada); Centre d’Art Bastille (France); Arti et Amicitiae (Netherlands); and Victoria & Albert Museum (UK). Sassoon is represented by Wil Aballe Projects (Vancouver).

Rachelle Sawatsky (Los Angeles) received her MFA from University Southern California in 2012. Recent exhibitions include: Night Gallery (US); Public Fiction (US); the Finley Gallery (US); Harmony Murphy Gallery (US); Presentation House Gallery (Canada); Artspeak Gallery (Canada); Or Berlin (Germany); Galerie Mezzanin (Vienna); and at the Tate St. Ives (UK).

Mark Soo (Berlin) received his BFA from Emily Carr University in 2001. Recent exhibitions include: Union Pacific Projects (UK); Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery (Canada); MoCCA (Toronto); Kunstlerhaus Bethanien (Germany); Center (Germany). Soo is represented by Natalia Hug (Cologne).