September 21 – December 1
“A Prayer: I want trans people to expand, to experience beyond the ‘getting through this right now’. I want trans people to know lives beyond survival mode. I want trans people to know what rest feels like, real rest, free of anxiety. I want trans people to experience joy and to dream.” – Rudy Loewe
Our Flowers names urgent demands raised by trans community members living in Toronto. The work reflects the need to support trans people in life, making trans futures possible. These are demands for intergenerational spaces, healing and care beyond sexual health and the abolition of the systems that perpetuate structural violence and harm. This work is a call for trans spaces of joy and expansive dreaming beyond everything previously known.
Commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art. Our Flowers was co-created by Emkay Adjei-Manu, Harmeet Rehal, kumari giles, Leon Tsai, SAYSAH, Uniqua and Rudy Loewe through Trans Community workshops for the 2024 Toronto Biennial. The workshops were developed as part of the artist’s residency in Toronto, hosted by the Toronto Biennial of Art, between April 3 – May 2, 2024, with the cooperation of SKETCH Working Arts.
Bio
Rudy Loewe (b.1987, they/them) lives and works in London, UK. They hold a BA in Illustration from the University of Brighton, UK (2010), an MFA in Visual Communication from Konstfack, Stockholm, SE (2018) and are currently working towards a practice-based PhD at the University of the Arts London. Loewe has exhibited internationally in institutions and galleries including: Humber Street Gallery, Hull, UK: South London Gallery, London, UK; New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK; Botkyrka Konsthall, Stockholm, SE; Vallentuna Kulturhus, Stockholm, SE; Marabourparken, Sundbyberg, SE; Royal Academy, London, UK; Regart Centre D’Artistes En Art Actuel, Lévis, CA; DobraVaga, Ljubljana, SI; 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, London, UK; Staffordshire St, London, UK; Serpentine Galleries, London, UK. They have had public commissions including: LDN WMN billboard commissioned by Tate and the Mayor of London, London, UK; Becontree Forever schools project, commissioned by Barking & Dagenham council, London, UK; The Depths of Our History, Contemporary Art Space Project commissioned by Iniva and RSA Academies, UK; Black Women in History, Pen Store shop front window, Stockholm, SE; PROCESSIONS banner commissioned by Artichoke, London, UK; Draw Or Die! Grafikens Hus shop front window, Södertälje, SE. Residencies include: Ecologias Especulativas, Labverde, Brazil (2023); Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge, UK (2023); Early Years Artists in Residence, Serpentine Galleries, London, UK (2020); Distributed Identities, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada (2019); We Dey, X Space, Austria (2019); The Bothy Project, Scotland (2019). Recent exhibitions include shows at VITRINE Fitzrovia, London, UK, Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham, UK, PEER gallery, London UK and a public sculpture presentation in the Liverpool Biennial 2023, UK.
Location
- Accessibility
32 Lisgar St and Park
Accessible entrance
– Note: If you have access needs and are being dropped off at the venue, use ’36 Lisgar’ as the drop-off address instead of 32 Lisgar. This will bring you closer to our entrance.Washrooms
Elevator
AODA compliant building
Parking: Limited Street, Underground Parking (Paid)
There is ample paid parking nearby, including a Green P lot in the building, a lot accessible from the alley between Dovercourt and Lisgar off Sudbury, and street parking on both Lisgar Street and Abell Street.
- Getting There
32 Lisgar St and Park
By subway: Line 1 – From St. Andrew Station, take the 504 King streetcar west to Abell Street, walk 2 minutes. Line 2 – From Dufferin Station: take the 29 Bus south to Queen Street West, walk 7 minutes
By streetcar: Take the 501 Queen streetcar and get off at Abell Street, just east of Gladstone. Or, take the 504 King streetcar. Get off at Sudbury Street, and walk north/west along Sudbury to Lisgar Street.