Remai Modern and 25 artists explore the Great Plains


“Because the plains have this kind of spare beauty … I think we wanted to present something that honoured that in a way.”

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The works of 25 artists span across time and location through a variety of media in Remai Modern’s team-curated exhibition In the Middle of Everywhere: Artists on the Great Plains.

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“We thought it was important to have many different voices and many different artists in the exhibition,” said Troy Gronsdahl, Remai Modern’s curator of performance and public practice.

Part of an ongoing inquiry by the museum’s curatorial department, the exhibition explores North America’s largest ecosystem, tracing the physical, social and psychological contours of the Great Plains.

“The physical place and all of its relations really exceed what we can do in a single exhibition. But this is something that we’re committed to doing over a long period of time … It’s kind of exciting in that way for us,” Gronsdahl said.

Luther Konadu’s “Figure as Index” is part of the Remai Modern exhibition In the Middle of Everywhere: Artists on the Great Plains.
Luther Konadu’s “Figure as Index” is part of the Remai Modern exhibition In the Middle of Everywhere: Artists on the Great Plains. Photo by Matt Smith /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

The exhibition also ties in with the museum’s goal to become an institution that is rooted in place.

“As we seek to understand what that might mean, we thought it would be productive to broaden our view and turn our direction a little bit to follow more of the topographical features rather than political ones,” Gronsdahl said.

The exhibition explores Saskatoon’s location in the broader Great Plains and is intended to get people asking their own questions about what makes the region the way it is.

“Because the plains have this kind of spare beauty … and the very nuanced, beautiful but spare kind of landscapes, I think we wanted to present something that honoured that in a way,” Gronsdahl said.

The artists featured in the exhibition work across the Great Plains in photography, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, pottery and social practice. The variety of media creates a layered, textured exhibition, which Gronsdahl said is comparable to the diversity of people and the complex history and ecology in the region.

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“I think it could only really be achieved through these multiple voices.”

Edgar Heap of Bird’s “Water is Your Only Medicine” is on display in Remai Modern’s Marquee Gallery.
Edgar Heap of Bird’s “Water is Your Only Medicine” is on display in Remai Modern’s Marquee Gallery. Photo by Matt Smith /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

One of many themes that emerged in the development of the exhibition was the Nēhiyaw concept of Wahkohtowin.

Wahkohtowin is “a foundational concept in Indigenous thinking that relates to ideas of kinship, which speaks about interconnected systems … that people and non-human relations exist within, and the responsibilities and obligations that come from those relationships within one’s community,” Gronsdahl said.

The Great Plains is a vast area surrounded by forests, mountains and rivers. It’s more than just its physical description, though, and that’s what the exhibition aims to convey, Gronsdahl said.

“While we do have representations of the land, it’s not really the central thrust of the exhibition. There’s a lot of beautiful and diverse works that have interesting relationships to one another, despite their different material or aesthetic context.”

He hopes people will be surprised and emotionally moved by what they see in the exhibition.

“We’re hoping that people will find moments within this exhibition where they could be maybe moved or challenged or stimulated or have an opportunity to discover unlikely connections or think about the place that we know in a slightly different way.”

Mindy Yan Miller’s “The Restraint of Cattle” is on display.
Mindy Yan Miller’s “The Restraint of Cattle” is on display. Photo by Matt Smith /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

In the Middle of Everywhere runs in Remai Modern’s Marquee Gallery through Feb. 26, 2023.

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