Making the Unfamiliar Familiar - Panel Discussion - a program of All Due Respect

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Making the Unfamiliar Familiar: (Trans-)Cultural Recontextualization of Historical Objects in Contemporary Art Practice

A program of

Anran Guo: With All Due Respect

Due to limited space, please RSVP for in-person participation. Event will be recorded and also be live-streamed on Anran Guo's instagram account - anran.guo

With speakers Anran Guo, Maria Hupfield, Jason Lujan, and Brandon Vickerd, moderated by Wang Zi, this panel takes Anran Guo’s work as a point of departure. It brings together artists and art educators to critically examine the recontextualization of historical objects within contemporary art. The discussion will investigate how everyday objects, carrying historical and cultural significance, are transformed into powerful artistic statements. The panel will address the commercialization of art through critical practice, the recovery and refabrication of narratives, issues of authorship, and material integrity in contemporary art practice.

Organizer

Anran Guo

Anran Guo (b. 1996）is a queer female artist currently based between Hamilton and Toronto. She grew up in China and move 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.