There is a wraith of a bird stalking the basement of the Canadian Embassy, and if you are interested in contemporary sculpture it is worth tracking down. "Passages" shows 20 works by four Canadian artists, ranging from whimsical wildlife to meditations on a cube.
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| Sculpture by Morton Katz |
Morton Katz, the birdman, studied architecture and anthropology, which perhaps explains the minimalism and life force in his work. It is there in an elegant bird's nest cradling a single egg. Or a twiggy bird that casts a fleeting shadow on a distant wall.
The leather torso by Gail Schwartz is beautifully made, which is not surprising, since she learnt sewing in the family dress business. In these heavy, suspended figures, Schwartz seems to show life in the balance, with its potential for good or ill. Born in Poland, in an Orthodox Jewish family, her work forges a middle way between the heart and mind.
But what about the myriad cubes by Russian-born artist Alex Rou? Calm, intricate, with beautifully graded colors, they reflect his thought-provoking observation that "all living things try to achieve harmony of color and shape."
Finally, sculptures to touch: steel books by German-born Marianne Reim. There is something forbidding and tantalizing about these scarred tomes. Like Prospero's books in "The Tempest," they hint of knowledge, passed from generation to generation: hard to acquire, and dangerous to forget.