Street artist 'Lionel' never thought his work would see the inside of a gallery. But that day has come … and not because of some sort of guerrilla action.
His works are among many in the latest exhibit to launch at the Art Gallery of Guelph (AGG), dubbed Creative Dissent and focusing on protest art, which opened on Thursday and continues through May 14.
“One of the first things I did … was an intervention on their property,” said Lionel, who uses a pseudonym in order to keep his identity secret, referring to 2021’s Do Not Feed Bear, which saw the often-decorated Begging Bear sculpture in front of the AGG boxed in, with a hole cut out for its extended paw.
“I thought that’s as close as this art will ever get to this institution.”
Then, a few days before Creative Dissent opened, Lionel said he received an invitation to participate through his Facebook page.
“I’m honoured. I think it’s cool,” he said of having his work included. “I’m kind of stunned still.
“It’s interesting that there’s an appetite for this type of work.”
Lionel’s creations can be seen in public spaces throughout the city, including Where are you sleeping tonight? – an overturned and modified shopping cart filled with stones on one end, with suitcases at the other and a wooden bench platform between them where people can sit – on Wyndham Street North and the silhouette painting of the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate on Norfolk Street, with running paint in various colours coming down from the top of a retaining wall, known as Reign of Colour.
He has also ‘hacked’ several bus shelter advertising spaces to display his poster-style works.
“I think it makes a tremendous amount of sense that artists get involved in activism,” Lion said. “A number of posters I’ve put up have caused a stir.”
For Lionel, causing a stir and making people think about various social issues his work touches on is the point.
Two of his poster efforts have now been printed on vinyl banners and are on display at the gallery. One is a pro-peace piece for Ukraine, known as Peace. The other, Love and Hate, depicts an Israeli man and a Palestinian man kissing.
“As the exhibition addresses global issues with local dimensions, we were interested in including materials from community groups and activists within Guelph and what was included and available was evolving until this week,” Shauna McCabe, the AGG’s director and co-curator of Creative Dissent along with Pearl Van Geest, said via email.
Creative Dissent was organized to accompany another exhibit at the AGG – Mary Kelly: To Witness the Future – created by Georgetown University Art Galleries in Washington D.C. and curated by Al Miner.
That exhibit focuses on Kelly’s work exploring her long engagement with political movements, addressing key issues of equal rights in North America and Europe since the 1960s.
“Building on these ideas, in developing Creative Dissent, we were interested in including materials related to political activism that highlight how political issues and resistance are communicated over time and space,” McCabe explained. “We focused the exhibition on the aesthetics of textiles like banners and flags because of the ongoing importance of this form of visual culture in political activism.”
The various works that make up Creative Dissent advocate for human rights, clean water, resources, safety, asylum, citizenship, equality and participation.
“And while each speaks to a distinct time and place, together they point to how protest movements around the world are seen and heard, mapping a history of social change and a society that is yet to come,” states the exhibit description posted on the Art Gallery of Guelph website.
Other artists whose work is featured include Jordan Bennett, Jenna Reid, Allyson Mitchell and Deirdre Logue, Aram Han Sifuentes of the Protest Banner Lending Library, and Slavs and Tatars.
“The exhibitions show how protest movements around the world are seen and heard, and offer insight not only into a history of social change but a global hope for a more just society,” wrote McCabe.
Admission to the gallery is free, but donations are encouraged.
To learn more about the Art Gallery of Guelph and its exhibits, visit artgalleryofguelph.ca.
Lionel’s art can be seen in public spaces throughout the city, with photos available on his Instagram page.
