Since graduating from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1986, Daniel Olson has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions across Canada. Characterized by an idiosyncratic, economical use of language, found objects, sounds, and the gallery itself, Olson’s work establishes a tension between minimal form and suggestive meaning. In his MFA Thesis exhibition Compendium, Olson continues these investigations in a series of installation, video, performance and book works which challenge the viewer to explore and question the limits between work and play, meaning and nonsense, art and life. Working both with and against the gallery and the university as supporting institutional frameworks, the exhibition and the accompanying paper represent an attempt to create an ambiguous situation, one where uncertainty prompts questions which the work leaves unanswered, leaving the task of constructing possible meanings and interpretations to the viewer.

The Art Gallery of York University is one of the few university galleries in Canada that offers its resources to students enrolled in the graduate programs in Visual Arts. Each year, the AGYU hosts two MFA thesis exhibitions. These exhibitions showcase the work of advanced students in this program, preparing them for their ongoing careers. The MFA Thesis Exhibitions are part of an endeavour by the AGYU to extend our relationship with the Faculty of Graduate Studies, thereby enriching our commitment to the development of Canada’ s future professionals.