Glitter Transforms Snowy York into Arabian Nights Wonderland

Sinbad in the Rented World continues Director Philip Monk’s exhibition programme at the Art Gallery of York University, literally transforming the gallery in the process.

Through the reference of its title, Sinbad in the Rented World pays homage to the legendary underground filmmaker Jack Smith who persistently asked the question, “Could art ever be useful? Ever since the desert glitter drifted over the burnt-out ruins of Plaster Lagoon thousands of artists have pondered and dreamed of such a thing.” Sinbad in the Rented World restates this question in an exhibition devoted to exploring the queer aesthetic in Toronto art but as applied to a social function.

Sinbad in the Rented World is made up of works in various media by Joel Gibb, Andrew Harwood, Will Munro and Jeremy Laing, Ian Phillips, The Ensemble of Tops `n’ Bottoms, and Scott Treleaven. The artists drape the gallery in a type of environmental costuming, stuffing, sticking, primping and playing across a dazzling landscape of their own fashioning.

SINBAD Poetry and Literary Readings featuring Sky Gilbert and Derek McCormack
1 March 2004
Sky Gilbert reading his collection of poetry Temptations for a Juvenile Delinquent, and novel An English Gentleman.
David McCormack reading The Haunted Hillbilly.