CONTACT 2023 at the Gallery at Mason Studio | Serapis: Firm Like Water

The Gallery at Mason Studio is thrilled to host Serapis: Firm Like Water, an exhibition part of Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, launching May 12 through June 30. In collaboration with Cooper Cole Gallery and curated by Magdalyn Asimakis, Firm Like Water explores the form of flow in practice of Serapis, an Athens, Greece-based multidisciplinary collective that takes their inspiration from water: oceans and seas, their slipperiness, and their interaction with human-made infrastructures.

Serapis describes their practice as a “multimedia ocean-themed novel,” the signature narrative of the collective embodies an interest in expanding and exceeding boundaries through an interdisciplinary output across art, design, and fashion.

“Serapis’ fascination with water has a myriad of meanings in their collective practice. Found and created images of water, ships, workers, and maritime bric-a-brac are recurring motifs throughout their works, exhibitions, and clothing, seamlessly flowing between disciplines without material boundaries,” adds exhibition curator, Magdalyn Asimakis. “This interdisciplinary practice acts as a meditation on the artificiality of borders and the structures that attempt to interact with the unfixed nature of water.”

Visit the Gallery at Mason Studio located at 91 Pelham Ave. in Toronto, with hours between 10 am - 4 pm, Monday through Saturday, from May 12 - June 30, 2023. Additional details can be found here.

Save the date and join us on July 1 for a closing reception from 2-4 pm at The Gallery – details to follow - connect with Mason Studio on Instagram for updates.

The Gallery at Mason Studio is a cultural and creative hub for artists, designers, and makers by providing space and opportunities for emerging talent and established professionals. Individuals from equity-deserving communities are prioritized in the Gallery to ensure diverse ideas and experiences are expressed through exhibitions, talks, events and programming. Everyone is welcome to the Gallery to experience how culture, business and creativity can come together to make better.

Serapis is a hybrid art, design and fashion collective which creates work inspired by the aura of the oceans and the industries related to the sea. It aims towards an expansion of the boundaries of artistic production and distribution and functions like a multimedia ocean-themed novel. This results in a human centric narrative which takes place inside the universe of the sea but is instilled by an intense spirituality throughout its imagery and references. This artistic production can also be read as a contemporary seascape. Serapis have exhibited at galleries in across Greece, Italy, and Lebanon including Hot Wheels Athens, Seamanship of Lagkada Cultural Space, ARCH Athens, SECCMA Trust, Rodeo Gallery Piraeus, Centro Pecci (Tuscany), and GB Agency (Paris). They also have created the public art projects ‘Untitled’ at Vigla of Pachi in Chios, and ‘Liquid Soul’ through Rodeo Gallery in Piraeus. Their fashion works can be found online.

Website| Instagram

Magdalyn Asimakis is a curator, writer, and researcher based in Toronto. Her practice explores embodied experience in relation to Western display practices and methods of knowing. She is the co-founder of the curatorial collective ma ma, and is currently the Executive Director of Images Festival.

Website | Instagram

Photos courtesy of Serapis.


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