Exhibit celebrates centennial of Women's College Hospital

Viage. Meryl McMaster's work 'Viage', from the series In-Between Worlds, is on display at The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W., as part of the exhibit Being She: The Culture of Women’s Health and Health Care Through the Lens of Wholeness, which celebrates centennial of Women’s College Hospital. Photo/COURTESY

Curated by Christina Zeidler and Deborah Wang with advisors Sophie Hackett, Michelle Jacques and Betty Ann Jordan, the exhibit, titled Being She: The Culture of Women's Health and Health Care Through the Lens of Wholeness, opens at the Gladstone Hotel on June 9.

The art show combines high calibre invited artists, whom Zeidler and Wang said set the tone for the show, and juried selections, which represent a diversity of voices.

Anchored by featured Canadian artists Sarah Anne Johnson, Nina Levitt, Jane Martin and Meryl McMaster, the show touches a nerve and speaks to the culture of health and health care - some drawing on their own experiences with health care or on their identity.

"All of the work has a real intimacy to it," Zeidler said. "It's so much more than just an image."

A second component of the exhibition presents the work of a diverse group of photo-based artists. The work by these professional, emerging or amateur artists will be on exhibit until June 15.

The large roster of juried works includes a wide range of work from intimate personal photography, such as a photograph of three generations of women holding a pregnant belly, to the workers' side of health care as expressed by Carole Coned and Karl Beveridge who are professional artists who work within the health care system.

"They do these beautiful photographs that are about describing what it is like to be a worker within the system," Zeidler said. "It is almost like a tableau vivant (French for living picture) with real health care workers."

The women said the show gives a balance between physical health and identity, which was an important balance to achieve as they said physical health and identity are intertwined - Wang sites the work of Sophie Hogan titled Body Image Project as an example.

"She photographed 20 women nude and then had them draw or paint or intervene on their own photographs," explained Wang, a West Queen West resident. "It ties into some of the other themes of identity and being okay with yourself and a woman's over all wellbeing."

As well there are some male artists in the show; like James Azzopardi who will show photographs of a grandmother and her granddaughters swimming in a river.

"There's something so wonderful and natural about them that we thought it helped to describe the idea of health and generations," Zeidler said. "It didn't necessarily talk about identity or health care, but describes something else that is a really nice complement to the rest of the show."

Women's College Hospital, in downtown Toronto, maintains a focus on women's health and research in women's health. The hospital was founded in October 1, 1883 as Women's Medical College, and was the first medical school in Toronto to admit women as students.

There have been various events to celebrate a century of innovation, including programs, events and exhibits throughout 2011.

Zeidler, a Parkdale resident and the president of the Gladstone Hotel, said working on the planning of these celebrations and on this exhibit has heightened her awareness of the Toronto-based hospital.

"Just the resource it is in the city," Zeidler said. "They were the ones to first come up with the PAP test, all this pre-screening for cancer in women and helped make those standard."

One of the places they continue to be way ahead of the curve is with research and are leaders in treating women.

"I have personally come to love it," Zeidler said. "I have gone there with my mother when she wasn't feeling well and the care that you get there is just so incredible."

Zeidler said by looking at the whole person, the Women's College Hospital is really changing the model of health care.

"That is what I would call a feminist approach," Zeidler said. "You are not just a body part, you are the whole person."

The exhibit at The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W., runs until August 1 with the opening reception slated for June 9 from 6:30 to 10 p.m.

Selected works and artists from the open call exhibition will also be featured in an online gallery at www.womenscollegehospital.ca until December 31, 2011, which according to Women's College Hospital, will be available after June 9, 2011.