Celebration of the Body

Celebration of the Body

“The occurrence of the [1976] Olympic Games in Canada at Montreal and Kingston provides the unique opportunity to demonstrate the aesthetic concerns and relationships which occur in athletic and art activity. A recent development in the visual arts is the direct use of the body, in many instances the artist’s own body, as a medium for aesthetic expression. There is at the same time a great deal of interest in the aesthetics of movement and physical expression in athletics. A similar interest is creating a heightened awareness of basic movement qualities within contemporary dance.
This is a special opportunity to raise people’s awareness of themselves, their bodies, and their forms in relationship to the contest and the performance. The CELEBRATION OF THE BODY is intended to do just that and is a tribute to the original concept of the Olympics. The exhibition has several areas of concern: the historical, showing how he arts have used human movement in sport and art for visual aesthetic expression; the contemporary body-art phenomena, showing he current activities in visual arts where the artist uses his or her own body for their visual expression; the athletic, showing the actual Olympics through the use of video and photographs and athletic participation; the performance, including many forms of dance and photographs of dancers; and body awareness, showing all else to do with the body … Yoga, streakers, fitness experts, body painting, etc.
The total objective throughout the CELEBRATION OF THE BODY will be to demonstrate the place of the body in athletics and fine arts. It will be the first time such a major focusing will have taken place in the world. It is also a celebration and tribute to the true spirit of the Olympics and a fresh look at the aesthetic totality of the human body.
The N.E. THING CO. LTD. would like to thank the Agnes Etherington Art Centre for inviting us to create our exhibition to celebrate the Olympics. We’ve enjoyed working with Michael Bell and gratefully appreciate his patience and enthusiasm from C to C – conception and conclusion. Thanks also to his capable crew, without whom this celebration would not have happened.

N.E. THING CO. LTD., 1976”

N.E. Thing Co. Ltd. Celebration of the Body. Kingston, ON: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1976. u.p.

N.E. Thing Co. Ltd.

1976

Colour slide, 35mm

Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University Archives

Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University Archives; All Rights Reserved