Lot 46: Joanne Tod 1953 - Canadian oil and acrylic on

Joanne Tod 1953 - Canadian oil and acrylic on polyester Pox 36 x 48 x 1 1/2 inches 91.4 x 121.9 x 3.8 centimeters on verso signed, titled and dated 1994 Literature:Correspondence between Joanne Tod and Nina Kim, Heffel Gallery Inc., Toronto, April 2009 Provenance:Stux Gallery, New York Private Collection, Toronto Since her first show at Toronto's Carmen Lamanna Gallery in the early 1980s, Joanne Tod has focused on socio-political themes in her painting that tackle issues of gender, race and class in contemporary life. One subject used to address these issues has been the depiction of interior spaces, in which she portrays the ironies of image, power and glamour in today's culture. Tod produced work in response to claims that painting was a masculine art form and that images of the domestic sphere were not suitable subject matter for serious art. She challenges contemporary visual culture, creating new connections for her work, and ultimately, for other women artists. Tod comments on this work, "Pox is structured using two layers of polyester separated by the depth of the stretcher. The actual, physical layering of the material enhances the illusion of space. In the pictorial space, a Morris Louis Veil painting hangs on the far wall. The notion of veiling is reiterated in the cellular form hovering in front of the Louis. Pink fluorescent paint swatches further suggest spherical volume and the idea of an organism, which of course the title suggests is virulent."