Sarindar Dhaliwal
When I grow up I want to be a namer of paint colours

[En anglais]

In the imagination of many children exists the ultimate dream job. Children with a love for animals may hope to one day become a veterinarian; others might say they want to become a superhero or a mermaid. Toronto-based artist Sarindar Dhaliwal’s exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario, When I grow up I want to be a namer of paint colours, evokes a particularly delightful vocation. The retrospective spanning over four decades of Dhaliwal’s work is an invitation to consider the limitlessness of childlike imagination, memory, and, of course, colour. The exhibition reveals the possibilities of how a story can be told and a wish be fulfilled.

The exhibition begins in a marigold-hued corridor with works on paper: watercolour collages whose subjects include self-portraits, wild animals, flowers, fruits, and the likenesses of Frida Kahlo and Oscar Wilde. Opposite is Southall: Childplay (2009), a ten-metre-long photograph revealing a rainbow of used coloured pencils from Dhaliwal’s collection. A prologue of sorts, this introductory hallway holds the promise of what viewers can expect in the remainder of the exhibition: all things vibrant, playful, and steeped in narrative.