Clint Neufeld
Pipe Dreams of Madame Récamier

Clint Neufeld, a sculptor who lives on acreage near Osler, Saskatchewan, had been somewhat floating on the peripheries of the Canadian art scene until he was featured in the exhibition Oh, Canada at MASS MoCA in 2012. Earlier this year, Pipe Dreams of Madame Récamier marked the first solo exhibition of his work in Toronto. The title of the show — curated by the Koffler’s Mona Filip — is as cleverly crafted as the works themselves, referring to the impossibly surreal tableau that a room full of Neufeld’s sculptures can create.

Upon entering General Hardware Contemporary, visitors were greeted by a full-sized scoop of an excavation shovel cast in wax; the graceless object sat awkwardly upon a dainty chaise longue (also known as a récamier) beneath a glittering crystal chandelier. Across the way, the individual teeth of the scoop, which had been cast dozens of times, were displayed on ledges like curious, precious objects. The title of this work, Are You My Mother, seemed to gently ease the viewer into the “pipe dream” that made up this smart collection of pieces.