Drawn from the gallery’s permanent collection, this installation brings together major works by Canadian and international artists that incorporate elements of the playful, the fantastical, the satirical, even the macabre.

Carnivals traditionally involve public celebrations and parades including elements of the circus or masquerade. But there is often something disturbing, even sinister, that functions as a counterpoint to the festive aspect of the carnival. At first glance, each work displayed here is carnivalesque in spirit. Indeed, Karel Appel’s works are exactly what they appear to be: brightly painted sculptures of happy clowns and circus animals. Similarly, Fernando Botero’s rotund Doll exhibits the amusingly inflated forms characteristic of this artist’s style. But upon further consideration, works such as Dorothy Cameron’s haunting Carousel, or Badanna Zack’s witty Trio of Great Canadians, show us the extraordinary and the satirical. And in contrast to the clowns of Appel, Stephen Livick’s Untitled, Clown,n. 81361 suggests isolation and prompts a certain sense of unease.

Playing upon themes of the extraordinary, fantasy, masquerade, or performance, the works assembled here are intended to provoke, amuse, beguile, and enchant... much like the carnival itself.