Detail of "Solicitude...in anticipation of danger” oil paint on latex on plaster, second floor of 1069 MacKay 1985 “Rooming House Show” curated by Fred McSherry

​

The paradoxical and often insecure dichotomy between people and dwellings has long been an important theme in the imagery of my work. I first explored this theme as one of the participating artists in The Rooming House Show, curated by Fred McSherry in 1986, which took place in an abandoned rooming house around the corner from where I lived in Montreal. I created Solicitude... in anticipation of danger as a site-specific work on the second floor. In the words of Fred McSherry, his reasons for making The Rooming House Show were as follows:

"The first was to give the building a new character in the community - one of a cultural nature. The second was to use the exhibition to bring public attention to an ongoing, escalating housing crisis in Montreal. The third was to allow people to see an example of historically important architecture that, along with other such examples, would soon be lost forever. The fourth was to create a feeling of solidarity between local, low-income tenants, the artists and other interested individuals and groups in the city at large."

Soon after, this building and most of the other buildings in the Overdale neighbourhood were bought by a developer and demolished. A highrise with luxury condominiums was built where this building once stood.

​

​