Halifax artists contribute to Junos-inspired exhibition

Nicole Leroy’s piece, “Make New," at Cuts and Paste Gallery. (Source: Nicole Leroy)

What’s in a name?

When it comes to the word “Juno,” there can be a lot of definitions. Some people might think of the ancient Roman goddess, others might think of the famous beach in France that was one of the five invasion sites during D-Day in the Second World War. Still, others may think of the impending Canadian music award ceremony which will be held in Halifax this month.

Rhonda Barrett, owner of the Cuts and Paste Gallery in Halifax, was inspired by the annual showcase and celebration of Canadian talent to create an exhibition exploring the varied interpretations of the word.

“I was looking for something happening in Halifax for inspiration and the Junos was a big thing,” said Barrett. “I went down a rabbit hole on all things Juno related. There was so much that came up from it and I thought it could lead to interesting pieces.”

The exhibition, titled “Ju Know?,” launched at the start of the month and will run until March 24.

“To be fair I thought more artists would go the Juno awards route, but a lot of them didn’t,” Barrett said. “Juno beach showed up and some of them use stuff related to music.”

Nicole Leroy’s piece, “Make New,” uses a modified DVD player playing a CD which viewers can record and play back in snippets, creating a sort of sound collage.

“It’s something I’ve been interested in,” Leroy said. “It’s always about picking what exists and making something new. I tend to experiment with a ton of different things.”

Peter Crouse, who has contributed pieces to Cuts and Paste since it opened in January 2023, created an interactive piece inspired by the music theme of the Junos called “Scratcher’s Delight.”

“I had an old white vinyl album from when I was in high school and I had never played the album itself,” Crouse said. “Here was a time I could do something with it. The image on the front is from a Roman sculpture of Juno and I have lyrics from Classified (on it).

“I wanted to give it a mechanical feel, it seemed like it needed to move and scratch on the record.”

Barrett herself contributed a piece called “I’ll be Bach,” which features a collage of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach and action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I know Bach didn’t win a Juno,” Barrett said. “Bach is German and Schwarzenegger is Austrian and he starred opposite an actress named Juno Skinner in ‘True Lies.’ I found it neat where you assume there is no connection, if you do enough research you’ll find a connection.”

Cuts and Paste Gallery is located at 5663 Nora Bernard Street.

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