Blue Running Shoes, 1973

In 1973 as part of the Women’s Committee Art Rental Service at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Parkin organized an exhibition of ceramic art objects from across the country. The show, which travelled to New York City, included works by a range of artists, including Gathie Falk, Joe Fafard, and David Gilhooly.

“We included this piece as part of the show Ceramic Objects (1973) that travelled to the New York Cultural Center. Although the centrepiece of the exhibition was David Gilhooly’s Queen Victoria frog—it was just a riot—I think this work shows Gathie Falk at her best. The running shoes are great. It is one of a series of shoes that she produced, including evening slippers and loafers. I love Gathie’s sense of humour. Also, I love the piece because it combines Minimalism and the way she uses common place objects and raises them to the status of high art. This is something that Gathie Falk is so good at. She began working as an artist in her mid-thirties after being a teacher.

“The opening at the event was a huge success, with over fifteen hundred people present, and our press coverage was fantastic. We made sure in publicity releases in New York that the exhibition was credited to ‘the Women’s Committee Art Rental Service at the AGO,’ not ‘the AGO.’ At the time not everyone gave ceramic arts the attention it deserved. We wanted people to know that the Women’s Committee felt differently.”