Swan Song , an exhibit at downtown art gallery River House Arts, examines the 65th anniversary of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which opened the Great Lakes to ocean-going freighters and ships.
But there was a dark side to the explosion of commerce.
The St. Lawrence Seaway opening, which was authorized by Queen Elizabeth II in 1959, opened up the Great Lakes in several ways both good and bad, the gallery, located at 425 Jefferson Ave., said.
“It ... opened up the Great Lakes to ecologically disastrous invasive species, including the mute swan, which is a recurring figure of the exhibition. both aesthetically and metaphorically,” the gallery said in a statement. “The swan itself is a graceful creature and archetype, holding multiple meanings handed down through centuries and across different cultures. In Greek mythology, the silent swan sings a beautiful song just before death.”
Behind the 23-piece exhibit that consists of photo-centric collage pieces and other works, are two Detroit area artists, Halima Afi Cassells and Shanna Merola, both of whom have differing artistic styles.
“While Merola’s dystopian landscapes seem fractured beyond repair by free market deregulation, Cassells’ work envisions a path towards collective liberation, exploring how joy can be found through transformation and reclaiming power and agency,” the gallery said.
Merola said the difference in her art style from Cassells adds to the impact of Swan Song .
“I’ve always been drawn to Halima’s work, even before we began collaborating because it helps us envision the world as it could be. I see possibilities for imagining a better, more sustainable future when I look at her work,” wrote Merola in a statement received via email. “Where my collages are focused on unearthing the hidden histories of industrial waste and ecological disaster, her artwork reminds us that there’s still so much beauty in what hasn’t been destroyed.”
Paula Baldoni, owner and operator of River House Arts, expressed her joy at exhibiting Swan Song .
“We are excited to have Swan Song in Toledo,” said Baldoni. “We are on Lake Erie and this show is related to the St. Lawrence Seaway and the degradation that followed the opening of that seaway.”
Baldoni said that the exhibit is not only geographically relevant but is also extremely timely in this moment.
“Along with the ongoing exploitation and colonization in this country, it’s a very unusual exhibit and is very political,” she said.
A smaller, related installation is being presented in the outdoor courtyard of the Gehry building at the Center for Visual Arts, adjacent to the Toledo Museum of Art.
Reached by phone, Cassells described Swan Song as a collaboration with her friend and artistic partner Merola. While both had their own respective art styles, the two noticed that both of them routinely used swans in their works.
“We were looking at swans and what they symbolized and how they symbolized different themes across culture and time,” said Cassells.
The artist was awarded the prestigious 2023 Kresge Arts in Detroit fellowship and has had work exhibited all over the country and several other parts of the world, in spaces in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Oakland, Calif., Oaxaca, Berlin, Copenhagen, Bogota, and Harare.
Her collaborator Merola has exhibited as far away as the Venice Bienniale and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art in South Korea and also has more of a teaching background, with appointments at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Wayne State University, and UC Berkeley.
“Swans are thought to be fiercely loyal, aggressive, they mate for life,” Cassells said. “So one way of looking at swans is as the ultimate lover. But in England every year, swans are still to this day branded in an annual event and that might affect how people see swans. It’s an entryway into looking at how we think about how nature in general is commodified, and how we own and extract in violent ways.”
While mute swans may be beautiful birds, Cassells emphasized that they’re still an invasive, non-native species to North America.
“The fact that the swans are here in our waterways has to do with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Lake Erie watershed which connects Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, and Montreal. All of it is connected. So were looking at commerce, ecological devastation, ownership, all of those ideas through the motif of the swan.”
Swan Song first opened in Detroit’s Museum of Contemporary Art in late 2022. Cassells said Swan Song would be exhibited in various cities, including other Lake Erie centered spaces in Cleveland and Buffalo, before eventually closing in London.
“We’re really excited to be in Toledo with this exhibit. This is our first stop,” said Cassells.
Swan Song is on display through Saturday. For more information, visit riverhousearts.com .
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