Fable

Toronto-based artist Nurielle Stern created Fable to celebrate the inauguration of the Joan Courtois Gallery at the Gardiner, a series of vitrines spanning all three levels of the stairwell. Stern’s Fable offers an incredible cast of cats, mice, and caryatids (the figural columns of Classical Greece). But who is chasing whom, and to what end? Rather than conveying clear moral teaching like a traditional tale, Fable invites us to enjoy the chase. Drawing from medieval European manuscripts and relief sculptures, the lattice-like components emphasize the shallow vertical space of the gallery, much like a stage set. Metal mounts reference ethnographic museums, where artifacts are, in the words of the artist, “removed from context, somehow pulled out of time.” The creatures of Fable face us, ready to take part in a tale of our own invention.