Tec Style is the first solo exhibition at 10 Years Ago Gallery, a new series of mixed media works developed over a four year period by Toronto-based artist Maya Fuhr. On till February 22nd, the show, which Fuhr describes as “a tour of the manufacturing process of a garment” is a blunt admonishment of the rapid textile consumption of the fashion industry. Exploring the lifespan of a garment, the artist captures the process of production and consumption within a variety of different media, and in doing so interrogates the tactile relations and meaning-making inherent in our relationship with the sartorial.
The show is the first solo exhibition at Ten Years Ago Gallery, a space that owner Aaron Kirsch hopes can become a space to share the joy one derives from purchasing art from creators. “My vision for the gallery is to facilitate the growth and critical recognition of Canadian and international artists while shining a spotlight on Toronto and its cultural roots… Maya’s exhibit falls effortlessly in line with my vision for the gallery. It critiques the fashion cycle, shows process and progress, and is multi-disciplinary. The thesis of the show, works, and related talks at the gallery are thought-provoking, unstructured and fun. We have invited the community to view, talk, and learn, which we will implement in future shows.”
The performative transformation of Tec Style, and its brilliance as an exhibition, lies in the name itself. Denoting both ‘textile’, ‘tech’ and ‘style’, the show’s various representations of the sartorial which run the gamut of mediated forms suggest the multiplicity of perspectives and connections that clothing can represent and assume. Lightboxes, 3D renders, sculptural explorations, and video installation render garments in their own likeness but in differing and uncanny tactility and form. Where photographs illuminated in lightboxes imply the toxic process of dying a garment, aluminum prints portray varying fabrics being washed and dried whilst a singular crimson-colored sock coated in plaster appears discarded, implying the logical manifestation of the end of the life cycle of a garment. In offering renewed perspectives of clothing in alternative forms, Fuhr in her interrogation of consumption and production prods the spectator to consider their own personal relationship to clothing.
Tell us about the concept behind ‘Tec Style’ and what inspired this work?

Why the name Tec Style?
The show utilizes a wide variety of media in representing the sartorial. Walk us through the different forms and media you used in this show and why it was important that each of them was incorporated.

What do you hope spectators take away from experiencing Tec Style?
Cody is the managing editor and senior contributor at Glossi Mag.
He is a photography aficionado, masters candidate, fashion enthusiast, avid Ariana Grande fan and lover of all things aesthetically pleasing.