Tanya Read
Being Nobody
Who is Mr. Nobody anyway?
Mr. Nobody was created by Tanya Read in 1998, a cartoon character born out of her love of the early 20th century animated cartoons of Max Fleischer (Betty Boop), Otto Messmer/Pat Sullivan (Felix the Cat) and Walt Disney (Mickey Mouse). The cartoon-references seem nostalgic, reminders of simpler times, a childhood spent watching cartoons on television. But Mr. Nobody has always also had a bleak, and existential side, funny but also anxious and unsettling, a character who constantly confronts the void.
As a youngster watching cartoons, Read was unaware that the origins of beloved characters such as Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat reveal a troubling past. The blueprint for early American studio based animation in both aesthetic and content, came from the vaudeville and minstrel shows which were a popular form of entertainment at that time. As Nicholas Sammond outlines in his book Birth of an Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation, Mickey and Felix are ‘vestigial minstrels’. Mr. Nobody, in turn, contains their vestiges and he carries their history with him. So perhaps he is also a time-traveller from the past, coming to us now to ask, what is it to be ‘Mr. Nobody’ in contemporary times? Being Nobody explores themes of transformation, mutation, tragic comedy, anxiety, excess, the void and nothingness in a mythic tableaux of drawings that reveal Mr. Nobody’s epic struggle.
Tanya Read graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1995 and since then has been active in the Toronto art community. She was an organizer and founder of the Impure artists collective in Toronto from 1994 – 1998. From 1999-2011 Read and her partner Scott Carruthers ran a storefront exhibition space called Fly Gallery in the Queen St. W. neighbourhood of Toronto. In 2019 Read and Carruthers started Fly Gallery Projects, publishing the comic book ‘Excuses’, featuring work of 7 artists.
Tanya created a character called Mr. Nobody in 1998 and since then her art practice has focused on projects featuring this character. Read has made super 8 animations, drawings, sculpture, silk screened t-shirts and video all featuring Mr. Nobody. Her work has received extensive critical acclaim including articles in The Globe and Mail, National Post, Canadian Art Magazine, Calgary Herald and Korea Times. She has exhibited work in Toronto, Calgary, Hamilton, Berlin, Lima, Seoul, Korea and Japan.
When not spending time with Mr. Nobody, Read enjoys the rock and roll life playing bass and singing in the band ‘Ethel and the Mermen’.
October 18th – December 14th 2019
