The abstract expressionist sculpture, Monument to Dawn, by Bill Epp first saw light in 1967 when the mild steel work was presented in an exhibition by the National Gallery of Canada, Sculpture ’67, in Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto. 57 years later, Jean-Sébastien Gauthier, Epp’s grandson, dismantles this monumental artwork in a processual project entitled, Monument to Dust. Part culmination, provocation, celebration of ruin, and enactment of ethics of care, this response to familial love and legacy acknowledges impermanence and questions the life cycles of artists and artworks, intentions, methodologies, and style. Within its reflections, Monument to Dust, lapses and thickens questions on the responsibilities linked to the care and preservation of monuments beyond their familiar material forms and considers the myriad phenomena associated with them, materially, socially, and internally. 

This exhibition marks the 29th anniversary of the passing of the teacher and artist Bill Epp (b. 1930 - d. 1995) and is the culmination of Jean-Sébastien Gauthier’s MFA.

Jean-Sébastien (JS) Gauthier is an intermedia artist who adopts inquiry and experimentation to create immersive works of art.