"Building a stable establishes new responsibilities… to live a kind of life only a chosen few are privileged to enjoy…keep a stable spotless as you do your kitchen, office or person…Those who neglect cleaning a stall daily soon discover the urine and droppings soften the earth floor… a smelly mess that attracts a lot of flies, complaints from neighbours and invites a reprimand from the board of health.“
-How to Build a Stable, Donald R. Brann, 1975.

Good Housekeeping extends Turgeon’s ongoing investigation of systems used in the management of bodies - both human and animal - here drawing parallels with rural and farm mythologies and anthropomorphic allegories within popular folklore and fairytale. The exhibition borrows references from the artist’s personal history, which are then presented as raw materials to be re- and mis-interpreted, directly referencing agricultural and livestock industries while gesturing toward broader systems of constraint within contemporary social relations. Through these motifs, Good Housekeeping repositions the visual language that defines these systems, exploring the potential for new relationships to emerge between illustration, reality, and the interpretation of both.

Installation views: Franz Kaka, Toronto, 2017.