A IS FOR APPLE
Dave Dyment + Roula Partheniou
On view at MKG127 in Toronto from September 13 - October 11, 2025
“We see shapes in context, and our reactions to them depend in large part on that context. If this were an illustration for a story about the ocean, we could variously read the red triangle as the sail of a sailboat, a shark’s fin, a volcanic island rising from the sea, a “red nun” buoy, or the bow of a sinking ship. We feel very differently about the triangle if we see it as a sailboat than we do if we see it as a shark’s fin.”
– Molly Bang, Picture This
A IS FOR APPLE, the first collaborative exhibition by gallery artists Dave Dyment and Roula Partheniou, explores play, perception, pattern recognition, and cognitive geometry, from early childhood development back to early civilization.
Loosely modelled after a Montessori classroom, the exhibition features works that take the form of games, puzzles, books, building blocks, flashcards, and other teaching aids. Elemental units such as numbers, letters, and basic shapes are mobilized as conceptual tools to parse how patterns both structure our thinking and emerge from it.
This Way, That Way, triptych, acrylic on wood inlay, 2025.
A series of puzzle-like images comprised of painted wood inlays. Each image panel can be read in multiple ways through simple shifts in perception.
Envelope, acrylic on wood inlays, 2025.
Clock (3:00), acrylic on wood inlays, 2025.
Varied edition of 8, each a unique time.
Glass Half, acrylic on wood inlay, 2025.
Blackboard with Brush, acrylic on wood, 2022.
A classroom tool that doubles as a combined monochrome and colour field painting.
A IS FOR, rubber stamp, 2025
Chalkboard with Apple, acrylic on wood, 2022.
A classroom tool that doubles as a monochrome painting.
Butter Blocks, acrylic on wood, set of 5, 2025.
Illustrated fractions as they pertain to a pound of butter or a monochrome set of children’s blocks.
The Makapansgat Pebble, found stone encased in resin, laser-engraved plexiglass. Varied edition of 5, 2025.
One of several works in the exhibition that address the phenomenon of pareidolia, in this case through the lens of earliest and most significant archeological finds.
Dress Shirt, acrylic on wood inlays, 2025.
Part a series of puzzle-like images, composed of painted wood inlays, that break down wholes into parts. The first of many shirt puzzles that draw reference from Montessori activities that focus on practical life and sensory exploration.
Paper Pools, vintage wooden clipboards, paper.
Open varied edition, 2025.
Toast, nineteen 35mm slides, custom holder, slide viewer. Edition of 3, 2025.
A loaf of Wonder bread is documented slice by slice, with each increment reproduced as a 35mm slide. Each slice is housed in order of occurrence, in a custom wood holder. A slide viewer provides an opportunity for scrutiny while also approximating the motions of making toast. This is the second work in the show that alludes to pareidolia: or finding faces, visions and miracles in your toast.
Record Backwards, Artist book and accompanying ink on paper drawing, 2025.
How To Draw, vinyl, lightbox, 2025.
A still life with ellipses.
Counting Backwards, vinyl, lightbox, 2025.
A series of object illustrations that belong together only when arranged in descending order.
Apples to Apples, model paint on powder-coated metal, 18.5 x 18.5”, 2025.
A comparative model of found representations of apples.
Part of a series of ‘model-kits’ by Roula Partheniou, first shown at MKG127 in June 2025.
Forest for the Trees, digital video, 19:39 minutes, edition of 5, 2025.
Several hundred images of plant-life posted online purporting to feature faces, accompanied by a narrated text about pareidolia.