At Patel Brown Gallery in Toronto, Maya Fuhr’s Idols of Absence reduces celebrity to its simplest form: the silhouette. The works shift in scale, moving between life-sized figures and smaller pieces that recall the format of cartes de visite, 19th-century calling cards that sparked “cartomania,” one of the earliest mass forms of celebrity culture. Each cutout is set against a black backdrop, transforming the gallery into a hall of shadows. Familiar yet faceless, these figures hold the room with presence while denying recognition.

Fuhr, known for her work with imprinted latex and installation-based photography, shifts here into full installation. The silhouettes, though stripped down, are heavy with projection. They read as ghosts of stardom, fragments of memory, the afterimage of icons.

Feature Image: by Darren Rigo.

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