+15 WINDOW EXHIBITION
APRIL – MAY, 2016
RECEPTION: THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016 AT 6 PM
REFRESHMENTS TO FOLLOW AT THE PALOMINO – 109 7 Avenue SW

LOCATION – ARTS COMMONS
205 8th Avenue SE

 

TENNIS CLUB is a female artist collective working in a variety of contemporary modes to address ideas of femininity, sport, and class namely through performed identities. In January of 2014, Tennis Club was founded by Alyson Davies, Megan Gnanasihamany, Marie Winters, Morgan Melenka and Renée Perrott while living in the Alberta capital region. The name, Tennis Club, originated in a desire to address our own privilege as five cisgendered, white passing, able-bodied young women with the ability to pursue an arts education in Canada. Tennis, with its air of exclusivity and penchant for all white outfits, lets us create parodic self-representations that engage with and satirize our own levels of privilege, allowing us to better examine intersectional ramifications of our collective projects as well as local initiatives that affect the arts community.

 

ALYSON DAVIES
Beyond an incredibly vibrant backhand swing, Alyson’s fans know her as the one who know it. Alyson grew up playing tennis on Wii Sports. She mastered avatar building at 14, and is often seen sporting anime eyes in black’. Her fan site states,
“Alyson’s pink velour is so cool, it even matches her hair and face.”*

Alyson’s claim to fame was when she knocked out the Fort Saskatchewan Sting team in the fall of 2012 from going to the Elk Island Round Robin. She sends her deep regards to the City of Fort Saskatchewan and will be making a formal apology in September 2015. Alyson’s motto is “yeah, sure, okay” and you can read about her in full on her website www.alysondavies.com.
*Alyson will have no physical contact with fans, all communication must be done through social media. Except Facebook, she is so over Facebook.

MARIE WINTERS
Miss Winters lives in the South side of Edmonton and actively avoids stereotypes of her own socioeconomic status. She hopes to be a trophy wife one day and tennis is just a pastime. Her tennis coach Fabio Fognini (Italian pronunciation: [? fa? bjo fo??? i? ni] exclaims that “Marie has the best form of all [his] students, and it is a pleasure to tutor her”. Her other endeavours can be found on her website www.mariewinters.com

MEGAN GNANASIHAMANY
Megan’s Tennis Club membership was granted to her after club members witnessed her finesse and grace under pressure as she exacted crushing defeats upon her opponents during the 2013 Wilderness State Invitational. Megan lives by the old adage, “if you’re not first, you’re last” – a philosophy she credits with earning her the bag of medals she keeps in the closet. She is photogenic, witty, and enamoured with the idea of her own athleticism. “Megan’s leadership on and off the court is a credit to Tennis Club. She is a fan-favourite and a true delight.” 
To learn fractionally more about Megan, visit her website at www.megangnanasihamany.com

MORGAN MELENKA 
Morgan is tough as nails on and off court. With a fiery temper and propensity to swear, she is the soul member to be repeatedly removed from matches. She is still apologetic for the incident at YEG 2015 Women’s Doubles. Her advocacy for judicial reforms within the sport have fallen on deaf ears and has given her a hardened and cynical perspective of tennis. However, her shot does not err and she has made concerted efforts to subdue her temper. She now can be seen on court taking flower-smelling and sky-appreciation breaks. She is currently enrolled in a seminar on how to love the sport despite its flaws. Her activities outside of fighting the (tennis) Man can be found at www.morganmelenka.com

RENÉE PERROTT
For most of her life, Renée has devoted 100% of her energy to perfecting whatever it is that she is doing at the time – also known as her sport. Through the years of commendable personal sacrifice in the name of competition, Renée has accumulated a solid base of die-hard, serious fans who consistently send her congratulatory offerings through Canada Post. Her fans are the only ones who truly understand her. To discover more about your fascination with this local star visit www.reneeperrott.com