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| Sara Chivot's booth at the Ottawa Art Expo 2011 |
Last weekend was the Toronto International Art Fair (TIAF). For 4 days, leading Canadian and international art galleries presented their artists in a dynamic visual art event. And so exciting: The AXA Art event exhibiting Vogue magazine photos by Erwin Blumenfeld from the early 1950’s. Blumenfeld I wrote my Ph.D. Thesis about! (http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/diss/2009/werner_a/) But guess who had no chance to go there? Me!
Nevertheless, I tried my best to get some cultural input last weekend and the advertisements for the Ottawa Art Expo caught my attention. Despite the fact that is tiny, tiny comparing to the TIAF, I was impressed with the broad spectrum of media, topics and approaches towards contemporary visual arts. And the artists had the chance to represent themselves!
A few artists in particular caught my attention:
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| Eryn O'Neill: I love her studio interiors! |
Eryn O’Neill
Her interior studies of her studio with canvasses on easels, painting tools, folding chairs, step ladders etc. is amazing. She has been focusing on using the environment of her Glebe studio as the source of her current work. The tranquility and the impact of light that shines through big windows in the open space emphasize the artistic process.
Also interesting are her oil paintings of reflecting surfaces like shop windows and storefronts…
http://www.eofineart.com/index2.html
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| Sara Chivot in her booth. |
Sara Chivot
Mixed-media artist Sara Chivot, who is also located in Ottawa, presented her abstract pieces. They are rich in texture and color - I love her dark blue paintings! Sara uses natural materials such as leather, stones, handmade paper and sand to create exciting and unpredictable effects on canvas and on wood. The interesting texture of the paint layers are clearly made by using a palette knife.
http://sarachivot.webs.com/
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| Gordon Harrison in his booth |
Talking about the use of palette knifes and strong paint textures: Gordon Harrison presented his Canadian Landscapes at the Ottawa Art Expo. The exhibited paintings in oil are characteristic with his bold use of colour and remind me strongly at the Group of Seven....
http://www.gordonharrisongallery.com/
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| J.P. Leclair with some of his amazing assemblages |
J.P. Leclair
Really impressive assemblages were shown by J. P. Leclair. As he mentioned, he was strongly impressed by Joseph Cornell. Like this American artist, he’s juxtaposing unlikely objects in wooden boxes like door latches, nails, teeth, jewellery, figurines…. It takes him months to create his unique assemblages. His creations are paradox, ambiguous, and mysterious. He is also influenced by Dadaism and Surrealism, and in particular by the German artist Max Ernst.
http://www.jpleclair.com/
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| Louis Helbig before some of his aerial photographs |
I also met Louis Helbig whose Aerial art photography had me already impressed in his exhibition at Exposure Gallery last February. (http://visualencounter.blogspot.com/2011/02/aerial-abstractions-burtynsky-gursky.html) Turns out he has German parents… So we could chat in German for a while. As inspiration for his abstract/figurative aerial shots, he mentioned John Updike’s ability to create images with words in the individual minds of his readers. This point if reception is very important for him. He is also influenced by photojournalism of Cartier-Bresson in particular and the Magnum Photos in general.
http://www.louishelbig.com/
http://www.ottawaartexpo.com/
Participating Artists:
Hamid Ayoub www.hamidayoub.com
Anne Barkley www.annebarkley.ca
Jane Barlow
Joanne Beaubien
Bhat Boy bhatboy.com
Helene Caron www.helenecaron.com
Sara Chivot www.sarachivot.webs.com
Margaret Chwialkowska www.artistsincanada.com/margaret
Peter Colbert www.petercolbert.com
Sheila Davis www.sheiladavis.ca
Denise Dowdy www.denisejdowdy.multiply.com
Corin Ford Forrester www.corinfordforrester.com
Stephanie Ford Forrester www.stephaniefordforrester.ca
Miguel Freitas www.freitas.ca
Lisa Free www.lisafree.com
Patricia Gordon www.patriciamgordon-studios.ca
Ann Gruchy www.anngruchy.com
Gordon Harrison www.gordonharrisongallery.com
Louis Helbig www.louishelbig.com
Leah Hicks www.lhstudios.ca
John Hiscock www.jphiscock.ca
Barry Hobden www.bhfineprints.ca
Gillian Horgan www.gillianhorgan.artspan.com
David Houlton
Terry Hsu www.oilbyterry.com
Peggy Hughes www.peggyhughes.ca
Garrie Bea Joyce www.garriebea.com
Bill Keast www.paintingsbykeast.ca
Patricia Kirby www.pkirbyartist.com
Simon Koo
Aili Kurtis www.ailikurtis.com
Remi Lacroix www.remilacroix.com
Diana Rosa Latourt www.dianaartist.ca
Jean-Pierre Leclair www.JPLeclair.com
Donna Lynd www.donnalynd.ca
Jamie MacLean www.artistsincanada.com/jmaclean
Martha Markowsky www.marthamarkowsky.com
Christopher Masoure www.studiomazur.com
John Mlacak www.JohnMlacak.com
Sarah Moffat www.moffatbailie.com
Sara Nadeau www.saranadeaustudio.com
Sylvia Naylor www.sylvianaylor.com
Eryn O'Neill www.eofineart.com
Jesse Parker www.photobasedart.com
Nikolai Petrov
Alena Plihal www.alenaplihal.artacadamie.com
Y. Donna Randall www.ydrandall.com
Rosemary Randell www.Rosemaryrandell.com
Anne Remmer Thompson www.anneremmerthompson.ca
Dave Rheaume www.daverheaume.webs.com
Ross Rheaume www.rossrheaume.com
Peter Ripley
Judith Savic www.judithsavic.com
Isabelle Sauvineau www.isabellesauvineau.com
Terry Schaub www.twschaub.com
Monika Seidenbusch www.kaleidoscopestudio.ca
John Shea www.john-shea.artistwebsites.com
Sue Shuker www.omma.co
Mike Smith www.mikesmith.ca
Laurie Sponagle www.lauriesponagle.ca
Charles Spratt www.cspratt.ca
Eric Tardif www.erictardif.com
Ivan Papazov-Vanche www.vancheart.com
Dan Werstuk www.danwerstuk.com
Wayne Williams www.waynewilliams.ca
Lloyd Wilson www.lloydwilson.ca
Steve Wilson www.steveartandimagery.com
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