Jake Morrison's "Breathing Light"

Exhibition view, Jake Morrison at Pressed Cafe, Ottawa

 "Photography is always, of course, about light – the texture of light, the shape of light, the subtleties of light. But there have been times, very occasional times, when it seems like I am immersed in light, surrounded by light, breathing light. There is a feeling of the spiritual. As a photographer I try to capture the moment but, in those times, it can be very difficult to break away from the experience to focus on recording it.” , so Ottawa photographer Jake Morrison.

Jake Morrison, from the series "Tilt"

 
His impressive photographs from the series "Breathing Light" are now on view at Pressed Cafe, 750 Gladstone, Ottawa. The show runs till end of January 2013. Also hanging are works from "Tilt", a series that focus on still lifes in the manner of David Hockney's photographic collages.

Like Morrison says, he experienced “Breathing Light” for the first time on a hillside in The Yukon in August, 2010. It evoked "the sacred" in him. "My relationship with nature is one of appreciation of the mystery and beauty without much interest in the categorization and science that we humans have created around it. I try to present my experiences in nature through my photography. I very much appreciate the immersive nature of the digitally‐stitched panorama and I use it often to help draw the viewer into the scene." — Jake Morrison (from: http://www.oldottawasouth.ca/index.php/oos-news/1976-new-jake-morrison-photography-show)

Jake Morrison: "Two Photographers", from the series "Breathing Light" (2010), courtesy of Jake Morrison

 
One photo in particular caught my attention: "Two Photographers". Here, Morrison's shadow falls into the picture. He therefore captures a place insight the pictorial space and produces an ”auctorial insertion” (after Philippe Dubois: The Photographic Act). The photographer shows himself here as the author and is visible in the image. In particular noteworthy is the fact, that the implicit demonstration of the production of the artwork itself destructs the illusion of the pictorial reality. Therefore the semiotic category of the index – that is related to the object by causality – apply to this photo as special kind of self-portrait.



Facts: 
Jake Morrison: “Breathing Light” and “Tilt”
Pressed Cafe, 750 Gladstone, Ottawa
http://www.pressed-ottawa.com/ 
Artist's homepage: www.withflare.org 
Jake has set up a gallery of show images at:
http://www.morrisonkeeler.org/bigflannel/BreathingLight.html

A Human Library

Human Beings as exhibition objects are nothing new when you think about it. Performance art, and its sub-category body-art exists at the latest since the Dada movement; and since the 1960s it is an accepted art form. Just think about Joseph Beuys with “How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare” (1965), and Chris Burden's performance piece “Shoot” (1971), in which he was shot in his left arm by an assistant. Or Gilbert and George's "Living Sculpture" performance (also 1971), just to name a few.

Recently, I would even count the natural birth in the Microscope Gallery in Brooklyn as a piece of performance art (see: http://www.microscopegallery.com/?page_id=8180)!

The Ottawa Public Library, in corporation with CBC Ottawa (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) take this approach now to a new level: A Human Library.

On Saturday, January 26th, 2013, at five different branches of the Ottawa Public Library, readers are invited to try out one of the 38 living books that have been lined up for the day. It is not really a performance, but rather a documentary with real people and real conversations.

The selection of “books” available looks very exciting, like e.g. a Mother of eight, an Algonquin

Spiritual Advisor, a Sex Worker, a Chinese Adoptee, and an Urban Inuk. People from the National Capital Region have volunteered to be a “living book”, to share their stories and answer questions from readers.

Launched in Denmark in 2000, the Human Library was a way to focus on anti-violence, encourage dialogue and build relations. It has grown in popularity with 27 countries taking part in 2008, including Brazil, China, Columbia, Cyprus, Malaysia and South Africa.


Facts:

Date: Saturday, January 26th, 2013

Open: 11:00 am - 3 pm

Participating Locations of the Ottawa Library: Main Library, Alta Vista, Hazeldean, North Gloucester, Ruth E. Dickinson

Duration of loans: 20 minutes

Link: www.BiblioOttawaLibrary.ca/HumanLibrary

Live Through This: Photographs by Tony Fouhse

When I first saw some of the portraits of crack and heroin addicts by Ottawa photographer Tony Fouhse, I was deeply moved. His portraits capture vulnerability and desperation, in shocking but also visual appealing documentary pictures. Now, on Monday, 14 January, 2013, the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) opens his outstanding solo exhibition: "Live Through This: Photographs by Tony Fouhse".

Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG), Ottawa

Tony Fouhse encounters a wide range of people through the course of his photographic works, including drug addicts in Ottawa's Lowertown, the subject of his renowned "User" series. So, in 2010 he met Stephanie MacDonald, a heroin addict. She asked him for help to get clean. And he did something that most photographers would never do: He stepped outside the boundaries of documentation to get involved. And he actually helped her.

For his upcoming exhibit, Fouhse selected 41 photographs from the thousands he took of Stephanie. They will be impressive for sure. Stephanie's drug addiction, and the steps she took to alter her life's course are captured with his lens in a documentary but also caring way. 

Tony Fouhse: Yvon, Ottawa, 2007, digital photograph on paper (in the exhibition: "Place and Circumstance", City Hall Art Gallery, 2011). This photo belongs to a series about crack addicts in Ottawa; and impressed me a lot when I saw it in the 2011 exhibit. 

The opening takes place on January 14th at CUAG from 5:00 - 7:30 p.m. Tony Fouhse will be present.


Facts:
Carleton University Art Gallery CUAG
Live Through This: Photographs by Tony Fouhse
14 January - 17 March 2013
http://cuag.carleton.ca/index.php/exhibitions/upcoming/

Happy New Art Year

Happy New Year to all my readers! May 2013 be filled with exciting exhibitions, challenging art events, and eye-opening artists' talks...

International contemporary art highlights will be for sure these biennials:

In  March 2013 the 11th edition of the Sharjah Biennial opens, in June the 55th Venice Biennale, in September the 13th Istanbul Biennial, and also the fifth Moscow Biennale. It will be an exciting year in the contemporary art world.

But I'm pretty sure that Ottawa will have its highlights too! I will let you know.