Happy Holidays

I wish all my readers Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

PS: Talking about the new year 2016 -  I'm already looking forward to the summer exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada:
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842)
10 Jun 2016 - 11 Sep 2016
Will write more later...

PopUp Gallery

Invitation to Andrew King's and Alison Fowler's PopUp Gallery

The PopUp Gallery is back! In the heart of Westboro, local painters Andrew King and Alison Fowler show their recent works of art in a temporary gallery space. It's at the former Country Clover store, on Richmond Rd.

Opening is NOVEMBER 28TH 11am – 6pm.

From their web site: “Please join us as we open our doors to celebrate the holiday season with a selection of treats and new artwork. Bring the whole family and ring in the holidays at this unique temporary gallery space!”

FACTS:
Popup Gallery
281A Richmond Rd
Nov 28th to Dec 13th

https://popupottawa.wordpress.com/

Exhibition Opening of "Group 6" @ The Diefenbunker

I would like to share a few impressions of the exhibition opening of "Group 6. The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013" at The Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum. I went to the opening last Sunday, November 8th, 2015, and enjoyed the show as well as the enlightening artists panel discussion.

Panel discussion at The Diefenbunker, Nov. 8th, 2015. From left to right: Dr. Laura Brandon, (curator and moderator), Leslie Reid (painter), Thomas Kneubühler (photographer), Leslie Hossack (photographer), Rhonda Weppler (photographer), and Mary Kavanagh (photographer).

Mary Kavanagh at The Diefenbunker. Left: The Expulsion (in white), 2013, right: The Expulsion (in green), 2013

Thomas Kneubühler at The Diefenbunker. Left: Antennas, 2014, right: Terrain #2, 2014

Leslie Reid at The Diefenbunker. Left: Kaskawulsh III

60º44'N, 138º04'W, 2014, right: 

Llewellyn II 59º04'N, 134º05'W, 2014

Leslie Hossack at The Diefenbunker. Left: National Martyr's Memorial in Marina, Skenderaj, Kosovo 2013, right: Damaged Building West of Pristina, Kosovo 2013. She launched her newest book "Testament. Leslie Hossack in Kosovo", which can be seen in the foreground. 

Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky at The Diefenbunker: Line, 2015

Facts:
Group 6: The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013
Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum
3929 Carp Rd, Carp, ON, K0A 1L0

The show runs from Nov. 8, 2015 to January 31, 2016.
Link: www.Diefenbunker.ca

Group 6: The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013 @ The Diefenbunker

Exhibition catalog by Laura Brandon: “Group 6. The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013”, Carp: The Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum, 2015.

The Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum will launch its newest exhibition on Sunday: “Group 6: The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013”. Organized in collaboration with the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, the exhibition presents an interesting selection of works produced by artists of the Canadian Forces Artists Program.

As some of you may remember, I wrote a long time ago about the Canadian Forces Artists Program (CFAP). It was funded in 2001 as a successor to programs that ran during the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War. For example Canadian painter A.Y. Jackson was an official war artist of the First World War, see: http://visualencounter.blogspot.ca/2014/09/ay-jackson-and-otto-dix-art-influenced.html. Every two years, around half a dozen artists are selected through a Canada Council-based juried competition, and have the chance to spend some time with the Canadian Military.

In 2011 I wrote a post about a symposium at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, which was titled "Military Art Now" (see: http://visualencounter.blogspot.ca/2011/02/art-or-propaganda-symposium-at-war.html). I vaguely remember that some of the artists (from the first four groups, 2001 to 2009) were hoping for an exhibition, not only for a brief talk with PowerPoint presentations. There was no chance to see all works of art together in an exhibition then – somewhat disappointing for visitors and the participating artists in particular. Fortunately, that has changed. The latest group – Group 6 (whose deployments occurred in 2012-2013) – got a well-deserved curated show at a national museum, the Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum (in Carp, West of Ottawa).

Leslie Reid: “Llewellyn II 59°04'N; 134°05'W”, 2014. 32" x 50", oil and graphite on canvas. 

© Leslie Reid; courtesy of the artist.

And the results from these resent deployments with the Canadian military are astonishingly multifaceted and varied. E.g. Ottawa painter Leslie Reid travelled 11,000 km with the military across the Canadian North and High Arctic; this resulted in large-scale paintings of glaciers and arctic landscapes that refer in all their beauty to their vulnerability to global warming. Further, at the opening will Ottawa photographer Leslie Hossack present her book “Testament”, which contains photographs and writings about her deployment to Kosovo. Her striking series about many conflict-damaged buildings and war memorials bears witness to the disastrous consequences of the 1998-1999 Kosovo War.

Leslie Hossack's book cover: “Testament. Leslie Hossack in Kosovo”, Ottawa, 2015. © Leslie Hossack; courtesy of the artist. Her book will be launched during the exhibition opening on November 8th, 2015.

What I furthermore find outstanding is the fact that this group not only includes visual artists, but also composers (Joseph Amato and Alicia Payne), a filmmaker (Sophie Dupuis), and a youth fiction writer (Sharon E. McKay). Surely an interesting exhibition.

These are the “Group 6” artists:

Joseph Amato and Alicia Payne
Sophie Dupuis
Leslie Hossack
Mary Kavanagh
Thomas Kneubühler
Sharon E. McKay
Leslie Reid
Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky

OPENING
Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2015
1:00 pm:

- Curator Laura Brandon will moderate a panel discussion with the artists.

- Artist Leslie Hossack will participate in the panel and discuss her latest book, TESTAMENT: Leslie Hossack In Kosovo, a collection of photographs and writings from her deployment with the CFAP in 2013.

2:30 pm to 4:00 pm: Opening reception

Facts:
Group 6: The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013
Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum
3929 Carp Rd, Carp, ON, K0A 1L0

Opening: Sunday, Nov. 8th, at 1 p.m.
Free event. RSVP's are required as space is limited. Please reply to marketing@diefenbunker.ca.

The show runs from Nov. 8, 2015 to January 31, 2016.
Link: www.Diefenbunker.ca

Monet @ National Gallery

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Excited to see the Monet exhibition at the National Gallery!!! As the museum's website states, the show explores Claude Monet’s innovative experiments with the motif of the bridge between 1872 and 1875, while he stayed in Argenteuil.

Also very interesting will be the nineteenth-century photographs, illustrations, guide books, Japanese prints and postcards that are shown as well.

Invitation to Monet: A Bridge to Modernity (National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa)

Facts:
Monet: A Bridge to Modernity
29 Oct 2015 - 15 Feb 2016
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Link: https://www.gallery.ca/en/see/exhibitions/upcoming/details/monet-a-bridge-to-modernity-9361

Removed by Eric Pickersgill

Stunning images by US photographer Eric Pickersgill reveal how addicted most of us are to their electronic devices. By removing these from the pictures, people staring blankly at their empty hands — at the spot where a cell phone would be. How digitally connected but actually lonely at the same time.

Pickersgill remarks:

“The large format portraits are of individuals who appear to be holding personal devices although the devices have been physically removed from the sitter’s hand. They are asked to hold their stare and posture as I remove their device and then I make the exposure. The photographs represent reenactments of scenes that I experience daily. We have learned to read the expression of the body while someone is consuming a device and when those signifiers are activated it is as if the device can be seen taking physical form without the object being present.”

Facts:
Link to "Removed" by Eric Pickersgill:
http://www.removed.social/about/

Ottawa Arts Court Redevelopment Starts

A construction model of the new Arts Court in Ottawa, seen at the City Hall Art Gallery.

Noise, construction dust, heavy machinery: Construction is underway at Nicholas Street and Daly Avenue in Ottawa's downtown core, soon to be home of the redeveloped Arts Court and the Ottawa Art Gallery.

The $100 million and more expansion of the Ottawa Art Gallery and redevelopment of Arts Court has begun after the City of Ottawa and a consortium of groups agreed to a funding arrangement, the city said on August 5, 2015 (see link below).

Can't wait until the art gallery opens in late 2017. The new Arts Court, plus a new development tower with boutique hotel and condominiums, are expected to open in 2018. The model at the Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery gives a good impression, how big the tower will be.

See: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-art-gallery-expansion-arts-court-redevelopment-begins-1.3180111

Lost Photographs - Rediscovered Memories

I've just heard the most amazing story about a young Toronto woman who stumbled over some yellow garbage bags at the curb, and discovered that they were filled with unwanted photographs. Unwanted because they came from a photo lab, and apparently no-one had ever picked them up. So they had ended up in the trash.

Curious, as she was about them, and filled with a sense of breaking through the isolation of the city, she brought them home. She then started calling the owners whose numbers were still on the envelopes, and recorded her phone calls. The results were quite remarkable, and only a few people were rather indifferent or even dismissive. Most of them were willing to meet and gather their old, lost photographs which where probably full of memories.

Isn't that a fascinating story?! If you also want to listen to it: I heard it on CBC Radio One, in “In the Field”, broad casted on June 7, 2015 under the title “Objects of meaning, objects of burden”. The other stories are also worthwhile to listen to.


Facts:
From the CBC website:
In the Field | Jun 7, 2015 | 53:58
Objects of meaning, objects of burden

Stories about stuff! Things that once seemed vitally important but now you’re not sure what to do with. And things that have outlived their original purpose but find new life in a different form.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/In+The+Field/ID/2669010228/

Upcoming Exhibits at Ottawa Art Gallery

All these amazing exhibitions at the Ottawa Art Gallery are featured in an opening reception on June 4, 2015. That is next Thursday!


From the OAG website:


LYNNE COHEN
Dates: June 5 – September 20, 2015
Opening reception: June 4, 5:30 pm

Lynne Cohen had a significant impact on the visual arts in Canada and the world at large. Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Cohen lived and worked in Canada since 1973. She held a teaching position within the Visual Arts Department at the University of Ottawa from 1974 until 2005. This exhibition, including Cohen’s colour and black and white photography, honours her legacy.
http://www.ottawaartgallery.ca/content/lynne-cohen

Tyler Tekatch: Terrors of the Breakfast Table
Dates: June 5 – September 20, 2015
Opening reception: June 4, 5:30 pm

The interactive video installation Terrors of the Breakfast Table, by Hamilton-based artist Tyler Tekatch, invites viewers to alter the story through the use of their breath. As a contribution to the medium of interactive digital media, Terrors of the Breakfast Table prioritizes conceptual content, the psychological experience of the viewer, and the natural presence of the viewer’s breathing body. The work of Tekatch is positioned within global experimental film practices. Using non-linear narrative and a collaged aesthetic approach, his moving image works are visceral and evocative.
http://www.ottawaartgallery.ca/content/tyler-tekatch-terrors-breakfast-table

Mary E. Wrinch and the AGW Collection: Female Self-Representation and the Public Trust
Dates: May 30 – August 30, 2015
Opening reception: June 4, 5:30 pm

Mary Evelyn Wrinch (1877-1969) was an important artist working in the Toronto during the first half of the twentieth century. As a single woman she earned her living as an art educator, presiding over the art department at Bishop Strachan School, Toronto where she worked from 1901 to 1935. Prior to the Group of Seven’s interest in Ontario’s northern landscapes, Wrinch was an outdoor enthusiast and owned a two-storey cottage at Kingwood, Lake of Bays, where she canoed and sketched. Her work in that geography included her painting wilderness and industrial scenes.
http://www.ottawaartgallery.ca/content/mary-e-wrinch-and-agw-collection-female-self-representation-and-public-trust

Diorama : Drew Mosley
June 4 – July 25, 2015
Opening reception: June 4, 5:30 pm

Drew Mosley brings the forest to life in a series of works that both invite and unnerve. Using a technique involving painting on layers of resin, and combining at times found objects, he creates three-dimensional illustrations that tell the stories of fantastic forest-dwelling creatures. Mosley describes his works as frozen “moments of peril or safety, [where] anthropomorphized beasts struggle to fend off the encroachments of their two-legged foes.” Diorama features both new and installation-based pieces from Mosley’s body of work.
An artist and carpenter living in Ottawa, Mosley spends his days juggling an extensive studio practice and a range of building and woodworking projects. His works have been exhibited in Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Greece.
Artist website: www.drew-mosley.com

FACTS:
The Ottawa Art Gallery
2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa
Ontario K1N 6E2 Canada

www.ottawaartgallery.ca
www.galeriedartdottawa.ca

Wolfgang Tillmans wins 2015 Hasselblad Award

Wolfgang Tillmans' Catalogue Raisonne "If one thing matters, everything matters" (Tate Publishing, 2003). Love it!

The Hasselblad Foundation has announced that German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans is the recipient of the 2015 Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography!


The Foundation’s citation:
Wolfgang Tillmans has established himself among the most original and innovative artists of his generation, constantly pushing the photographic medium in new directions. His practice has covered subjects of pressing political and social importance since the 1990s, reflecting both directly and indirectly on the power of the photographic image to engage critically with the world around us. Furthermore, Tillmans has transformed the understanding of photographic exhibition making through his daring and original installations, playing with scale, formats, framing and presentation to produce immersive experiences that have inspired subsequent generations of artists.

The award ceremony takes place in Gothenburg on November 30, 2015. On December 1, 2015 an exhibition of Tillmans’ work will open at the Hasselblad Center, Sweden. On the same day, the Hasselblad Foundation will host a symposium with the award winner, and a new book by Tillmans will be released.

Glimpse into "If one thing matters, everything matters" (Wolfgang Tillmans, Tate Publishing, 2003). See all these post-its... I've studied that catalogue a lot!

Facts:
http://www.hasselbladfoundation.org/news/
This website also includes a short film about Wolfgang Tillmans.

Pat Durr

Outside the Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, with a glimpse into Pat Durr's exhibition

Paintings and prints by Ottawa artist Pat Durr on view at Galerie St-Laurent + Hill. Impressive pieces!

In her artist statement, Durr describes her fascination with the beautiful but threatened underwater world: "Growing up in a landlocked state in the United States, I never saw an ocean nor was I comfortable swimming.

In the late 80’s an artist I knew was posted with her husband to Barbados. Upon visiting her, I heard about their coral reefs. Borrowing equipment and conquering my fears to learn to snorkel, I discovered the color and beauty of those reefs which captivated me then and still does now.

Over the years the reefs became my beautiful hidden place of wonder, a precious oasis, where I could soak in the peace and quiet and be revitalized.
In recent years my art focused on issues of human waste and recycling. Driven by my awareness of the cycles of birth, death and rebirth, I have explored and reinvented the detritus of our industrial civilization into colorful multi-imaged prints to present a hopeful eye to our future. But, not only is our land environment endangered by our addiction to waste, but the oceans, reefs, and their inhabitants are endangered. With this body of work, I seek to illuminate symbolically our anthropogenic destruction, this impact of human actions on our water worlds." (source: http://www.artengine.ca/community/calendar-event-en.php?id=9245)

One of the large-scale paintings (acrylic and mixed media) by Pat Durr at Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, Ottawa

"My artworks are concerned with the worlds that surround us - the world of pop culture, and the natural and urban-industrial environments." (from Pat's website: http://artengine.ca/pdurr/)

Facts:
Pat Durr – To All Things There Is A Season
Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, Ottawa
Jan. 22 to Febr. 4, 2015

Can't wait for summer: Alex Colville @ National Gallery

Happy New Year!

Freezing cold in Ottawa – I can't wait for the great summer exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada: Alex Colville (1920-2013).

More than 100 works will be presented, and will give a remarkable overview and insight in his Oeuvre. If you don't want to wait, here's the link to the online exhibition:
http://www.welcometocolville.ca/


Facts:
Alex Colville
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
23 April – 7 September, 2015
http://www.gallery.ca/en/see/exhibitions/upcoming/details/alex-colville-8622

Organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario with the generous collaboration of the National Gallery of Canada.