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| 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).
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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.
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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.
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| 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. |
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
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