Erik Nieminen – Anonymous Reality

Man in the Mirror, 2007, oil on canvas, 142 x 97 cm, Copyright photo courtesy of Erik Nieminen

“The goal with the paintings is to create an alternate reality, one that may refer to our real world, but that also functions and a convincing space and situation all on its own.” Erik Nieminen's paintings create indeed an alternate reality that seems so random and in motion. They create an almost photographic contingency, like the German art historian Max Imdahl would say (see his essay on Degas' "Place de la Concorde” (1876), 1970). Distorted reflections on surfaces in modern urban spaces show people walking around, waiting at intersections, absorbed in thought - in interaction with others and in the same time isolated. 

City Swish, 2010, oil on canvas, 142 x 203 cm, Copyright photo courtesy of Erik Niemine

Nieminen's urban spaces are all based on real ones. But as he states, he does not particularly care if the viewer recognizes a location – because his intention is not documentation. He says: “I’m interested in creating a situation, a condition that takes place on the stage created in the paintings. People might sometimes recognize a particular space as something they know, but I try to avoid making a painting of a location that makes it read as an icon. For example I would never paint Times Square by showing the usual view of the Coca-Cola ad tower, as that would bring the painting directly back to our world, and what I’m attempting to do is to create a unique world… like a theatrical stage set.” The paintings in the current show at the Karsh-Masson Gallery are based on locations from Montreal, Toronto, Paris, Ottawa, and New York. 

Installation view, Karsh-Masson Gallery, 1st floor, Copyright photo courtesy of Erik Nieminen

Nieminen usually starts from a photographic source. As he says, he takes literally hundreds or thousands of photos of something on location. In a selection process, he then filters them down to a few dozen, and uses bits of information and imagery from several to create a whole. “Then, I take that information and make a drawing... sometimes loose, sometimes a bit more detailed, to make a new kind of space... changing perspective lines, warping, etc... then I go back to the digital images and try to (as best I can with my limited photoshop ability) manipulate my photos to get close to what I did in the drawing... then finally I start the painting (and it changes again during that process through the spontaneous decisions that are made along the way). The degree to which I edit or warp space depends entirely on the needs of each particular work.” 

Installation view, Karsh-Masson Gallery, ground floor, Copyright photo courtesy of Erik Nieminen

I also asked him which artists influence his artistic style and approach:

“My influences are generally from artists who are concerned with space… with depiction. My original influences were the Italian Futurists, due to their interest in movement through space and their urban subject matter. Cubism interested me as well for similar reasons (the breaking up of space). David Hockney is someone who I’ve looked at closely, also because his main concerns are visual depiction and it’s relationship to photography. Also the works of other realist painters such as Edward Hopper, Robert Bechtle, Richard Estes, and Chuck Close. They all have a strong connection to photography, and I’ve always been attracted to their particular aesthetic.”

Flow, 2011, oil on canvas, 137 x 183 cm, Copyright photo courtesy of Erik Nieminen

But he also mentions that his main interest lies in painting, not so much in photography. He understands himself not as a good photographer; taking photos provides rather the pictorial model for his paintings.

Installation view, Karsh-Masson Gallery, 1st floor, Copyright photo courtesy of Erik Nieminen

The paintings in “Anonymous Reality” focus on perception of reflecting and semi-transparent surfaces that he transfers in an introspection. In doing so, he is reconfiguring reality in a surprising way. An impressive exhibit!

Stepping, 2010, oil on canvas, 142 x 142 cm, Copyright photo courtesy of Erik Nieminen

 

Facts:

Erik Nieminen – Anonymous Reality

Karsh-Masson Gallery

136 St. Patrick Street, Ottawa

June 10 to July 24, 2011

Link to the exhibit 

Place and Circumstance @ City Hall Art Gallery

Take your last chance to see the exhibition of recently acquired artworks through the City of Ottawa’s Fine Art acquisition program. Today is the last day!

left, top: Fouhse, Tony, Yvon, Ottawa, 2007, digital photograph on paper

left, bottom: Wonnacott, Justin, Intersection of Booth Street and Somerset looking southwest, summer evening, 2004, digital photograph on paper

right: Harrington, Michael, 401 GAS, 2010, oil on canvas

The exhibition shows places and incidents that shaped our public memory and experience – and the artistic expressions provide a new and unexpected view on our home city and the Nation's capital.

Due to the excellent hanging of artworks in different media such as painting, photography, prints, and sculpture, the stunning correlations between them become clear. Juxtapositions of street views, portraits, cityscapes, installations, and still lives compare and contrast each other, whereas the motives like Ottawa at night, the river, or documentation of the residents emerge through the exhibition.

Like the exhibition booklet says: “Distorted structures and shapes represent contemporary, ambiguous relationships between place and circumstance. Whether relying on images of familiar places and events to produce meaning through comparison, or destroying pre-existing notions of order and identity through the impositions of new narratives, these artworks explore what shapes our experiences as residents of this city.” [Jonathan Browns]

Argyle, Katie, day by day, week by week, month by month: Ottawa Bus Strike, 2009, linocut on paper

Some of the artworks refer to recent episodes that had a great impact on the life in Ottawa. E.g. we all remember the Public Transit Strike in winter 2008/2009. 

This painful cold experience is the subject of Katie Argyle's large-scale linocut print. In the style of Expressionists like Emil Nolde, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and Ludwig Kirchner she documents the strike from its first strike day in December to the last day in January in a few rows of small prints. “52 days of transit hell” - like one of the signs in one of the prints states.

left: Mollineaux, Melinda, Ottawa Insomnia #6, 2007, photograph on paper

right: Reid, Leslie, Calumet - Current I, 2006, oil on canvas

Mollineaux captures night time experiences in her pinhole camera that she set up on her down town balcony at night. Due to the fact that the camera remained open the whole night, we can see how the moon travelled through the sky, leaving a glowing light...

Lasserre, Maskull, Lexicon, 2008, steel and newspaper

The sculpture that impressed me most in this show, is the large stack of tightly compressed newspapers that were cut in shape of a human torso skeleton. Lasserre understands his work “as a physical metaphor for the union of nature and artifice, and the paradox of their reconciliation.”

top: Thomas, Jeffrey, My Conversation with Edward S. Curtis: Return the Gaze, Swallow Bird (Crow Tribe), Joseph Crowe (Salteaux Tribe), 2006, digital photograph on paper

bottom: Berry, Judith, Disparate Elements, 2008, oil on MDF board

Also interesting is the photo of a powwow dancer, that Thomas set in juxtaposition to a portrait by Edward S. Curtis, who is well known for his series of the Natives in the early 20th century. By combining these two images, Thomas demonstrates how colonial his perspective was. Berry's “Disparate Elements” of build structures, a fallen tree, and a children's toy train bridge produce a “convoluted rerouting of plans” [from the exhibition booklet].

Hussey, Danny, Signs of Language Video Stills, 2009, silkscreen on digital print on paper 

In the last year, local Ottawa artists submitted 2,733 artworks; and 57 artworks by 37 artists were selected through a peer-review jury. At least one work by these artists is now shown in “Place and Circumstance” - a unique opportunity to see recent additions the the City of Ottawa's Fine Art Collection.

Facts:

Place and Circumstance

City Hall Art Gallery

New Additions to the City of Ottawa’s Fine Art Collection

April 22 to June 12, 2011

City Hall Art Gallery 

Canadian Landscapes @ Gordon Harrison Garden Exhibit last weekend

Gordon Harrison Garden Exhibit in New Edinburgh

What do we all associate with Canadian landscape painting? Yes, of course: Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven, Emily Carr... Their paintings of the Canadian wilderness with a broad range of vigorous colours and confident brushstrokes shape our reception of the Canadian painting in the early 20^th century. Gordon Harrison stands in this pictorial tradition – and a broad spectrum of his colourful paintings were displayed last weekend in a very unusual exhibition – outside, under the sunny sky, in a garden.

Gordon Harrison Garden Exhibit

Located in New Edinburgh, Harrison showed his newest paintings in and around his studio an John Street. From June 3^rd till 5^th, dozens of his paintings were displayed on brick walls, on easels, and even on the garden fence!

Gordon Harrison: Georgian Pine Collection 9

Harrison's paintings with strong, thick strokes of oil paint seem to gleam from the inside. In particular the almost abstract paintings caught my attention – when the autumn foliage is just indicated with a few strong brush strokes of warm red oil paint. To obtain his subject matter, stunning beautiful Canadian landscapes, Harrison does not have to travel too far. Some were created from motives inside Gatineau Park (like the Champlain Lookout), and he found a lot of inspiration in the Laurentians – where he and his partner Phil Emond have a B&B. According to the website of the Gordon Harrison Gallery, Harrison is mainly self-taught, and studied at the Ottawa School of Art. He was highly influenced by the Quebec painter Jean-René Richard (1895-1982). As Harrison says: “I refer to my art as ‘Impressionism-Realism’: my brush strokes are broad, loose and intense, yet my subject matter remains clear.”

Gordon Harrison: Panorama de bouleaux Collection 1 (Gatineau Park)

The exhibition was also combined – as every year - with Doors Open Ottawa; therefore a lot of people were attracted to see the artist's studio, listen to live music and spend some time relaxing in the shady garden. Also featured were glass artworks by Catherine Vamvakas-Lay. Her colourful glass vases, sculptures and paper weights were a meaningful addition to the exhibition; because they reflect, like Gordon Harrison's paintings, the thin boundary between abstract and figurative. Catherine holds a bachelor degree in Fine Arts and in Administrative Studies from York University, as well as a diploma in glass from Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning.

This painting was inspired by the landscape in Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson (Laurentians).

The show was a success: According to the volunteers of Doors Open, more than 450 visitors came on Saturday and Sunday (for each day). And 17 paintings were sold, together with a signed and framed T-Shirt of the artist – full of colourful paint that is Harrison's signature feature.

Gordon Harrison: Convergence

Facts:

Gordon Harrison 9^th Annual Garden Exhibit

June 3-5, 2011 (I assume, next year again on the first weekend of June)

Gordon Harrison Studio

81 John Street

Gordon Harrison and Catherine Vamvakas-Lay are represented by:

Gordon Harrison Gallery

Japanese Prints, Canadian Feminist Art and Rita Letendre @ CUAG

To take a journey from 17^th century Japanese woodblock prints through colourful abstracts to recent feminist positions, the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) is the right place right now - with its three current summer exhibitions! I attended the opening on Monday and was astonished by these three completely different shows that work together so perfectly!

Exhibition view: "Patriot Loves". On the right side: Joyce Wieland's quilts, on the left: Cynthia Girard "Filles du roi/Filles de joie", 2002

So, I started with the feminist show that refers to Joyce Wieland's landmark exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada exactly 40 years ago, called “True Patriot Love”. The show at the CUAG is accordingly entitled “Patriot Loves: Visions of Canada in the Feminine”. It strongly refers to Wieland, who said: “I think of Canada as female. All the art I’ve been doing…is about Canada.”

Nadia Myre: "Indian Act," 2002. She is an Anishinaabe Canadian from the Kitigan Zibi First Nation of Quebec. The printed pages of the law are covered with tiny red and white glass beads. 

The exhibition deals with Canadian patriotism from a feminist point of view. It presents several of Wieland's key works like the quilted “Reason over Passion” (1968), together with contemporary works by Nadia Myre and Cynthia Girard.

Joyce Wieland: “The Spirit of Canada suckles the French and English Beavers”, 1970-71

The exhibition examines some of the historical, political and cultural threads that inform the notions of Canadian patriotic love – like Wieland's little sculpture that shows the “The Spirit of Canada suckles the French and English Beavers” (1970-71)! Cynthia Girard and Nadia Myre also examine Canadian identities with sharp humour and they address topics like history, memory, and experience.

Exhibition view CUAG: "Against the Grain"

Going a few more meters into the main exhibition room: “Against the Grain: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the University of Alberta Art Collection” is a travelling exhibition by the University of Alberta Art Collection. In his talk on Monday, the Japanese ambassador focused on the fact that the woodblock print technique is used not only in traditional Japanese art but also internationally. For example, prints from Dorset were shown in “Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration” in the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo (January-March 2011). Ambassador Ishikawa emphasized how these exhibitions provide a wonderful opportunity to learn about different cultures.

Exhibition view CUAG: "Against the Grain"

The exhibition at Carleton shows Japanese woodblock printing from the Edo period (1603-1868) to the present and how this technique and its subjects has developed over the centuries. I was strongly impressed by prints by Hiroshige and Hokusai which had e.g. a major impact on European artists like van Gogh, Degas, and Cassatt. I am actually looking forward to the van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery next year that will emphasise on van Gogh's reception of the close-up in Japanese prints.

Exhibition view: "Rita Letendre"

Going up the stairs, you will arrive at “Rita Letendre: Themes and Variations”. The winner of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2010 is presented with some of her most striking works, drawn from the gallery’s collection. As the curator Diana Nemiroff mentioned in her talk, Letendre's works are all about energy, light, and colour.

Exhibition view: "Rita Letendre"

The exhibition includes examples of Letendre’s lithographs, serigraphs, and aquatints as well as some pastels and a painting. In her talk, Letendre said that art is a form of communication that aims on individual feelings. The reception of each artwork is not only seeing the artwork but rather to “discover something from yourself” in that moment.

Rita Letendre at her talk, Monday, May 9th, 2011

Letendre made clear how much she loves what she is doing – working as a visual artist since five decades now! Her silkscreens with their bright colours and energetic lines are very striking and the exhibition shows her development from hard geometric forms in the 1960s and 70s to softer colour transition in the 1980s.

My conclusion: These summer shows are a must-go!

Facts:

“Against the Grain: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the University of Alberta Art Collection” 9 May – 24 July 2011

“Patriot Loves: Visions of Canada in the Feminine” 

9 May – 10 July 2011

“Rita Letendre: Themes and Variations” 9 May – 24 July 2011

CUAG

On the Carleton University Campus, St. Patrick's Building

Free admission

Eric Walker's Painted Constructions

Eric Walker's Painted Constructions follow an unusual aesthetic strategy: They show mostly aerial views of cityscapes by using mixed media in a really uncommon meaning. His large-scale artworks are made from common found materials, mostly tiny metallic plates in different shapes and colours which are fastened with again tiny, tiny nails to plywood. This must be such a detailed and difficile effort! 

The Colour of London is Red, 2007, 122 x 83 cm, mixed media collage on plywood fastened with nails

It is amazing to see these assemblages in a close-up view because it reveals how they were made of thousands of little pieces.

Detail of The Colour of London is Red, 2007

Visual and Media artist Eric Walker studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. You can find his works in both public and private collections and he has exhibited throughout Canada and internationally with shows in Tokyo, Mexico City and New York.

The Halifax International Airport in 2004, 2005

Eric Walker is represented here in Ottawa by Cube Gallery.

His blog gives an insight in his artistic development and statements on his works: http://www.ericjosephwalker.com/

Cynosure & Bozica Radjenovic – INFUSION

Quite extraordinary – the current exhibition at the Ottawa School of Art. Why? Can you imagine knitted blood systems and jewelry mushrooms?

The exhibition "Infusion" with works by Cynosure Jewelry and Bozica Radjenovic combines craft, design and fine arts and hold a lot of surprises. The tiny artworks by Cynosure Jewelry, a design studio from Kitchener which is run by Shannon Kennedy and Juan Bohorquez, appeal to a close interaction with the beholder: “As artists, we are constantly seeking a way to bring our art expression closer to the people, to their environment, and make them, the people, interact more directly with the artwork, in the visual attachment and the actual physical awareness.” The expand the borders of jewellery with unusual techniques and forms of art expression.

OSA

Bozica Radjenovic, a Serbian-born artist who lives in Ottawa, has worked with materials like wood, plaster, and found objects such as shoes. In 2009 when she had an exhibition in Belgrade, Serbia, she decided to create soft collapsible sculptures to carry in her suitcase. As she says: “Those unsteady collapsible and puppet like structures represent my state of mind. The wool speaks of a connection, a way back to the point of origin, to childhood. As an émigré artist to Canada, nostalgia for my roots is connected to memories of my mother’s endless knitting of woollen items of clothing for all the members of the family.” Her knitted artworks, like "Red Roots or Sweater for Poor Blood Circulation" (2009, see above), deal with childhood memories and her search for (cultural) identity.

The extraordinary crafts/artworks in such materials like red and yellow wools and silver metal make "Infusion" a remarkable exhibition.

Facts: 
Cynosure & Bozica Radjenovic – INFUSION 
OSA Gallery
March 31 - May 1, 2011
Link OSA

Wellington West Art Walk

Every first Thursday of the month, there is the Wellington West Art Walk, a guided walking tour that covers six galleries in the Hintonburg area. All the galleries are staying opened late on that night and some of them schedule their exhibition openings accordingly.

I always wanted to go and now I finally made it! I attended the April-tour; and it was actually a lot of fun and very exploratory. Like one of the attenders said: “It's like a pub crawl, but with galleries!” It's a great chance to see 6 exhibitions (sometimes at their opening nights) in one evening.

Fritzi Gallery

We – a group of 10 people - started at 7 p. m. at the Fritzi Gallery, located in the upper foyer of the Great Canadian Theatre Company. Currently shown is Paula Mitas Zoubek's work which encounters the theatre play The Middle Place by Andrew Kushnir. The play which unfortunately is not shown any more, was created from interviews conducted at a youth shelter.

Paula Mitas Zoubek at Fritzi Gallery

Paula Mitas Zoubek's paintings show landscapes or group portraits with blank spaces of the contour of children; she left them blank to reminds us on lost childhoods... She wants the beholder to fill them out with his or her own childhood memories. 

The crowd at Patrick John Mills

The next stop was Patrick John Mills Gallery. It was the opening night of the controversial exhibition Porn is not Art – and it was jammed! You might have seen posters of the show, because Mills has put them up all over the city, saying: “Porn is not Art”, or “Porn is Art”. The show seems to give the answer: of course it is...

Patrick John Mills

Included in the show are a few large-scale paintings by Patrick John Mills with his characteristic dynamic brushstrokes. He says in the exhibit statement: “Since the internet porn has become abundant. Porn effects how we communicate, the dynamics of our relationships, and how we interact as partners. This exhibition will explore the impact porn has had on our lives.”

Matthew Jeffrey

The Orange Art Gallery was next, with an exhibition opening for Urban Magic presenting Megan D'Arcy and Matthew Jeffrey. D'Arcy created large-scale photo collages of hyper- stylized urban landscapes with a shiny resin finish; Jeffrey weaves two digital prints - like a shot of a sidewalk and a diving sea turtle - that leads to astonishing results and a complexity of meanings. Other artists of the gallery were also shown who presented a very broad spectrum of media, styles and artistic approaches.

The big sign on the roof of the gallery shows a portrait by Ottawa based artist Stephen Frew who is strongly influence by Francis Bacon, Egon Schiele and Lucien Freud. His portraits, self-portraits and nudes are currently also on display – inside the gallery, of course.

Karen Flanagan McCarthy at Exposure Gallery

At Exposure Gallery the Ottawa based photographer Karen Flanagan McCarthy gave us a very interesting insight in her work process. The photos in her show Fugitive States were created close to her home in Aylmer and along the Ottawa River; they show ice patches and the frozen river in close-ups that depict tiny cracks and fissures.

From the exhibition Fugetive States

It is stunning how abstract these ice structures occur when the context of the shot is not visible any more. McCarthy finds these amazing forms that are images of a particular state that won't last long; indeed "Fugitive States".

Gallery 3

Gallery 3 on Wellington presents works by Canadian contemporary artists. It is an offspring of the Byward Market’s Galerie St. Laurent & Hill.

On the right: Nina Cherney, on the left: Peter Hoffer

There was no exhibition opening at that night, but the gallery presents an overview about their artists.

Ottawa Alleyways at Cube Gallery

We ended our tour at the Cube Gallery at the opening of Ottawa Alleyways. It was crowded with people! Eight Ottawa artists explore and depict Ottawa's back alleys – that lead to a broad spectrum of paintings in different styles, some neo-realist, some in a naïve style, some almost abstract.

Strachan Johnston at Cube

Strachan Johnston's acrylic paintings with patterns of strong colours gave an almost abstract impression. The close hanging at Cube's walls is perfect for this show because its corresponds with the subjects – the narrow back alleys between and behind our houses.

All the galleries in the tour are located in short distance from each other; the tour took us around 1.5 hours. For people who prefer to walk into an art gallery in a group and not on their own, it's the ideal tour. But for people with a background and knowledge in arts, I would recommend to visit these galleries on your own because we just had c.10-15 minutes for each gallery. That's not a lot of time when you are really interested. All of these galleries are opened till 9p.m. on 1^st Thursdays – so it's ideal to stroll through them after work!

Facts:

Wellington West Art Walk

Free guided tour

every 1st Thursday of the month

starts at 7p.m.

At Fritzi Gallery (Great Canadian Theatre Company)

Link to the tour

MFA Exhibition @ Gallery 115

Gallery 115 at the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Ottawa shows currently a MFA exhibition with work of students enrolled in its programs. The show presents a broad spectrum of artistic media and approaches. Unfortunately, the artworks in the exhibition came without labels, therefore I cannot provide titles and further information.

Cara Tierney

Cara Tierney plays in this photo with the expectations of the (male?!) beholder and refers obviously to Titian's Venus of Urbino.

left: Andrea Campbell, right: Tina Chinichian

Tina Chinichian's crosswords read: Iran, people, god, religion, protest, freedom...

Laura Taler

 Laura Taler presents a landscape photograph on a light-box that might refer to Jeff Wall's works.

Jennifer Norman

Jennifer Norman's abstract small-scale paintings have a huge impact on the beholder.

The events website of the UO mentions that they are more "details to come"; it would be indeed interesting to find out more about the artists and their works. 

Facts:

Gallery 115

MFA Exhibition

Mondays to Fridays from 9 to 4
Main floor of 100 Laurier Avenue East.

“It Is What It Is” – At the NGC till Sunday

Just a reminder: The Canadian biennial exhibition It Is What It Is: Recent Acquisitions of New Canadian Art is still on view at the National Gallery. But just until Sunday – so take your last chance!

My exhibition highlights in a very, very subjective point of view (with comments why I enjoyed them so much):

Rodney Graham, The Gifted Amateur, 2007: Because the artist stages himself in a room full of references to art history and pop culture, with lots of books lying around, carefully set up. He refers not only to great masters like Picasso, Klee, Miro; he also includes Erwin Panofsky's “Studies in Iconology”. Iconology, that's the key, ha!

James Carl, jalousie (bole), 2008: Because the meaning of his sculptures, made of Venetian blinds, is only revealed when you read the labels – so: READ THE LABELS! Just a hint: it has to do with the German and French word for these blinds...

Adad Hannah, All is Vanity (Mirrorless Version), 2009: Because this real-time video-recorded tableau vivant doesn't show a young woman in a mirror, but two identical twins. Yes, they are blinking, but not synchronously - which takes a while to realize.

Chris Millar, Bejeweled Double Festooned Plus Skull for Girls, 2009: This paint sculpture is as elaborate as its title. I love the little details in this fantastic-absurd factory – like “slippery when wet” warning signs and the collection of kitchy china plates!

Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, Live to Tell, 2002: Because his video performance mediated by 16 kind-of-surveillance cameras deals with the search for self-identity and is in the same time hilarious.

I know, it would be great to actually see pictures of the artworks here, but I am not sure if I can use them because of copyrights. Therefore: Go and see the originals yourself! Some more artists are featured in this exhibition, like David Altmejd, Shuvinai Ashoona, Valérie Blass, Sarah Anne Johnson, Luanne Martineau, and Gareth Moore.

Facts: 
It Is What It Is. Recent Acquisitions of New Canadian Art
5 November 2010 - 10 April 2011
National Gallery, Special Exhibitions Galleries