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.

Happy Holidays!

I wish all my readers happy holidays and a wonderful new year. I am sure it will be an exciting one!

A Little Something

At the Mlacak Centre, Kanata: Kanata Civic Art Gallery (KCAG)

Kanata Civic Art Gallery's smalls show "A Little Something" takes place on on Saturday. Just in time for Christmas!
I actually couldn't see the works which will be on display on Saturday, but my photos will give you an impression of works by Kanata artists showing there:

Facts:
Kanata Civic Art Gallery's "A Little Something"
December 13th, 2014, 10 am – 4 pm
Mlacak Centre, Kanata
https://www.facebook.com/KanataGallery?_fb_noscript=1

Tis the season...

Herrnhut Star - a typical German Christmas decoration. Isn't it beautiful!?

...to go Christmas shopping. Here are a couple of great exhibitions and events in December which provide a wonderful opportunity to buy unique, creative gifts:


Open House at The Rectory Art House tonight!
December 3rd 2014, 5:00pm
http://saintbrigidscentre.com/events/event/open-house-rectory-art-house/

Studio Sixtysix
Under $500 Holiday Show and Fundraiser
Featuring : Gallery and Guest Artists
Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Printmaking, Jewellery, Objects
Runs Nov. 27 - Jan. 2014
http://www.studiosixtysix.ca/Exhibitions.html

Cube Gallery: Great BIG smalls X
Welcome to Cube’s tenth annual Christmas show of small works with BIG heart!
December 2nd, 2014 to January 4th, 2015
http://cubegallery.ca/exhibitions/2014_12_02_great_big_smalls_x

Carp X-mas Market
December 5-6, 2014, Friday 3 to 8 p.m., and Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
http://www.carpfarmersmarket.com/calendar/calendar.htm

Joy - Kanata Civic Art Gallery Exhibition
November 24h - Jan 2015
http://www.kanatagallery.ca/Kanata_Civic_Art_Gallery/Exhibitions_%26_Events.html

The Ottawa School of Art Holiday art show and sale
The Ottawa School of Art – Downtown & Orleans Campus Galleries present their 30th Annual Holiday Fundraising Art Sale. The exhibition features a wide range of original, unique and affordable works of art created by the students, instructors and alumni of the School in a wide variety of media, sizes and prices.
Works will be on display from: November 27 – December 14, 2014.
http://artottawa.ca/event/holiday-art-sale/

Artists' books @ the National Gallery

National Gallery of Canada

Interested in artists' books? Curious what the Library and Archives at the National Gallery of Canada hold? It's not only the most extensive collection of visual literature in Canada with its 250,000 documents, including books, exhibition catalogues, bound periodicals, microforms, documentation files, study photographs, institutional archives and private papers. It's such a wonderful space for studies, with wide windows, where you can just sit and for example admire the amazing sculpture “100 Foot Line” (2010) by Roxy Paine.

Roxy Paine: 100 Foot Line, 2010, behind the National Gallery of Canada

The NGC has invited some guest speakers to present some of the interesting library holdings: Corinn Gerber (Director of Art Metropole, Toronto), Jonathan Shaughnessy (Associate Curator, Contemporary Art, NGC), Ming Tiampo (Associate Professor, Art History, Carleton University) and Adam Welch (Associate Curator, Modern Canadian Art, NGC) have selected two to three artists’ books from the collection, and will talk about them next Thursday. That may be a wonderful opportunity to get in insight in the library and in rather unknown artists' books...

Facts:
NGC
Library and Archives Reading Room
Thursday 27 November 6:00 – 7:00 PM
For further information, please contact Peter Trepanier (613-990-0587)

In English, with bilingual question period to follow. The selected books will be available for consultation in the Reading Room.

Nuit Blanche 2014 @ The Rectory a big success

Art installations at The Rectory Art House attracted a huge audience during Nuit Blanche last Saturday. Participating artists Karen Bailey, Lori Victor, and Karen Rasmussen dealt with this years’s theme “Bypass” in entirely different ways:

Karen Bailey with "Passage", Nuit Blanche 2014, at The Rectory Art House.

Karen Bailey's “Passage” was an installation of a wonderful painting depicting a gravedigger at her mother's funeral. Once again, Bailey focused on people behind the scenes as in her previous series like "Cut" (2005-2007), or "Are you being served?"(2004-2005). Visitors were encouraged to place down flowers underneath the shrine, while a white Madonna (which belongs to the office at The Rectory by the way) watched them graciously. Bailey's work “bypasses more traditional forms of grieving” and reflects on her personal loss.

"Cut-Outs" by Lori Victor at The Rectory Art House.

Lori Victor engages in discussions with visitors about her installation "Cut-Outs" during Ottawa's Nuit Blanche 2014.

Lori Victor's installation instead was political: Her “Cut-Outs” at the second floor showed strings of more than 4,000 cut-out figures of an Ottawa Citizen article reporting that over 4,000 aboriginal children died in residential schools. A powerful, meaningful installation that led to interesting and controversial discussions all night long. Victor's second installation “Ottawa's Kitimat” refers to the pipeline through Ottawa carrying tar sand bitumen from Alberta.

Lori Victor's "Ottawa's Kitimat"

Karen Rasmussen's “Closing Time?”, an installation of chairs, stools, books, and clocks focused on personal challenges. Her installation is according to the artist “a decision-making chamber for considering changes we face and for figuring out our next move. A chance to bypass the usual anxiety of change, forego meds and psychotherapy, and take art instead.” What a great approach!

Karen Rasmussen's "Closing Time?" at Nuit Blanche 2014.

A wonderful addition to the art at The Rectory were the Ottawa Storytellers. They told enlightening, thoughtful, serious, sad, and sometimes even humorous tales in response to the paintings and installations.

Ottawa Storyteller before Karen Bailey's "Passage" during Nuit Blanche.

Ottawa Storyteller before Karen Bailey's "Passage" during Nuit Blanche.

Artists' websites:
http://www.karenbailey.ca/
http://lorivictor.com/
Karen Rasmussen: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.138248893037302.1073741834.121343688061156&type=1&_fb_noscript=1