Paul Seesequasis takes over @CUArtGallery Instagram

The writer and cultural activist Paul Seesequasis is taking over the CUAG Instagram account today until May 6th, in conjunction with the current exhibition The Other NFB. His posts will respond to images shot in the North by photographers working for the NFB's Still Photography Division.

Follow @CUArtGallery from Tuesday 2 May through Saturday 6 May using the hashtag #CUAGTakeover.

Paul Seesequasis is a writer, editor, cultural activist and journalist. He was a founding editor of the award-winning Aboriginal Voices magazine and the recipient of a MacLean-Hunter journalist award. His short stories and features have been published in Canada and abroad. His novel Tobacco Wars was published by Quattro Books in 2010.

H'Art of Ottawa

I love the Community Exhibition Spaces of the City of Ottawa – art in rather unexpected places. Like the one at the Richcraft Recreation Complex in Kanata. Go swimming, do a Zumba class, or exercise at the gym, and admire contemporary local art while you're there.

The exhibition on view is called “H'Art: A selection of works from the studio collection”. H’Art of Ottawa is an innovative and inclusive visual arts studio that supports artists with intellectual disabilities. 

 

“H’Art of Ottawa is a unique and innovative art studio where self-expression and a sense of place are encouraged and celebrated for people with developmental disabilities. Through the common language of art and self-expression, the artists of H’Art contribute to the community and the cultural life of Ottawa.” (From H'Art's web site)

Strong, expressive, colourful paintings!

Facts:
H'Art of Ottawa, Upstream Studio
Exhibition at Richcraft Recreation Complex
4101 Innovation Drive, Kanata
http://www.hartofottawa.ca/upstream-studio-gallery/

Wolfgang Tillmans' Band Project "Fragile": Visual Album Released

German artist Wolfgang Tillmans has just released a visual album of his band project Fragile: “That’s Desire / Here We Are EP”! Reminds me a lot of Tillmans' recent abstract work. Love it!

Artist Statement: “Directed and photographed by myself, the 27 minutes film features performances by Hari Nef, Karis Wilde, Ash B., Matthew Salinas, Bashir Daviid Naim, Rachel Guest, Christopher Olszewski and myself as well as band members Juan Pablo Echeverri, Jay Pluck, Kyle Combs, Tom Roach and Daniel Pearce.“

“Participants danced and improvised in Los Angeles and New York to the music, without previously knowing it. Whilst editing the footage with Michael Amstad in Berlin, it became clear, that what was planned to be cut into six individual videos, should not be separated, but should remain as a consecutive sequence of six different moods.”

Explaining the motivations behind the visual album Wolfgang Tillmans says: 

"Four songs have been written and recorded this summer in Fire Island and New York, in a time now marked as 'post Brexit / pre Trump'. New Jersey’s Ash B.’s performance and improvised rap on That’s Desire blew us away. The song was recorded in 30 minutes. Two vocal takes by myself, one by Ash B. That was it. Warm Star was written and recorded in Porto in January this year. Principally a love song with political undertones, some lines of the lyrics later made it onto my pro EU / anti Brexit campaign posters.” (From the Youtube website).

Check it out on the link below.

Facts:

Fragile: Visual Album "That’s Desire / Here We Are EP"

Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=--14I6ajk5c

Wolfgang Tillman's Catalogue Raisonnee: "If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters" (2003). As you can see, I've studied it a lot.

Still on View: The Intimate World of Josef Sudek

Happy New Year!

My first exhibition tip in 2017: While attending the opening of the Canadian Photography Institute (http://visualencounter.blogspot.ca/2016/10/launch-of-canadian-photography.html), I had a chance to see the wonderful Josef Sudek exhibition. It's still on view until end of February, and the thoughtful works by “Prague's Atget” are worthwhile a visit. I love the views from his studio in the change of seasons, and over the years... how the glass refracts the light. (Window of My Studio, c. 1940–54).

From the NGC website:

Czech photographer Josef Sudek (1896–1976) produced some of the twentieth century’s most haunting images taken through the window of his studio, as well as of gardens, parks and streets of his beloved city, Prague. Working solely with bulky large-format cameras, despite losing an arm in the First World War, Sudek was a master of pigment and silver print processes. He pushed photography beyond its preoccupations with painterly and modernist styles to explore his own particular brand of romanticism. This Canadian Photography Institute exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada is the first major show to examine the work and life of Sudek and his intimate circle of artist friends during the decades before and after the Second World War.

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Facts: 
The Intimate World of Josef Sudek
28 Oct 2016 - 26 Feb 2017
Canadian Photography Institute (located at the National Gallery of Canada)
Link: http://www.gallery.ca/sudek/en/

I wish all my readers Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël & Happy New Year!

Thanks for your support. I look forward to what's happening in 2017 in the Ottawa arts community and beyond!

Launch of the Canadian Photography Institute today!

Tonight is the launch of the Canadian Photography Institute and the opening of three inaugural exhibitions: The Intimate World of Josef Sudek, Cutline: The Photography Archives of The Globe and Mail, and PhotoLab 1.

Very excited to be there!


Facts:
Canadian Photography Institute
Opening today, Oct. 26, 2016
6 p.m. @ National Gallery of Canada
Free and open to the public.

Link: http://www.gallery.ca/cpi/

Crown & Pumpkin Studio Tour

Wander, Savour, Collect. That's the motto of this year's Crown & Pumpkin Studio Tour in and around Almonte and Clayton, just West of Ottawa.

I got very excited when I picked up the pamphlet. You can check out their schedule under www.crownandpumpkin.com.

Facts:
Crown & Pumpkin Studio Tour
October 8, 9 & 10, 2016, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Various locations around Almonte and Clayton
Link:  www.crownandpumpkin.com

owaa gallery

I'm a true supporter of local arts and just want to give you an impression what the Ottawa West Arts Association has on display at the Goulbourn Recreation Complex. I love how these kind of exhibitions in community and recreation centres bring art closer to the people.

The not for profit Ottawa West Arts Association (OWAA) members consist of a diverse group of painters, photographers, sculptors and textile artists who exhibit a varied eclectic mix of works in the owaa gallery located in the Goulbourn Recreation Complex.

Facts:

Link: http://www.artsoe.cahttps://www.facebook.com/owaagallery/ /en/membership/directory/visual-arts.aspx?id=228

Exhibition at Goulbourn Recreation Complex, 1500 Shea Road, Stittsville, Ontario.
https://www.facebook.com/owaagallery/ 

Ottawa School of Art Open House

Ottawa School of Art on George Street, archival photo

The Ottawa School of Art will be opening its doors to the public on September 10th from 12pm to 4pm for its annual open house. There will be free information, live demos and workshops in a verity of artistic fields.
Sounds interesting!

FACTS:
http://artottawa.ca/

Ottawa School of Art
35 George St, Ottawa, ON K1N 1K2

West Arts Conversation

Loved the West Arts Conversation by the AOE Arts Council last night. There's definitely more going on in the arts in the West End of Ottawa than you'd think!

https://www.facebook.com/ArtsOE/posts/10153935940251107

Maura Doyle: the Vessel, that with fugitive Articulation answer'd, how deep is your love?

Maura Doyle at CUAG, Ottawa.

Maura Doyle's unique pottery and installations are now on view at the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) as one of its big summer exhibitions. The fabulous exhibition title is inspired by Persian poet Omar Khayyam's The Rubaiyat (1120A.C.E.).

In various handmade stoneware sets on custom-built supports, Doyle contemplates the vessel, a hollow form with a hole, and explores how we use, represent, and display it. She also demonstrates how rich in metaphor the vessel is: pots have been written about by poets and writers for thousands of years. Besides her own pottery, Doyle chose a number of pre-Columbian pots from Carleton University’s collection to be displayed as well – an amazing juxtaposition!

“Cradled in / terra cotta crust / in sea salt- / leaves, grass / leaves / grass / leaves / grass / leaves / Banana peels / tunnel through / horse balls and beaver chips- / An orange peel! / Molten apple core, / shelled peanuts / surrender" (2015). Pit-fired stoneware with underglaze. Copyright by Maura Doyle.

These photos were taken during the opening of the CUAG summer exhibitions on May 2nd, 2016. What an exciting show!

Exhibition shot during the CUAG opening, May 2nd, 2016.

From the exhibition: Maura Doyle: the Vessel, that with fugitive Articulation answer'd, how deep is your love?

Facts:
CUAG
Maura Doyle: the Vessel, that with fugitive Articulation answer'd, how deep is your love?
02 May – 28 August 2016
CUAG Artist Talk: Maura Doyle, Monday, 20 June 2016, 6:00 p.m.

Link: http://cuag.carleton.ca/index.php/exhibitions/332/

Exhibition No. 11 @ SPAO and CONTACT Festival

Under the motto “Vision. Content. Craft.” showed the SCHOOL OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS: OTTAWA (SPAO) in “Exhibition No. 11” various photographic works by SPAO first year, graduating students and artists in residence. This year's exhibition focused on historic and contemporary photographic processes and tools.

Unfortunately, the exhibition was just on for a short time (April 22 - 29, 2016), but it will travel to Toronto, to the 2016 International Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. Actually, the exhibition was to be packed up shortly after I left – I took the very last chance to see it here in Ottawa.

These were my favorites (a very personal selection – so please go to CONTACT and judge yourself):

Christine Fitzgerald's “Threatened” Series at SPAO, April 2016. Copyright by the artist.

Christine Fitzgerald's “Threatened” Series caught my eye right away. She uses the fascinating nineteenth-century collodion process. The soft, brownish tones and imperfections of the process resonate with the subject matter of distinction of threatened species.

Joyce Crago's portraits at SPAO. Copyright by the artist.

Also outstanding were the large-scale portraits by photographer Joyce Crago of strong women in politics, like e.g. Catherine McKenna. Straightforward, honest and unprettified.

In SPAO's hallway, a small wall was reserved for Richard Robesco as Artist-in-Residence who is – according to his own words – stylistically inspired by the Düsseldorf School painters and photographers. His “Revelations” series of windows photographed at the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, is fascinating. (Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good image of his works, so check out his web site: www.richardrobesco.com.)

Some works by first year students at SPAO, April 2016.

On the opposite wall hang some of the works of first year students. My favourite piece: a self-portrait by Michael Kuby where the photographer can be seen in a mirror, taking the picture of a woman in the room at the back (here the photo on far right side). I love the play with perspectives, and the visual signature of the photographer as participator and creator of the shot.

A wonderful show!

Exhibition installation "Exhibition No. 11" at SPAO.

Jason Clifford Champagne: photographic portraits collage. Copyright by the artist.

Facts:
Exhibition No. 11
April 22 - 29, 2016
SPAO, 168 Dalhousie Street, Ottawa;

and during the 2016 International Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, May 4 (Vernissage @ 4-7pm) to May 18, 2016 at the Arta Gallery, Distillery District, 14 Distillery Lane, Toronto, ON.

Featured Artists Works: 
Jason Champagne, Joyce Crago, Christine Fitzgerald, Genevieve Labbe, Katy Lopez, Rey Martin, Judy Morris Dupont, Austin Wing, Hannah Evans, Mel Harris, Andrew Macartney, Matthew McIlkenny, Michael Kuby, Danni-Rae Mistaken Chief, Neeko Paluzzi, Adelita Rose, Christian Villemaire, Glenn Bloodworth, Richard Robesco