Meryl McMaster: In-Between Worlds at the AGH Design Annex

Meryl McMaster, Wingeds Calling, 2012, digital chromogenic print. Courtesy of Katzman Contemporary

While things have been a little quiet on this blog as of late, I've been working away behind the scenes on two exhibitions that both open on February the first.  The bulk of the preparations have been for an exhibition at Pier 8 in Hamilton called Winterlore, a series of outdoor installations that draw from international folk symbols and stories that will animate the pier during Hamilton Winterfest's all ages kick-off event.  More to come here on that exhibition shortly.

A satellite exhibition of the incredible work of emerging photographer Meryl McMaster will, as part of Winterlore, be showing concurrently at the AGH Design Annex.  This show will give the Pier show a presence on James Street North during and after the kick-off event.  Meryl's show was recently announced on the Design Annex's website. Many thanks to the Design Annex and my collaborator Melissa Bennett for drawing Winterlore (and me!) into their 2014 exhibition program!

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Meryl McMaster: In-Between Worlds
On view February 1 to March 22, 2014
Curated by Melissa Bennett and Tara Bursey
Presented in association with Winterlore,
A Hamilton Winterfest exhibition
hamiltonwinterfest.ca

In-Between Worlds explores bi-cultural identities through photographs of a lone figure in the landscape. Identity and myth are intertwined here, in dialogue with the codes of photographic representation. As self-portraits, these images expose the vulnerable subject, inviting viewers to consider themselves as characters in this theatrical yet open-ended narrative. McMaster’s Aboriginal and Euro-Canadian identities have informed this work, wherein she incorporates ideas of liminality. For McMaster, “In-Between Worlds is a sequence of moments that appear out of the ordinary and can be interpreted as being in a state of suspended belief.”

This exhibition is presented in association with Winterlore, a Hamilton Winterfest exhibition that runs as part of the Winterfest Kick Off event on Saturday February 1st, 3-10 pm at Pier 8. Curated by Tara Bursey, Winterlore features dynamic art installations by ten artists. The works draw on winter folklore, stories and symbols from around the world, in celebration of the diverse cultures of Hamilton.

The Design Annex exhibition space features experimental contemporary art installations by artists from Hamilton and farther afield. Exhibition receptions are held on the second Friday of each month during the James Street North Art Crawls. 

The Design Annex provides artists with a new location in which to present works in all media, including new media. The space welcomes Hamilton residents and visitors to engage with contemporary art in a highly visible and accessible venue in the heart of Hamilton’s James Street North Arts District.

Fear of Punk//Fear of Art in Hamilton

Fear of Punk//Fear of Art at Hammer City Records came down yesterday!  Huge thanks to Craig, Leah and Brett at the shop for hosting the show.  We had a great time, and are thrilled with the awesome feedback and enthusiasm about the show we received.  Merch (stuff above) by Matthew McGarry, Weird Luke, Dustin McChesney and myself will be available at the shop until the end of this week, after this Friday's Art Crawl.  Christmas gift alert!

We want to mount this show again at least once more in Canada.  If you're interested in Fear of Punk coming to your town or gallery, get in touch!

The Hamilton Sign Register

New project alert!  I've started a new blog called The Hamilton Sign Register-- the product of many recent aimless, unemployed person wanderings around my new city.  It is an outlet for my love of old signs and typefaces as well as a way educate myself more about them and get to know Hamilton a little better.

http://thehamiltonsignregister.blogspot.ca/

Toronto Hyperbolic Crochet Reef at Gallery 1313

December's Window Box installation at Gallery 1313 is well-timed considering it was a topic of discussion during Shannon's artist talk at the inaugural Pulling Strings event in Hamilton.  The Toronto Hyperbolic Crochet Reef is an ongoing community project originally conceived by four Toronto artsy crafters closely connected to the amazing City of Craft fair (also happening in December just down the street from Gallery 1313!).  Read on for details about this inspiring, growing installation.  The exhibition reception is tomorrow night!  Also, check out the THCR blog for info on how you can contribute your own hyperbolic forms to the reef.

Also, a reminder: only 3 more days to check out the multimedia works of another Gallery 1313 project, Telling: An Audio Survey of Parkdale before the disappear on the 30th.

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The Toronto Hyperbolic Crochet Reef
Gallery 1313 Window Box
December 2013

Reception: Thursday, November 28th, 7-10pm

The Toronto Hyperbolic Crochet Reef is a collective project of endless crochet for the city of Toronto. Inspired by the pioneering work in hyperbolic crochet of Dr. Daina Taimina and the artful modelling projects of the Institute for Figuring in Los Angeles, the Toronto Reef is just one in a great confluence of reefs worldwide that use craft and community art to address the problems of global warming and plastic oceanic trash. The reef is run and mostly built by Angelune Des Lauriers, Shannon Gerard, Kalpna Patel and Becky Johnson but it remains open to coral contributions from anyone in the city.  The Toronto Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef has been exhibited at City of Craft, Roadside Attractions, Fly Gallery, The Knit Cafe and at White Elephant as part of Hamilton Supercrawl.

http://torontohyperbolicreef.blogspot.ca/








1313 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON. M6K 1L8
Hours: Wed – Sun, 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Phone: 416-536-6778
http://www.g1313.org

Artscape Youngplace

 Heather Nicol

 Debbie Adams in Stairmasters

 Hanging tapestry in the SKETCH Admin Hub

 UnArchive exhibition title wall

 David Adam Brown at the Koffler Gallery

Vacant studio on the 2nd floor

Gorgeous visuals abound at the grand opening of Artscape Youngplace on Tuesday night.

Introducing Pulling Strings!

In the middle of the whirlwind of exhibitions happening this month, this little golden nugget is launching and I am very excited-- it's a project that has been in the works for a while.  Pulling Strings is a collective and quarterly event series organized by Jen Anisef (who I worked with on Toronto Craft Alert), Thea Haines (who's art I've always admired) and I.  The aim of Pulling Strings is to "investigate contemporary cultural themes through textile-linked lectures, panel discussions, exhibitions, workshops, and fieldtrips.  Motivated by a belief that textiles tell us a lot about our culture, and inspired by Hamilton’s creative community’s contribution to downtown renewal and civic engagement, Pulling Strings aims to create an accessible and dynamic space for people of various stripes to come together and engage in the exchange of ideas."

I'm really proud and excited to continue my critical work with textiles through this project, and to situate it in Hamilton, my new home.  Our first event is a talk and workshop with artist, educator, publications maven and crochet fiend Shannon Gerard, and it's happening this Saturday.  Don't miss out-- details about the event and pre-registration below.

AND an additional side note for Torontonians-- the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project (Shannon is a contributor) will be showing in the Gallery 1313 window box for the month of December!

*****

After months of coffee shop scheming and logo napkin doodles, we are pretty dang excited to be getting Pulling Strings off the ground with a talk and workshop led by Shannon Gerard! Shannon was a natural choice for a first speaker in the series – her playful approach to her practice is never stuffy or alienating but always makes you think about things not previously considered – exactly what we are trying to achieve with Pulling Strings.

Next Saturday (November 23) Shannon will give a talk and Q&A at the Hamilton Artists Inc, followed by a hands-on workshop at Needlework. We are super grateful to both spots for giving Pulling Strings, a roving series, its first home.

Recognized for her engaging teaching and speaking style, Shannon will share the evolution of her crochet practice from recognizable objects with a decorative or educational function to forms that graph concepts of hyperbolic space or chart biographical and emotional journeys.  Following the talk, anyone is invited to push the boundaries typically associated with crochet as a functional pastime in a conceptual crochet workshop - no crochet experience necessary! As spaces are limited, we'll need you to register beforehand by emailing us at pullingstringshamilton@gmail.com.

Here are the details:
Who: Shannon Gerard (http://shannongerard.tumblr.com)
When: Saturday November 23, 2013; Talk and Q&A (2:00-3:30pm); Workshop (4:00-5:30pm)
Where: Talk and Q&A – Hamilton Artists Inc. 155 James N Hamilton, ON (@ Cannon); Workshop – Needlework, 174 James St N Hamilton, ON
Cost: Talk - FREE; Workshop - $10
Registration: Talk – all are welcome, no RSVP required; Workshop – contact pullingstringshamilton@gmail.com to register.

A bit about Shannon: In addition to teaching courses in print media and nano-publishing at OCAD University in Toronto, Shannon Gerard makes artist's books about magic, hope, faith and human frailty and produces large-scale installations that incorporate stop-motion animations and digital print. Shannon spends at least 50% of her waking life crocheting soft sculptures, which include Boobs and Dinks, Plants You Can’t Kill, and contributions to the Toronto Hyperbolic Coral Reef.

Swarm at Hamilton Artists Inc.

As a newly-minted Hamiltonian, I thought I'd push myself to make a new little piece of work for this upcoming show at Hamilton Artists Inc.  Over 100 pieces will be included-- lots of great affordable art that will be suitable Christmas gifts, I imagine.  Support local artists and go to the opening this Thursday if you're in the 'hood.

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SWARM
Hamilton Artists Inc. Annual Members Exhibition
November 21- December 21, 2013
Opening Reception November 21, 7:00- 9:30pm
Closing Reception December 21, 1:00-3:00pm

This years Annual Members Show, SWARM implies the combined industrious strength of many persons or things; as a verb, to swarm is to move towards – to approach, though not necessarily resolve – a common purpose as a group that is constantly in motion rather than standing still.

With over 100 pieces from our membership, SWARM is a salon style exhibition of scultpure, video, painting, print, drawing, collage, and photography.

Hamilton Artists Inc would like to thank our generous SWARM exhibition sponsors La Cantina and Luscious D’s.

Hamilton Artists Inc.
155 James Street North,
Hamilton ON
(at the north west corner of James and Cannon Streets)

UnArchive and Stairmasters at Artscape Youngplace

I have nearly reached the end of two consecutive contracts with Artscape and these amazing exhibitions are the culmination of them!  UnArchive and Stairmasters, curated by the amazing Heather Nicol (with research and curatorial assistance from yours truly), are important parts of the official opening of Artscape Youngplace at 180 Shaw that happens tomorrow. Come and see the first phase of Unarchive (more work will be added to the exhibition until the official exhibition opening on Jan 7th), amazing artwork and artifacts, and an astounding update to a beautiful example of Toronto's built heritage. Register to attend tomorrow's public opening here. Lots more info about the Artscape Youngplace project can be found on their website.

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Unarchive

Phase One: November 19, 2013

Exhibition opens January 7 - March 30, 2014
Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street

www.artscapeyoungplace.ca

Featuring new works by: Ian Carr-Harris and Yvonne Lammerich, Dave Dyment, Lee Henderson, Nina Levitt and Jessica Vallentin with selected items from the Givins/Shaw Junior Public School historic archives, and artwork by students at Givins/Shaw Junior Public School.

Curated by Heather Nicol

Curator’s Talk & Tour: January 7, 2014, 7:00 to 9:00 pm

Opening Vernissage: January 9, 2014, 7:00 to 9:00 pm

Unarchive features new works by artists Ian Carr-Harris and Yvonne Lammerich, Dave Dyment, Lee Henderson, Nina Levitt and Jessica Vallentin, who have been granted access to the rich Givins/Shaw Junior Public School archival collection comprised of records and data, photographs of classes and teams, trophies and plaques, scrap books, press clippings, snapshots and more, packed into locked closets and an over-stuffed vitrine. This remarkable treasure trove has inspired and provoked creative responses in sculpture, installation, assemblage, text and photo based works. The exhibition also features historic and pedagogic displays, along with artworks by current Grade Four, Five and Six students from the Givins/Shaw J.P.S.

As this elegant school building’s transformation into the innovative Artscape Youngplace draws to a close and the dust finally settles, Unarchive will unfold in synch with the architectural completion. November 19 marks the first phase of the project; the fully realized exhibition will be on view from January 9 - March 30, 2014, with an opening vernissage taking place on January 9 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm and a curator’s talk and tour on January 7 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.
Unarchive and Stairmasters inaugurate the Artscape Youngplace Hallway Galleries, an impressive new public exhibition space at Artscape Youngplace, soon to be the largest cultural institution in the West Queen West area. The galleries span more than 9,000 square feet of spectacular corridor and stairwell space across three floors and are open seven days a week with free admission.

Image: Lee Henderson



Stairmasters


Debbie Adams, Melissa Fisher and Seth Scriver

Curated by Heather Nicol
November 19, 2013 – March 30, 2014

Artscape Youngplace,
180 Shaw Street

Announcing a new era of creative intervention at 180 Shaw Street, the North, South and West stairwells at Artscape Youngplace have been transformed into site-specific installations. Often-overlooked architectural zones, the liminal, in-between and connective qualities of these spaces are expanded upon by artists with wide-ranging practices spanning animation, design, sculpture, book and film making. Using vinyl as their medium, these “stairmasters” playfully explore the material’s associations with signage, temporality and mutability, inviting viewers on an experiential ascent or descent as they explore Artscape Youngplace in its inaugural season.

This project kicks off the new Artscape Youngplace Hallway Galleries, which span more than 9,000 square feet of spectacular corridor and stairwell space across three floors, and are open seven days a week with free admission.
Heather Nicol, a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary artist with a studio at Artscape Youngplace, is the curator of the two inaugural exhibitions, UnArchive and Stairmasters. Nicol previously curated and produced Art School (Dismissed) on this site in 2010, an intervention which responded to the decommissioned Toronto District School Board property prior to its renewal by Artscape.

Curator’s Talk & Tour: January 7, 2014, 7:00 to 9:00 pm

Reception: January 9, 2014, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
www.artscapeyoungplace.ca

Image: Debbie Adams

Fear of Punk//Fear of Art in Hamilton

Show #2:  We are excited to announce that Fear of Punk//Fear of Art will have a second installment in Hamilton, Ontario at Hammer City Records.  This exhibition will open during November's James Street Art Crawl on November 8th, beginning at 7 pm.

Tell the world you wouldn't miss it here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1399765893594543

Hamiltonians:  For a taste of what the exhibition is all about, check out this great little piece written by Alison Lang of Broken Pencil that discusses the exhibition's premise and a few of the participating artists:  http://www.brokenpencil.com/news/fear-of-punkfear-of-art-at-zine-dream-6

Art Crawl Night: 

FEAR OF PUNK // FEAR OF ART 

Adam Kindred (Halifax)

Alex Ratcharge (France)

Alexander Heir (NYC)

Dustin McChesney (Minneapolis)

Emma Maatman (LA)

Erick Lyle (NYC)

Heather Benjamin (NYC)

Jill Pucciarelli (Olympia)

Leah Wishnia (NYC)

Matthew McGarry (Rochester)

Nathan Gattis (Chicago)

Paul D’Elia (LA)

Sam Ryser (NYC)

Shiva Addanki (NYC)  

Spoiler (Montreal)

Tara Bursey (Hamilton)

Weird Luke (NYC)

Yecatl Peña (Mexico City)

Curated by Ben Needham and Tara Bursey

Punk is everywhere.  From malls to museums, the influence and imagery of punk’s past has largely been absorbed into mass culture. Despite this, contemporary DIY punk rock sits firmly outside of the mainstream, and at both regional and global levels is stronger than ever. The visual culture that surrounds it is variably dark, threatening, chaotic, smart, funny, mysterious and questioning.

Fear of Punk / Fear of Art highlights the creative output of current punk artists, bringing their work out of its usual context while exploring intersections between punk rock, art and print culture. The purpose of the exhibition is to celebrate contemporary punk art while sharing it with a broader audience. The exhibition includes drawing, sculpture and printed matter that draws inspiration from horror, the occult, sex, despair, popular culture, art history and urban life.

FEAR OF PUNK / FEAR OF ART runs November 6-December 10

at Hammer City Records

228 James Street North (Basement at Rear)

Hamilton, Ontario

On Art Crawl Nights you can enter via bcontemporary gallery direct from James St North, or the usual entrance off the Robert Street alley located between Granny’s Place and the Classic Cafe Patio.

Telling: An Audio Survey of Parkdale

November is almost upon us, as are three exhibitions I've been working away on for the past few months!  First up: An exhibition of audio art in public spaces around one of my very favourite Toronto neighbourhoods, Parkdale.  See below for details.

TELLING: AN AUDIO SURVEY OF PARKDALE

Various venues around Parkdale

November 6th-30th

Reception: November 7th, 7-10pm


Panel Talk: November 13th, 7pm

Curated by Phil Anderson and Tara Bursey


With participating artists: Luis Jacob, Myfanwy Ashmore, Zeesy Powers, Shannon Gerard, Paul Aloisi and Jaclyn Meloche

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” 

― Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Telling: An Audio Survey of Parkdale is an exhibition of site-specific audio works that will animate familiar and hidden spaces across Parkdale. Each participating artist has chosen a different site along Queen Street West as a starting point to engage and explore the history and character of one of Toronto’s most storied and diverse neighbourhoods. This exhibition pays tribute to the real and mythic spaces, stories and people important to the exhibition’s participating artist/residents.

This exhibition will tell the story of the Pigeon Lady of Parkdale, a local landlady who was known to feed hundreds of pigeons that would flock to her street corner each day. The sound of pigeons outside of Capitol Espresso will serve as an aural memorial for one of the neighbourhood’s former residents. In Gallery 1313’s courtyard, a representation of horses using sound and visuals recalls where police horses were led to the back stable house, a space which is part of the current home of Gallery 1313.  At Bacchus Roti, the sounds of the Gardiner Expressway-- which when created caused several hundred Parkdale homes to be demolished for its construction-- is juxtaposed with an image of the lakeshore, serving as a reminder of the often complicated relationship between nature and the built environment. These and other stories conjured by participating artists will reside with the public as works of art, encouraging current residents to tell and trade their own stories, thus taking an active role in the creation of a collective community history.

A panel discussion featuring Judith Doyle (Professor, OCADU), Shawn Micallef (Author/Editor/Co-Owner, Spacing Magazine; Columnist, the Toronto Star) and Darren Copeland (Artistic Director, New Adventures in Sound Art [NAISA]) will invite the public to engage in discussion about the works featured in the exhibition, as well as the use of audio technology in contemporary art practices. Moderator will be Russell Smith, cultural writer for the Globe and Mail and author of several books.

This exhibition is presented in partnership with the following local businesses: Capitol Espresso, Bacchus Roti.

Media contact: 

Phil Anderson, Director, Gallery 1313 

416-536-6778 or 647-918-6606

http://www.g1313.org

Canzine on BlogTO

Had a great time at Canzine last weekend!  Great people, great conversations-- zine fairs like Canzine always feel like a big reunion.  Contrary to what my expression says above (I look PISSED), I had fun.

It was brought to my attention that I got a pretty nice mention on BlogTO in the wake of the fest.  Check it out here.

Canzine 2013

15 years after my very first appearance at Canzine (I tabled with my zine distro when I was 16 at the first ever Canzine held at the long-defunct Club Shanghai on Spadina in '98!), I'll be at Canzine hawking my wares for the first time in several years this Sunday.  Canzine is holding a Symposium on the Saturday before the big Sunday fair, which looks great. What will I be selling this year?  This is a mystery even to me at this point, but I promise there will be some new goodies up for grabs.  Hope to see ya'll there!

Canzine Toronto 2013
Sunday, October 20, 1-7pm
918 Bathurst Centre
(North of Bathurst Subway Station)
Toronto

More Punk Art

Setting in to my new digs in Hamilton has been a trip!  Work contracts, back-n-forth travel to TO, (unsuccessful) job hunting and moving has more or less put a halt to art-making endeavors except for some punk rock-related bits and pieces.  This kinda makes sense considering the very last things I did before leaving TO were putting on the Fear of Punk show and popping of a quick LP cover for a friend's band.

A few weeks ago, I was asked for an interview for an incredible NYC-based comics anthology called Happiness, published and edited by the talented Leah Wishnia.  The interview will also include contributions from two of the four School Jerks-- I've done the art for all of their recorded output, and the interview is mostly about the work I've done for them.  Doing this interview gave me a rare opportunity to talk about my other "art-half" (the one that does art for punk bands) and reflect on how I started doing this this type of work.   I've included some of the interview text here (it's only a small portion of the entire interview):

Doing show flyers and album artwork grew out of my work making zines.  I remember being 17 or 18 thinking that it would be a really great job to be a freelance illustrator, doing art for bands both in and outside of punk that was not unlike the work I did for the zines I had been making for years.  This was before I realized how hard it was to get paid by bands that see you as a friend or acquaintance doing the band a favour!  When I was 18, I dropped out of art school and had a string of crappy jobs.  Doing flyers for neighbourhood bands and the odd flyer for performers and punk bands was less a way of making money than a way I kept an art practice going and got to know people while I just floated around aimlessly working retail, socializing, and trying to make an adult life for myself.

My first real job doing an album cover that was widely distributed was for the LP of a Toronto band called Action in 2003 or so.  They were pretty young and got signed to the label Punkcore from New York and were really excited about the prospect of touring and being on the same label as some of their favourite bands growing up.  The drummer Greg was my best friend at the time.  I was really happy to be a part of it because they were all friends of mine, we were all from the same suburb of Toronto, and it was such a big deal for all of us to feel like we were “making it” on some level-- they were under 20, and I was a couple years older.  I ended up doing their pin designs, t-shirt designs and the front cover, back cover and insert art for their LP.  This was my first taste of having a hand in shaping the entire visual identity of a band and at the time it was really rewarding and exciting for all of us to be doing something we knew a ton of people would see and hear. 

To be honest, ten years later, punk rock isn’t as much a part of my daily life as it used to be when I was 20, or even 25.  I have a pretty broad art practice that involves making art for punk bands but also sculpture/installation, publications and curating among other things.  I listen to way more 60s psych and hard rock than punk these days.  I am lucky to have developed my drawing skills at a really young age (I went to an arts high school where most students wanted to be animators for Disney!), so now I have this skill that I can basically pull out of my back pocket when I need to.  Most of the time it’s to draw a dripping skull or something grim for some punk dude, which is fine when I have the time.

(...)

I think Ben said it best in another interview when he said that while art has always taken a backseat in punk, it plays a huge part in how punk is understood by itself and the world.  Also, within punk, art (lyrics too) can be an introduction or passage to social and political issues that would be more difficult to understand through a textbook or a news source, especially for young people.  For example, when I was a teenager, the art of Gee Vaucher and Winston Smith (for Crass and the Dead Kennedys respectively) was a way for me to begin to explore radical politics. Punk art can be frightening, stimulating, exciting, thought provoking and (gasp) even beautiful.  Over the years, I’ve learned a lot from it, too.

Collage by Gee Vaucher

The Fear of Punk//Fear of Art show has been a great way to expand on the work for bands and connect with people who are serious about doing art work in and around punk rock.  Along these lines, I was also asked recently to do contribute a page to a screenprinted zine of fake comic book covers by punk artists, organized by another awesome artist, Yecatl Pena in Mexico.  My recent fixation on post-apocalyptic films produced this silly but fun comic cover based on the cover old comic book of mine, inspired by the record cover I did for Absolut at the end of the summer-- in progress!

Hamilton Supercrawl 2013

Hooked Ontario coat of arms chair pad.  Really nice!

Dancing shoes.

Last year, I gushed about Supercrawl after taking in the full event from the comfort of the tent where I was helping as part of the Toronto Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.  Supercrawl this year was a whirlwind-- we had guests from Toronto who came to take in the event with us.  By the time we had a leisurely chat and a few drinks on our front porch, Saturday afternoon had turned into Saturday night and we were tossed into the shark tank that is the grand finale of the mammoth annual event that includes art installations, food trucks galore and several A-list musical acts.

We made a big mistake taking our time, because Supercrawl is not something you can really take in in two hours on the final night.  We found ourselves wandering in to Christ's Church Anglican Cathedral on James Street to catch our breaths.  Being from Toronto, huge street fairs with food and cheap vendors (Supercrawl certainly had its share of these this year) are a dime a dozen.  Rarer experiences are those you get in a historic building where you can share in a sense of quiet wonder with a large group of similarly awestruck folks amid the chaos of the outside world.

sophia bartholomew at Gallery 1313

Next week, an artist named sophia bartholomew is turning Gallery 1313's window box into a food dehydrator...!

sophia bartholomew
EPLE SLANG
Gallery 1313 Window Box
October 2013

Gallery 1313’s window box is west-facing and receives direct sunlight. Taking the gallery’s particular physical conditions as a starting point, EPLE SLANG will transform the gallery into a solar dehydrator for the duration of the exhibition.  While video and new media are popularly thought of as durational mediums, this work explores how ‘static’ physical materials might also be experienced as something durational – moving and changing over time.  The window box transgresses the distinction between interior and exterior space, complicating understandings of self and of city – it offers us that possibility, it asks us that question.

sophia bartholomew is an artist currently based out of Fredericton, New Brunswick.  Creating contexts through the use of installation, performance, and language, her projects aim to enact situations of moderate discomfort and generative moments of not knowing.  Recent projects include installations for The New Gallery (Calgary), ROOM 321 (Banff), Topdown Bottomup (Vancouver) and The Crying Room (Vancouver), with upcoming projects for Roadside Attractions (Toronto) and Third Space (Saint John).  

There are so many reasons for my general absence-- relocating, family matters and more.  However, even without these factors, I've been pretty occupied with longer-term curatorial and research projects as of late to the point where more frequent posting has become kinda difficult.  There's some really exciting stuff coming down the pipeline in November and February '14 that I will post about sooner or later....!

Colleen McCarten and Shannon Lea Doyle at Gallery 1313

I organized the following window installation of work by OCAD's Material Art and Design 2013 medal winner, Colleen McCarten which opens tomorrow.  Pop by the gallery between 7-10 pm to check it out, as well as the other exhibitions opening in Gallery 1313's main space, cell and process galleries.  As always, I will write an exhibition text to accompany the installation, which can be scooped up at the gallery.

Colleen McCarten
FABRICATE
Gallery 1313 Window Box
September 2013

Colleen McCarten’s installation Knit Wire is part of a larger body of work titled Fabricate, a multi-media textile exploration that investigates the intersection of textiles and assumed value. Across a variety of media, this project employs a recurring technique of line and repetition to signify the basic components of textile construction. Through decontextualized representations of textiles, this exploration asks:  Does changing the material, scale, or technique alter the value of the piece?  If so, is it a sexist devaluation of a medium, or merely about the ability to understand the time and effort put into another process?

Colleen McCarten is a textile artist and designer based out of Toronto. She recently obtained a BDes from OCAD University, where she was awarded a medal recognizing her thesis work in Material Art and Design. Prior to attending OCAD, Colleen studied Horticulture at Niagara College and received a Diploma in Fashion Design from George Brown College.

Sadly, with all the whirlwind activity pertaining to both the Fear of Punk//Fear of Art show and our recent move, I didn't have a chance to post here about the last exhibition in Gallery 1313's vitrine.  Shannon Lea Doyle has a few things with Colleen McC-- she is also an OCAD medal winner and her work shares an interest in textile-related techniques.  Here is a photo of her ethereal installation, Somehow Connected, which came down a couple of days ago and looked incredible in the late afternoon sun.

Fear of Punk//Fear of Art

It has been a very long time since I posted anything here...!

So much to catch up on over the next little while, but I'll start with this-- Fear of Punk//Fear of Art came and went this summer, and it was both a blast and a huge success.  Thanks to all of the amazing exhibitors, to my partner in crime Benbis, James Binnie and Communication Art Gallery, Jesjit and Zine Dream, the bands that played our benefit show at the 460 (Hassler, Absolut and Spearhead) and all our friends for the support!

For more photos of the installation and opening night, take a look here.  And look here for a great feature on the exhibition that was posted on Broken Pencil's blog a week before the show opened.  We'll be following this exhibition up with a catalogue that will also serve as the first issue of an ongoing zine, so stay tuned for more info on that in the coming weeks...