Winterlore at Hamilton Winterfest 2014

 Tonya Hart

 Thea Haines

Since a mere three weeks after moving to Hamilton in August, I've been working on this exhibition of outdoor art for the 36th annual Hamilton Winterfest at Pier 8.  I am proud to be a part of the first year that Winterfest has had an increased arts and culture focus, with an amazing roster of events happening from February 1st - 9th.  See below for details on Winterlore, affiliated arts programming at Lister Block and the AGH Design Annex, and the Winterfest website for more details about the events at the kick-off and the programming happening across Hamilton for nine whole days.

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Winterlore, an exciting exhibition of outdoor art, is on view for one day only as part of the Hamilton Winterfest Kick-Off event at Pier 8 (47 Discovery Drive) on February 1, 2014, from 3:00-10:00 pm.

Curated by Tara Bursey, Winterlore features the work of six artists and collectives who have drawn on winter folklore, stories and symbols from Hamilton, Ontario and around the world to create dynamic installations. In line with the Winterfest program, this exhibition serves as a celebration of the diverse cultures of Hamilton and the beauty and magic of the wintertime.

Winterlore features the work of visual artists:

Floyd Elzinga (Beamsville)
Hitoko Okada (Hamilton)
Jacqui Oakley and Jamie Lawson (Hamilton)
TH&B Collective--Simon Frank, Ivan Jurakic, Tor Lukasik-Foss and Dave Hind (Hamilton)
Thea Haines (Hamilton)
Tonya Hart (Toronto)

The Winterlore Facebook event page can be found here.

Though the Kick-Off event will feature the majority of Winterlore artists in a temporary display at Pier 8 on February 1st, there are two longer term opportunities to see winter-inspired art offsite:

Presented in association with Winterlore by the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s AGH Design Annex, Meryl McMaster: In-Between Worlds runs from February 1st to March 22nd, 2014 at 118 James Street North. In-Between Worlds is an exhibition of work by emerging Canadian photographer Meryl McMaster, curated by Melissa Bennett and Tara Bursey. The artist’s Aboriginal and Euro-Canadian heritage are explored in her works through photographs of a lone figure in the winter landscape, where identity and myth are intertwined.
http://merylmcmaster.com/home.html
http://www.artgalleryofhamilton.com/da_index.php

A whimsical winter village is on display for a month in a heritage vitrine on the 1st floor of the Lister Block as of January 10, 2014 featuring work from thread artist Amanda McCavour (courtesy of Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto) and the Beehive Craft Collective.
http://www.amandamccavour.com/
http://www.beehivecraftcollective.ca/ 

For more information, visit www.hamiltonwinterfest.ca, email jen.anisef@hamilton.ca, or call (905) 546-2424 ext. 7612.
http://www.tourismhamilton.com/festivals-events/winterfest-2014

(becoming) The Logic of Memory at Hamilton Artist's Inc.

Image: Corinne Duchesne, Sybil, 2013. Mixed media drawing on mylar.

I'm unbelievably excited about the following exhibition which opens at The Inc. next week, featuring the work of Corinne Duchesne, Peter Horvath and one of my textile art heros of all time, Anna Torma.  It was an honour and a privilege to be asked to write the catalogue essay for this show.  Don't miss this one, folks!

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[becoming] The Logic of Memory
Corinne Duchesne, Peter Horvath, Anna Torma

January 23 – March 1, 2014

Opening reception: Thursday, January 23, 7:00 – 9:30pm

Art Crawl: Friday, February 14, 7:00 – 11:00pm

To paraphrase Deleuze, we can only function in the present, but we are always in motion, always becoming. Our past makes up who we are, but by contemplating these moments of the past, we are no longer remembering, we are constructing something new, in turn effecting our future understanding of the present.

Each of the artists in this exhibition explore the concept of memory. Their diverse perspectives weave together and encourage visitors to consider notions of memory, nostalgia, time and loss. Corinne Duchesne’s layered mixed media drawings on mylar philosophically consider loss as a locative site of memory, using grief as an anchor to merge anthropomorphic forms with objects. Peter Horvath’s 2-channel video installation, Memoir, compares and juxtaposes the biographical similarities between his mother Eva and friend Denise, who both emigrated to Canada from Hungary, albeit decades apart. The installation is structured to reflect upon the nature of memory, manipulating the space between truth and fiction, past and present. Anna Torma’s technically rich textile installations reflect on the nostalgia of home, her immigrant heritage, the natural environment and maps the human body recalling the synapses of the brain.

Combined, through the use of these personal assemblages, the works in this exhibition reflect on the location and constructed nature of memory and it’s ability to influence and shape our understanding of ourselves in the present.

A catalogue essay by Tara Bursey will accompany the exhibition.

Hamilton Artists Inc.
155 James Street North, Hamilton
http://theinc.ca/

Supercrawl 2014 Call for Submissions

Sarah Beck and Shlomi Greenspan, Untitled (It's almost a one liner), 2013. Photo: Harry Gils

Speaking as a Curatorial Committee member of Hamilton Supercrawl, I'd like to present the following PSA.  Hamilton Supercrawl wants YOU to submit proposals of art for this year's event.  Supercrawl is a breathtaking art and music extravaganza-- see below for more information on the festival if you are not familiar.  In addition, if you'd like even more info as well as tips on applying, the Curatorial Committee is holding a free info session tomorrow at the AGH Design Annex for potential applicants. See details about that below as well.

Supercrawl 2014 Call for Artist Submissions
Deadline: January 31, 2014

Supercrawl is a free annual outdoor art and music festival in Hamilton. The Curatorial Committee invites artists working in a wide range of creative disciplines to propose works for installation as part next year's event, taking place on September 12-13, 2014. Supercrawl celebrates the unique mix of arts organizations, cultures, businesses and creative people along James Street North in Hamilton. Last year Supercrawl attracted 100,000 attendees and will continue to grow in scale in 2014. The Committee is interested in seeing proposals in the following media:

Installation art
Sculpture
Video (projection-based is preferred)
Performance art
Public interventions
Storefront window installations
Murals
New media
Dance

Please note that a priority will be placed on that which can be safely seen, performed, or executed outside, and will remain impactful during both the daytime and night hours of the festival. Each project selected will be allocated an artist’s fee and modest budget.

Submission Requirements:

Please send via email:
1.     Artist's statement—conceptual statement on the work (150 words maximum)
2.     Practical explanation of the work—i.e. Scale, materials, methods, etc.
3.     Three images/stills/sketches of the proposed work, supported by 3-5 images of previous work relevant to the proposed project (jpeg, max. 72dpi, no larger than 768 x 1024 pixels)
4.     A clip, link or digital copy of any video (10 minutes max), if applicable
5.     Title, year, medium, dimensions for all images
6.     Complete installation plan including details of time needed for installation and removal of work as well as tools, equipment and number of assistants needed
7.     Location suggestion for your work (optional)
8.     A statement as to whether the proposed work has been exhibited before; if it has, please include details as to where and when
9.     CV with mailing address, phone number and email contact information

The Supercrawl Curatorial Committee is open to creatively diverse work that has visual impact and responds to the streetscape of the event. Artists and their work will be identified and publicized as official Supercrawl curatorial selections during the event, on the Supercrawl website and in select media releases. The committee will contact selected artists within six weeks following the deadline.

Artist information meeting: Wednesday January 8, 2014, 7-8 pm, AGH Design Annex, 118 James Street North, Hamilton. The Supercrawl Curatorial Committee will provide information about the event and answer artists’ questions in preparation for their submissions.

Send submissions to supercrawlart@gmail.com
Subject Line: YOUR NAME, SUPERCRAWL  ART
Deadline for submissions is January 31, 2014

About the Supercrawl Curatorial Committee:

The Supercrawl Curatorial Committee presents a wide variety of artistic projects at the annual James Street North Supercrawl. The goal of the committee is to curate public art installations and performances in keeping with Supercrawl's diversity, energy and scale. The committee selects projects by local, national and international artists based on artistic merit, originality, and ability to engage our diverse audience. This committee reports to the Supercrawl Board of Directors. Since 2010, the committee has curated works in a variety of media, including works by BGL, Kelly Mark, Kim Adams, Max Streicher, Elinor Whidden, Shayne Dark, Adam David Brown, Marie-Jeanne Musiol, Gareth Lichty, the McMaster Cybernetic Laptop Orchestra, Chris Shepherd, Shake-N-Make Collective, TH&B, Adad Hannah, EN MASSE, Brandon Vickerd, C.R. Avery and others. Current committee members are Melissa Bennett, Tara Bursey, Amy Kenny, Courtney Lakin, Dane Pederson, Alana Traficante, Stephanie Vegh and Matthew Walker.

www.facebook.com/Supercrawl
https://twitter.com/supercrawl
http://instagram.com/supercrawl
http://supercrawl.tumblr.com/