Celebrate Women's History In Hamilton with Justseeds Artists' Cooperative

It's amazing to see so many events cropping up around Hamilton for International Women's Day on the 8th.  I'm adding one to the pile that I've had up my sleeve since the beginning of this year-- a two-venue art event showcasing the work of the Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, a collective of print artists from across the US, Canada and Mexico.  I was introduced to Justseeds' work at Printed Matter's NY Art Book Fair at PS1 in 2012 and fell in love with their punchy, passionate prints that tackled topics such as climate change, feminist heroes and war resisters.  It's my pleasure to have a hand in bringing their work-- with the help of Justseeds member Mary Tremonte, a former Pittsburgher (is that a word?) now based in Toronto-- to the Hammer.  Read on for more info about Justseeds, the exhibitions, our partners and the opening party at art crawl on March 14th!

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Celebrate Women's History In Hamilton with Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative

In honour of International Women's Day 2014-- 20+ Artists!  Two Venues!  Print Media!  Gender Justice!  Rock’n’Roll!

Exhibition #1:
This is an Emergency!
At Homegrown Hamilton, 7 King William Street, Hamilton, Ontario
March 14th - April 10th, 2014; opens at Art Crawl, March 14th, 2014, 7pm. Presented in association with SACHA
http://www.homegrownhamilton.com/
http://sacha.ca/

This is an Emergency! is an exhibition of a print portfolio organized by Meredith Stern of Justseeds in 2012 which focuses on reproductive rights and gender justice. In response to all the bullying, legislative measures, and the horrifying statements filling the media against women, 2-LGBTQ, and non-gender conforming folks, the project brings together a collection of voices responding through visual art and interviews. This project brings together the voices of people most affected by these issues-- women, queer identified, and transgendered artists.

Exhibition #2:
Celebrate Women’s Herstory: A collaborative printstallation created by Justseeds Co-op members Mary Tremonte and Jesse Purcell, including selected posters from the Celebrate People’s History poster series. Posters and prints will be available for sale.
At Hammer City Records, 228 James Street North, Bsmt @ Rear; opens at Art Crawl, March 14th, 2014, 7 pm
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hammer-City-Records/144221478929997

Other Events:
Art Crawl Opening Night Party! DJs Mary Mack, Donna Lovejoy, Carla Coma and Tara Strange spin a lady-hero playlist at Hammer City Records, 228 James Street North, Bsmt @ Rear, March 14th, 2014, 7-11pm

Artists’ Talk with Justseeds’ Mary Tremonte and Jesse Purcell at Centre3 for Print and Media Arts, Saturday, March 22nd, 2014 @ 5pm, PWYC
http://centre3.com/

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Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative is a decentralized network of 24 artists committed to making print and design work that reflects a radical social, environmental, and political stance. With members working from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, Justseeds operates both as a unified collaboration of similarly minded printmakers and as a loose collection of creative individuals with unique viewpoints and working methods. We believe in the transformative power of personal expression in concert with collective action. To this end, we produce collective portfolios, contribute graphics to grassroots struggles for justice, work collaboratively both in- and outside the co-op, build large sculptural installations in galleries, and wheatpaste on the streets – all while offering each other daily support as allies and friends.

Mary (Mack) Tremonte is an artist-educator-DJ currently living in Toronto, ON where she is a Masters student at OCADU. Her vibrant silkscreen prints explore queer animal sexualities, amplified possibilities, and signifiers. As a DJ and party organizer she strives to create temporary safe spaces for expression, as well as to raise funds and awareness for grassroots causes. She is consumed with printmaking, totally teens, collaboration, communication and the politics of social space, particularly the danceparty.

Jesse Purcell is a multi-disciplinary artist and professional printmaker. After many years of working in Montréal’s vibrant screen-printing mileu, he has recently relocated to Toronto. The roots and current drive of his practice derive from the global DIY underground poster and art scene, which confronts issues of social and environmental injustice. He has a 20-year history of working in and with socially engaged artists’ collectives with the goal of using art as a tool of social transformation. His current work experiments with scale and pushing the parameters of the serigraphic medium.

Celebrate Women's History in Hamilton with Justseeds Cooperative is organized by Hamilton-based artist and curator Tara Bursey in collaboration with Homegrown Hamilton, Hammer City Records, Centre3 for Print and Media Art and SACHA.

Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, 2012