Exhibitions 2005
TURNING POINTS: 2005 Juried Art Exhibition
November 5 -- December 15, 2005
Reception: Saturday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m. Jurors will be in attendance.
Turning Points is Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant’s 2005 Juried Art Exhibition. It is a thematic exhibition open to all media and to all Ontario artists. The theme focuses on the visual expression of the artists’ own artistic or philosophical turning points, or those that they observe socially or politically.
This year’s jurors are: Ingrid Mayrhofer, Assistant Curator, McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, Ontario. Ingrid comes from a background that includes a BFA from York University, Toronto, Ontario, and she continues to engage in printmaking and installation work. She has also completed her MA in Cultural Studies; Carolyn Dover is a practicing artist and art Instructor. Carolyn graduated with a BFA from Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, and has an extensive exhibition history including the intriguing three-person exhibition, Three Female Perspectives, in 2004 at Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant.
This exhibition is always an exciting one, allowing emerging artists the opportunity to first show their work to the public and for mid-career artists, the prospect of showcasing their most current work. In both cases it becomes a meeting of thought and a delight for the audience.
Horizons Canada: Works from the Permanent Collection
September 17 -- October 30, 2005
Reception & Lecture: Sunday, September 18, 2005 2:00 p.m. -- 4:00 p.m.
Horizons Canada highlights works from Glenhyrst Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection that studies interpretations of the Canadian landscape that led up to, include and follow the work of the members of the Group of Seven.
The Group of Seven first exhibited in Toronto, May 1920. They were interested in the ideal of a “Canadian Art” and so explored the spiritual resources of Canada. While the common thread in the group’s work was the Canadian landscape, their styles and development were individual.
A selection of moody, atmospheric landscapes from the 19th century, influenced by European painting will begin our look at the way Canada was first interpreted by the artist Robert Whale. Homer Watson was one of the first Canadian artists to attempt painting Canada as it really looked, when that was not popular, and in this sense can be considered a forerunner of the Group of Seven. His works capture dramatic skies, majesty of forests, and the atmosphere of rural Ontario. A.J. Casson, who became a member of the group in 1926, had a bold approach to landscape painting and a strong sense of colour and design. His focus was on the small towns of rural Ontario.
David Milne represents scenes, primarily in watercolour, that depict his spiritual interaction with nature. Lionel L. FitzGerald is most recognized for finding inspiration in everyday things through observation resulting in sensitive drawings. He was invited to be a member of the Group of Seven in 1932 and afterward became one of the founding members of its successor, the Canadian Group of Painters. The history of the Canadian landscape will be seen as one views the changes of style and impulse that has shaped our understanding of the Canadian experience.
Fifty works include a progression from Robert Whale through to Homer Watson, A.J. Casson, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, David Milne up to contemporary works by David Blackwood and Lotti Thomas.
This exhibition has been sponsored locally by the Brantford Community Foundation and is presented as part of the Group of Seven project 1920-2005; a province-wide celebration of the Group of Seven’s first public exhibition in 1920. For details on the project visit www.oaag.org
OPENING WEEKEND CELEBRATION OF THE GROUP OF SEVEN
September 17: Landscape Painting Workshop
September 18: Lecture on Lawren Harris
Patterns from the Land: Patrick Landsley and Ellen McIntosh-Green
July 30 -- September 11, 2005
Reception: Sunday, July 31, 2005 2:00 p.m. -- 4:00 p.m.
Patrick Landsley’s work is based on abstracted architectural landscape inspired from the Greek Islands. His paintings were motivated by his interest in architecture and the colour of the country observed during his sabbatical in Greece. Using a combination of oil and acrylic on layered masonite, Patrick achieves a low relief that incorporates textured materials. Often appearing through a window or from above, the viewer gets the sense of the place as charming, romantic and illusive. His experience as an artist has been accompanied by a teaching career in the Faculty of Fine Art at Concordia University, Montreal. During this time he also exhibited extensively throughout Canada and now lives in Woodstock, Ontario.
Ellen McIntosh-Green of Simcoe, paints the landscape of Southern Ontario from her knowledge and interest in the indigenous flora of the region. She integrates decorative patterns with abstracted floral motifs to create vistas of country fields. Her approach to the painting’s perspective has the viewer’s eye floating above and within the encompassing forms of plant life. Both artists have become close observers of their place and its forms. Their individual responses transform the land into pattern, light, atmosphere and colour.
Symbols of Life: Joseph Muscat and Ryszard Sliwka
June 11 -- July 24, 2005
Opening Reception: Sunday, June 12, 2005 2:00 p.m. -- 4:00 p.m.
Spiritual and artistic concepts come together in the work of Ryszard Sliwka and Joseph Muscat.
Joseph Muscat constructs collaged works from acrylic painted pieces of tarpaper on wood panel. Torn edges give an overall soft and raw quality to the work. His images are of temples and vessels influenced by the culture that he grew up with in Malta. These sources of imagery are let loose with his imagination to create patterns that imply meaning rather than impose it. The result is rich in colour, spiritually enchanting and texturally stimulating.
With Latin text incorporated in his work, Ryszard Sliwka refers to love, peace and charity. The Votive is a symbol of fertility or life. After a period of working in Italy he incorporated rubbings and Italian influences in his work. His research into the symbolism of the Vesica (almond shape) and Votive (heart shape) are intellectual pursuits that guide his own dialogue. They are a part of ancient mythology, pagan and Christian teachings. They have associations with the sea and the sky.
Sliwka states that he attempts to explain the inexpressible emotions of the heart. Both artists come from a teaching background with Joseph Muscat who teaches art in a Toronto high school and Ryszard Sliwka who teaches design and architectural theory at the University of Waterloo, School of Architecture.
Joseph Muscat gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council.
Representing Cinema: The Art of the Film Poster
April 23 -- June 5, 2005
Thirty-two original film posters dating from 1929-1974 have been gathered by curator Otto Buj from
collectors all over the world. The posters represent films from West Germany, France, Russia, Italy, United States, Sweden, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Japan.
“ What distinguished these examples from the conventional film poster... is that the artist was not motivated to glorify celebrity”, says Otto Buj.
Some of the techniques employed to entice the viewer is the altering of perspective or use of imagery from famous artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, as in the 1955 film poster for French Can Can by Rene Grau. Often artists were commissioned to paint the posters such as in the case of the rendering of Marlene Dietrich in the 1932 Swedish film, The Scarlet Empress. The watercolour and ink montage rendering of Les Diaboliques (1954) on the other hand is more abstract and creates a sense of suspense.
The posters hint at the mood of the film with their creative visual interpretations by allowing the viewer’s imagination to take hold. The subtle qualities of the designs intrigue and draw an appreciation for the artwork enticing the viewer and encouraging them to see the movie. This collection includes a catalogue that draws together ideas about art and filmmaking, imagery and technique. It is an international trip through time and thought that reveals the entertainment, themes and issues of the day.
This exhibition was organized by Curator, Otto Buj and circulated by the Thames Art Gallery, Chatham, Ontario.
Polar Extremities: Transitions in Inuit and First Nations Art
February 26 -- April 17, 2005
Opening Reception & Meet the Artists: Sunday, February 27, 2005 2:00 p.m. -- 4:00 p.m.
Lecture with Tom Hill: Sunday, February 27, 2005 3:00 p.m.
Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant presents its third biannual exhibition that explores the art of diverse cultural groups and issues of identity within Canada. Polar Extremities: Transitions in Inuit and First Nations Art, compares and contrasts the art of Northern, Inuit artists with Southern Ontario, First Nation artists over a thirty year span.
From traditional to contemporary artwork, the concerns of First Nations artists will be explored through painting, sculpture and multi media works. Using the resources of Woodland Cultural Centre with Director, Tom Hill’s collaboration, this exhibition will examine the changing depictions of aboriginal thought. Artists’ Stanley Hill, Cleveland Sandy and Vince Bomberry will reveal the past, illustrated through the traditional medium of carving: antlers, soapstone and steatite. Blake Debassige’s, Story of the Six Little Hawks, from Glenhyrst’s Permanent Collection will fill in the middle years. Shelley Niro and Gary Miller, contemporary First Nation artists will take a look into the future with the use of more experimental approaches as they broach the subject of status symbols and the state of an evaporating language.
Black and white photographs by internationally acclaimed photographer, John Reeves will depict images of Baker Lake, its artists, studios and images of the surrounding tundra from Reeve’s three separate trips to Baffin Island in 1968, 1971 and 1982.
Along with the opportunity to meet the artists at the opening reception on February 27, we will also present a lecture during the reception at 3 pm with Tom Hill, Director of the Woodland Cultural Centre. On April 3, we will offer Family Workshops by First Nations' Artists introducing hands-on opportunities for children and adults to explore traditional media and legends.
Sponsored by the Guardian Members of Glenhyrst, Ontario Arts Council, Hudson's Bay Charitable Foundation, Samuel W. Stedman Foundation and Brantford Community Foundation.
Stories from Memory: Elizabeth Barrett Milner and Lise Melhorn-Boe
January 8 -- February 20, 2005
Book-making Workshop with Lise Melhorn Boe: Sunday February 20, 2005, 9:30 -- 5:00 pm.
Drawing from memory, Elizabeth Barrett Milner depicts a student’s life between 1957 and 1963. Her paintings set the scene from within and around a one-room schoolhouse in Port Dover, Ontario where she attended school. Using oil stick on masonite she depicts images current to that time that include references to President Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, the Union Jack, Sputnik, Baseball and other subjects that were confusing and intriguing to a young school girl. Colourful and whimsical in their approach, they also use the discrepancy of size to explain a youngster’s perspective of life.
Lise Melhorn-Boe of North Bay, Ontario uses her papermaking and book making skills to tackle the issue of family relationships. She combines childhood memories of family quirks with topics such as food and money. Through her construction of three-dimensional books she reveals the tensions that exist within families, with humour. Lise creates well-designed pop-up books and tabletop stories that are quilted, coloured, stamped and collaged. Using her own stories and those from other women she has interviewed, she takes the viewer on an intriguing romp around the baggage that one carries from their youth. Like Elizabeth Barrett Milner, she expresses the influence that those situations have in who we become as adults.