Wednesday, November 25, 2015

PopUp Gallery

Invitation to Andrew King's and Alison Fowler's PopUp Gallery

The PopUp Gallery is back! In the heart of Westboro, local painters Andrew King and Alison Fowler show their recent works of art in a temporary gallery space. It's at the former Country Clover store, on Richmond Rd.

Opening is NOVEMBER 28TH 11am – 6pm.

From their web site: “Please join us as we open our doors to celebrate the holiday season with a selection of treats and new artwork. Bring the whole family and ring in the holidays at this unique temporary gallery space!”

FACTS:

Popup Gallery
281A Richmond Rd
Nov 28th to Dec 13th

https://popupottawa.wordpress.com/

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Exhibition Opening of "Group 6" @ The Diefenbunker


I would like to share a few impressions of the exhibition opening of "Group 6. The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013" at The Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum. I went to the opening last Sunday, November 8th, 2015, and enjoyed the show as well as the enlightening artists panel discussion.

Panel discussion at The Diefenbunker, Nov. 8th, 2015. From left to right: Dr. Laura Brandon, (curator and moderator), Leslie Reid (painter), Thomas Kneubühler (photographer), Leslie Hossack (photographer), Rhonda Weppler (photographer), and Mary Kavanagh (photographer).



Mary Kavanagh at The Diefenbunker. Left: The Expulsion (in white), 2013, right: The Expulsion (in green), 2013

Thomas Kneubühler at The Diefenbunker. Left: Antennas, 2014, right: Terrain #2, 2014

Leslie Reid at The Diefenbunker. Left: Kaskawulsh III
60º44'N, 138º04'W, 2014, right: 
Llewellyn II 59º04'N, 134º05'W, 2014

Leslie Hossack at The Diefenbunker. Left: National Martyr's Memorial in Marina, Skenderaj, Kosovo 2013, right: Damaged Building West of Pristina, Kosovo 2013. She launched her newest book "Testament. Leslie Hossack in Kosovo", which can be seen in the foreground. 

Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky at The Diefenbunker: Line, 2015

Facts:
Group 6: The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013
Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum
3929 Carp Rd, Carp, ON, K0A 1L0

The show runs from Nov. 8, 2015 to January 31, 2016.
Link: www.Diefenbunker.ca

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Group 6: The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013 @ The Diefenbunker

Exhibition catalog by Laura Brandon: “Group 6. The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013”, Carp: The Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum, 2015.

The Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum will launch its newest exhibition on Sunday: “Group 6: The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013”. Organized in collaboration with the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, the exhibition presents an interesting selection of works produced by artists of the Canadian Forces Artists Program.

As some of you may remember, I wrote a long time ago about the Canadian Forces Artists Program (CFAP). It was funded in 2001 as a successor to programs that ran during the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War. For example Canadian painter A.Y. Jackson was an official war artist of the First World War, see: http://visualencounter.blogspot.ca/2014/09/ay-jackson-and-otto-dix-art-influenced.html. Every two years, around half a dozen artists are selected through a Canada Council-based juried competition, and have the chance to spend some time with the Canadian Military.

In 2011 I wrote a post about a symposium at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, which was titled "Military Art Now" (see: http://visualencounter.blogspot.ca/2011/02/art-or-propaganda-symposium-at-war.html). I vaguely remember that some of the artists (from the first four groups, 2001 to 2009) were hoping for an exhibition, not only for a brief talk with PowerPoint presentations. There was no chance to see all works of art together in an exhibition then – somewhat disappointing for visitors and the participating artists in particular. Fortunately, that has changed. The latest group – Group 6 (whose deployments occurred in 2012-2013) – got a well-deserved curated show at a national museum, the Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum (in Carp, West of Ottawa).


Leslie Reid: “Llewellyn II 59°04'N; 134°05'W”, 2014. 32" x 50", oil and graphite on canvas. 
© Leslie Reid; courtesy of the artist.


And the results from these resent deployments with the Canadian military are astonishingly multifaceted and varied. E.g. Ottawa painter Leslie Reid travelled 11,000 km with the military across the Canadian North and High Arctic; this resulted in large-scale paintings of glaciers and arctic landscapes that refer in all their beauty to their vulnerability to global warming. Further, at the opening will Ottawa photographer Leslie Hossack present her book “Testament”, which contains photographs and writings about her deployment to Kosovo. Her striking series about many conflict-damaged buildings and war memorials bears witness to the disastrous consequences of the 1998-1999 Kosovo War.

Leslie Hossack's book cover: “Testament. Leslie Hossack in Kosovo”, Ottawa, 2015. © Leslie Hossack; courtesy of the artist. Her book will be launched during the exhibition opening on November 8th, 2015.
What I furthermore find outstanding is the fact that this group not only includes visual artists, but also composers (Joseph Amato and Alicia Payne), a filmmaker (Sophie Dupuis), and a youth fiction writer (Sharon E. McKay). Surely an interesting exhibition.

These are the “Group 6” artists:

Joseph Amato and Alicia Payne
Sophie Dupuis
Leslie Hossack
Mary Kavanagh
Thomas Kneubühler
Sharon E. McKay
Leslie Reid
Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky


OPENING
Date: Sunday, November 8th, 2015
1:00 pm:

- Curator Laura Brandon will moderate a panel discussion with the artists.

- Artist Leslie Hossack will participate in the panel and discuss her latest book, TESTAMENT: Leslie Hossack In Kosovo, a collection of photographs and writings from her deployment with the CFAP in 2013.

2:30 pm to 4:00 pm: Opening reception

Facts:
Group 6: The Canadian Forces Artists Program, 2012-2013
Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum
3929 Carp Rd, Carp, ON, K0A 1L0

Opening: Sunday, Nov. 8th, at 1 p.m.
Free event. RSVP's are required as space is limited. Please reply to marketing@diefenbunker.ca.

The show runs from Nov. 8, 2015 to January 31, 2016.
Link: www.Diefenbunker.ca