SLOP BUCKET

SLAP DASH DEPOSITORY ---------------------->

Forging seasons, stockpiles and other sudden efforts.

COME UP TO MY ROOM 2010!!!!!  This is a first time collaboration with my good friends Jennifer Rose Sciarrino and Jacob Robert Whibley .  We have one more week of preparation before the weekend long exhibition which runs from January 21-24th.  The room is coming along well, we've still lots to get ready and won't have a real sense of the piece until we start install next Monday!  This will be a first, for all of us, to tackle an installation project of this scale.   We're very, very excited and the experience thus far has been nothing but wonderful.   

Come Up To My Room coordinates with other participating design based events - IDS , Radiant Dark , Heavy Metal , etc.  It is a fun busy weekend for the art & design community. The four day event is in its 7th year at the Gladstone Hotel, featuring 11 rooms and 14 public space installations, created by over 50 artists & designers.  For detailed information about CUTMR {exhibition times, lecture schedules,  love design party, etc.}  visit the website!  You'll find us in the 2010 participants where you can read a brief bio and view some images of our personal work.  Below I've included our artist statement and some process images.  ROOM 210 - we will have publications specific to our project for you to take.  Hope to see you there!

Slap Dash Depository is a sequestered space that envisions highly organized elements gathered in the nexus of making, experimenting, and inducing the aura of hoarding.  The objects occupying the space and their arrangement become a study of rudimentary form, structural assemblage and more importantly - imagined possibility.  

Engaged with unexpected reflections, eccentric accumulations, diverse constructions and the uncanny vistas of environments, the space assumes the form of a capricious hermitage.  Cubbies, shelving and other vessels expose a series of cached objects; composed and assembled. These objects and artifacts are a dialogue between our tactile response to material processes and the manipulation of the space where they reside. 

SHOW HOURS

THURSDAY JAN 21st:
 4PM-8PM - Media Preview


FRIDAY JAN 22nd:
 12PM-8PM - Exhibition Hours


SATURDAY JAN 23rd:
 12PM-10PM – Exhibition Hours

Design Talks downstairs Ballroom
 11AM-2PM -“Thrive: Design for 100%”  

Opening Reception
 on 2nd Floor 7PM-10PM 

Love Design Party downstairs Ballroom 10PM-2AM


SUNDAY JAN 24th: 
12-5PM  - Exhibition Hours

MIAMI-------------------------------------------------------->

Surpassing my expectations, Miami was an incredibly inspiring art experience, not to mention, SO MUCH FUN.  The combination of hot sun, salt water, and art in December created a buzz of excitement.  This year the fairs ran from the  3rd - 6th and I was in the good company of friends Christy, Heather, Tibi, Brendan and Andrew who were all showing with participating galleries.  I arrived on the 1st and left on the 5th, giving me 4 days too see as much as I could possibly see.  Most fairs didn't open until noon which gave us the the morning for the beach and brunch before adventuring the hundreds of booths curated by galleries from all over the world.  Below are highlights from the number of different fairs we attended {Scope, Pulse, Aqua, Nada, Basel} -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 

Unfortunately cameras were forbidden in Basel where Evan was showing his 2 new works. I would have liked to post about them!  Experiencing the response to these pieces during the gala opening reception was something else.  An audience of people crowded the booth with eyes wide and mouths dropped expressing confusion, amazement, and surprise.  I'm so pleased to be apart of  his fabrication team.  Here is a photo of us at Altamar for delicious seafood----------------------------------------------------------------->

LITTLE CROWNS

I will be participating in a holiday group exhibition at Narwhal Art Projects.  The opening party is this Friday.  Here is the press release for the show and below is a brief statement about my project and some process images---->  

 Narwhal Art Projects Presents:

LITTLE CROWNS  

Magical Markings for the Celebratory Spell
December 11, 2009-January 10, 2010 
Opening Party December 11 from 7-10pm

The season of mystic ritual for the Western world happens each December. Darkness comes early in these arcane times and tradition reigns high as humans congregate around decorative firs and twinkling lights to celebrate magic. Metaphysical folk tales are shared, candles are lit, bread is broken, and concealed treasures are bestowed upon significant others. For suspended moments, belief in the unknown is possible. It is here that nine artists approach, bearing little crowns. Manipulating the earthly substances of clay, metal, mineral, wood and pigment, each artist conjures personal imagery of alchemy and enchantment. Please join Narwhal Art Projects this holiday season as we unveil magical markings for the celebratory spell. Featuring work by Carly Waito, Cody Cochrane, Irana Doeur, Katy Horan, Matthew Feyld, Naomi Yasui, Noel Middleton, PowerHaus and Selena Wong. 

http://www.narwhalartprojects.com/exhibitions/2009/littlecrowns/

A Form and Method of Perfecting Pots is a process driven piece that visually demonstrates the relationship between the sciences, craftsmanship and magic.  It is a timeline of 40 hand-made, lidded vessels of an attempted same shape and size, 39 of which, have recorded on the surface the series #, date, fabrication times, and weights.  The one exception from the lot is a chosen best that is decorated to completion.  Often, in ceramic practice, multiples are made to achieve and ensure one, or a set of, suitable finished piece(s) will survive all steps throughout the process. 

Having faith in something not quite realized, it is through repetition in practice where I have begun to test matters of applying magical qualities in the creation of objects – rather – skilled craftsmanship as an allusion of magic making.  A study of how to wield earthly materials and learning how to work with, not against, natural forces is to practice magic.  A Form and Method of Perfecting Pots is a record of the investment of time in such studies, but more importantly a presentation of all things that go wrong along the way.

 

PS - A report on Miami soon to come!

ALL DAY ALL NIGHT

OF A FALL HARVEST

Most artists lock themselves away in their studios throughout the winter months to work away on various projects.  However, this year many of my friends stayed indoors all spring and summer to prepare for fall/winter exhibitions.  October, and November looks the same, has been event after event and celebration after celebration. I want to share with you their fruits of hard work and dedication. I've included event info for these Toronto exhibitions - please visit the galleries if you are in the area and get a chance -  there is so much great work to see! 

Reprise

A Solo Exhibition of sculpture by Christy Langer

Christopher Cutts Gallery  21 Morrow Avenue 

Exhibition runs from October 17 - November 14 2009

The Invisible College

Narwhal Art Projects 680 Queen Street West

Exhibitions runs from October 29 - November 29 2009

Combining exemplary skills in classical oil painting with an inventive collection of characters, Stephen Appleby-Barr explores the surreal inner workings of a fictitious community based on brotherhood, heritage and tradition.  Continuing with the imagined legacies first constructed in the esoteric Nortammag Archives, allegoric images depicting varsity, academia, the occult and couture give lineage to an arcane society. 

The Fire and the Knife   

Katherine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects 1082 Queen Street West

Exhibition runs from October 23 - November 22 2009

Heather Goodchild, through illustration and symbolism, explores ideas around organized religions and societies with a keen interest in the rituals and literature of  Christianity and its codified expressions.  Her work primarily focuses on craft based techniques in textiles {rag rugs, felt portraits, soft sculpture, and dioramas}.  The medium of traditional women's handicraft lends itself to illuminate female experience and perspective on matters of organized religious societies which are historically patriarchal.  Heather has materialized her own sisterhood titled The Anna Ward Brouse Society pulling inspiration from the Shakers, Freemasons and Girl Guides. The Fire and the Knife continues her practice of storytelling through textiles, this time exploring themes of sacrifice and rebirth. 

Sitting Pretty : The Enduring Roll of Portraiture in Contemporary Art 

Red Bull 381 Projects  381 Queen Street West, Suite 200

Exhibition runs from November 5 - December 5 2009

Opening reception Thursday November 5th from 6-9pm

A group exhibition that explores the central task that portraiture plays in revealing individual and collective subjectivities.  Notions of power, prestige, history and the quest for eternity are invoked by a diverse arrangement of photography, painting, collage and sculpture by Stephen Appleby-Barr, Paul Butler, The Collecting Collective, Tibi Tibi Neuspiel, and Kara Uzelman.  Hope to see you there!  

Artist Talks:

Paul Butler and members of the Collecting Collective, with exhibition co-curator Nicholas Brown
Thursday November 12, 7pm

Stephen Appleby-Barr and Tibi Tibi Neuspiel, with exhibition co-curator Julia Lum
Thursday November 19, 7pm

Le Géranium : Exhibition & Book Launch

Magic Pony Gallery 694 Queen Street West 

Exhibition runs from November 7 - 16 2009

Book launch and signing will take place Saturday November 7th from 2-5 pm. 

Written and Published by Montreal-based Bourgeon, Le Géranium is a heartwarming love tale illustrated by Melinda Josie and contains over 30 original paintings.  Before the book went to print I had the privilege of viewing the beautiful watercolour/gouache pieces up close and they are stunning!  This even will host all the original artwork and you will be able to pick up a copy of this darling book.  It will be a lovely afternoon, please come!

I've been spending most of my hours assisting Evan at his studio and have had little time in the past month to work on my own projects. We've been working away on a new 10' sculpture of a stretched female bust which is set to debut at Art Basel Miami on December 3rd. Exciting! We have only 2 weeks to get this piece completed - it's crunch time.

I'm currently working on a project for a holiday group exhibition Little Crowns at Narwhal Art Projects happening early December, as well as, a collaborative room installation for Come Up To My Room at the Gladstone Hotel scheduled to open mid-January.  I will try harder to keep this blog more up-to-date!

BEAUTIFUL RENCONTRE------------------------