Claudine Ise in ArtForum's current critic pick's writes about Laura Letinsky's exhibition "Chicago" at Monique Meloche Gallery, on view until March 13. She writes:
Chicago Laura Letinsky MONIQUE MELOCHE GALLERY 2154 W. Division January 16–March 13
Laura Letinsky, Untitled #2, 2008, color photograph, 32 x 40". From the series “The Dog and the Wolf,” 2008–2009.
In her first series of domestic still-life photographs (“Morning, and Melancholia,” 2002–), Laura Letinsky put the contemporary kitchen countertop and the traditions of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings under analysis, as it were, revealing them both to be purveyors of deep-seated cultural meanings. In Letinsky’s subsequent bodies of work, the white tablecloth—traditionally a sign of cleanliness and elegance—figures as a screen on which a culture’s ideas surrounding food, desire, and sustenance are projected and consumed.
Succulence and decay, desire and the sense of repulsion that often follows satiety, are competing forces in the artist’s latest exhibition, a magnificently concise selection of five large-format color photographs culled from a new series titled “The Dog and the Wolf,” 2008–2009. These grimly elegiac images, all shot in the artist’s studio during the velvety gray hours of twilight, foreground to a greater extent than before the serene abjection at the heart of Letinsky’s project without sacrificing any of the exquisitely controlled formalism for which she is known.
The artfully strewn cellophane wrappers and fast-food packaging of her 2006 series “To Say It Isn’t So” have been replaced by a dead rabbit and pigeon, a pile of scooped-out oyster shells, and various minute scraps of organic detritus placed so precisely on the table’s surface as to suggest an excavation site rather than an abandoned meal. Shot from a range of perspectives, all of them somewhat disorienting, Letinsky’s dining table no longer appears as a deserted gathering spot. Now it seems more like a precipice, its contents pushed precariously close to the edge with nowhere left to go.
A new photo exhibition looks at the history of Canada's image abroad
Last Updated: Thursday, February 4, 2010
By Alec Scott
Erecting "Canada Bread" sign, Dundas West and Bloor, Toronto (1951), photographer unknown.
My father is English, and I vividly remember that one of the books his family had on its shelves was an essay collection called The Romance of Canada. It featured a skin-wearing fur-trapper on its cover, plodding through a wintry pine forest on snowshoes, his rifle at the ready.
Many of the images in O Canada, a new photo exhibition that runs until Feb. 27, are similarly stereotypical. The bulk of the pictures, on display at the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto, document the nation's first century, from Confederation to Expo '67. Bulger tracked down historic images in collections around the world, but he hit a mother lode when the New York Times invited him to explore its vast photo archive in Queens. There, among four-million-plus photos, the curator found over 22,000 with Canadian content.
Many of the photos in the show illustrate how Canada grew to be perceived by the rest of the world. Winter is a constant presence, and the Mounties and Niagara also get their close-ups. Some images document the central role aboriginals have played in the nation's story, while others bear witness to the birth of a multicultural society.
Moose Hunting: The Return (1866), by William Notman.
The images of itinerant Scottish-born photographer William Notman were seen around the world in the Victorian era, and helped convey a romantic image of the nascent nation to people who'd never been there. Ironically, this seemingly authentic depiction of life in the wilds was staged in Notman's Montreal studio. Indeed, a nation's image is always, to some degree, staged.
Prince Arthur and Group, Ottawa, Ont. (1870), by William Notman.
Much pomp and circumstance surrounded Canadian visits of British royals, with street-naming and ribbon-cutting ceremonies. But images of (apparently) less formal, unscripted events – like this shot of a tobogganing Prince Arthur – were especially prized in the home country.
Ice Skating, Kingston (ca. 1890), by Harry Henderson.
The crowd gathered at this Kingston, Ont., rink suggests it's more than just a recreational skate. With the rules of hockey just formalized in the late 1870s, this photo could be one of the earliest documents of our national sport. ("I can't say for sure," curator Stephen Bulger says, "but it looks like hockey.")
Bobby Leach and his Barrel (1911), Photo Specialty Co.
Several photos in O Canada illustrate the international fascination with Niagara Falls. The daredevil Bobby Leach evidently survived his barrel ride over the cataract, and has been clumsily cut-and-pasted in front of this glamour shot of the falls.
Ice Palace at Lachine, Que. (circa 1928), photographer unknown.
The numerous ice and snow-covered shots in the exhibition call to mind Gilles Vigneault's lyric "Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver" – "my country is not a country, it's winter." Many of the snaps, like this one of an ice castle at an unidentified festival, glamourize our coldest season, rendering it exotic and pretty for those in more temperate climes.
A Douglas Fir Log in Forest North of Port Haney, B.C. (1933), photographer unknown.
The influential economic historian Harold Innis argued that Canada's dependence on raw, unprocessed staples like fish, minerals, fossil fuels, pulp and paper put us at the mercy of more industrially advanced nations. He felt we were often relegated simply to the role of hewers of wood, as witnessed here, and drawers of water.
A "Ghost Town" of the '90s Comes Back to Life (circa 1934), photographer unknown.
Here's how the New York Times captioned this shot: "Barkerville, B.C., which once numbered a population of 15,000, now the centre of a new gold rush to which men are stampeding for claims." The message conveyed by many of these photographs is that Canada's chief claim to international attention lay in its abundant, seemingly inexhaustible natural resources.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Arrive for the Coronation (1937), photographer unknown.
A recent New York Times crossword puzzle asked for an enduring symbol of Canada in seven letters. The answer, of course, was "Mountie." This photo was used twice by the same paper: once, in 1937, in a photo spread for the Coronation of George VI (in 1937), and again for a story on Alberta's alleged desire to "replace the famous mounted police" in the 1950s.
Padlei, Nunavut (1950), by Richard Harrington.
Retained by Life magazine to shoot photos of the Arctic, Richard Harrington came across the village of Padlei, a community in what is now Nunavut. Padlei's members were starving because of shifting caribou migration patterns. This renowned photo was captioned, "During a time of famine the Padleimiut stay together. Keenaq and her son Keepseeyuk rub noses."
O Canada features many images of aboriginal life, ranging from one of a native settlement next to a Hudson's Bay trading post in Temiscaming, Que., to this shot of the totem poles in AlertBay.
A Fair Way to Celebrate Canada's Centennial (1967), by Sam Falk.
The bold, modern font employed in this fairground fixture signalled Canada's desire to shift gears on its 100th birthday. Expo 67 gave evidence of the host country and former colony's intention to take its place on the international stage.
O Canada runs at the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto until Feb. 27.
Alec Scott is a writer based in Toronto and San Francisco.
I’VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING Dir. Patricia Rozema (CA, 1987) 81 mins I've Heard the Mermaids Singing centers on the engaging and whimsical Polly Vandersma, played by Sheila McCarthy, a naïve and klutzy temporary secretary and amateur photographer in Toronto. Though timid and gauche on the outside, Polly leads an intense inner life. Her fantasies of flying, walking on water and conducting a Beethoven symphony are represented in black and white sequences which punctuate the film. Polly falls in love with the beautiful and sophisticated Gabrielle St Peres after being hired by Gabrielle to assist in the running of a trendy art gallery. Motivated by adoration, Polly smuggles a picture by Gabrielle into the gallery for display, initiating events which eventually reveal a conspiracy between Gabrielle and her lover, Mary Joseph, to pass off Mary's artwork as Gabrielle's.
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing emphasizes eccentricity, and its non-sensational representation of lesbianism in an unusual mainstream Canadian film. Polly's qualities of innocent good-heartedness, read by some viewers as essentially Canadian, earned the film international legions of charmed viewers and the Prix de la Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987.
In January 1955, I was in Paso, Texas, working on a story about a young couple. He was in the army and they lived modestly off base. She was pregnant and in the post WWII world an army career seemed secure and stable. I don’t know how I found them, but they were amenable to my tagging along and photographing their life. I was working for a revived SEE Magazine under two excellent editors, Norman Lobsenz and Marvin Albert. The idea was to give LOOK some competition and LIFE a nudge with some excellent photographic essays. I was staying with my friends, Ralph & Bronia Lowenstein. Ralph later became the Dean of Journalism at Florida State Univ.
Anyway, I had difficulty concentrating on the shoot because I was thinking about Elaine Sernovitz, an amazing woman writer who was then working at the United Nations. Just before leaving New York she told me not to bother calling her when I got back. As she has learned subsequently, I don’t listen, and with Ralph’s permission made a long distance call to New York and asked her to marry me. I was surprised and very happy when she said “yes.”
We decided to rendezvous in New Orleans and have a simple ceremony. Visits to the families in Milwaukee and Boston would come later. To compress the following events, I drove my Volkswagen all the way across Texas, at a steady speed of 58mph (the maximum), picked up my watch at a hock shop in Corpus Christi and arrived in New Orleans where I stayed with my cousin Henry Freidman who was a tourist guide in the Old Quarter.
I had a message waiting for me from Lynn Marret, my agent in New York. Marvin and Norman had been fired, she had rushed over to their office with a bottle of Scotch and managed to get a check cut for money owed (The good old days!). Then, to modify the pain she told me that she had gotten me an assignment to photograph Bourbon Street, New Orleans, for a high end startup men’s magazine that was going to compete with Esquire.
I called Elaine with the bad news/good news and I think she saw me wobbling on the marriage idea. I assured her that I wasn’t. When the money arrived from Lynn in New York, I bought the wedding rings, and film for the Bourbon Street shoot. With the help of my cousin, Henry, “Sure you can shoot the strippers; shoot whatever you want. I know everybody on the street.” I shot for three days and developed the film in the bathroom of the motel where I had moved. Each morning I would cut the negs and put them in a proof printing frame on my doorstep using POP (Printing out paper.) No developer necessary. They were like the red proofs you got from portrait studios in the 1950’s. I captioned, quickly got them out of the light and into and envelope and mailed them to New York. Shortly after the last batch arrived in New York, Lynn sent me a telegram saying the shoot was rejected and they were giving me a $100 kill fee. What news!!-- Just before our wedding!
Years later “Woman at the Bar” was taken into the collection of MOMA and ICP. Chelo was included in Bill Ewing’s book “The Body” (Thames & Hudson, 1994). The entire essay was the subject of my book “Bourbon Street New Orleans 1955” published by Les Editions du Passage, Montreal, 2006. Of course that didn’t help us then. Freelance people are survivors. We survived and after 55 years have four children and nine grandchildren.
So help us celebrate and I will help you. On Feb 3, 2010 all prints from my Bourbon Street essay will be 55% off. I have notified all my dealers of this one day event.
They are: Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto Galerie d’Este, Montreal A Gallery of Fine Photography, New Orleans John Cleary Gallery, Houston Kowasa Gallery, Barcelona Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles Staley Wise Gallery, New York Michael Hoppen Gallery, London
Leah Sandals interviews Jeff Thomas for the NATIONAL POST in her article "Back to the Land", published on Thursday, January 21st, 2010. Sandals finds out what's behind his current exhibition at Glenbow Museum on display until February 21st, 2010.
Leah Sandals and Jeff Thomas:
"Toys may be for children, but their portrayal in the photographs of Jeff Thomas is far from child's play. Currently, the Ottawa artist's acclaimed images of native-themed figurines are getting a viewing at Calgary's Glenbow Museum. Now, he talks to Leah Sandals about the ways tiny dolls can address huge histories.
Q Your images of First Nations figurines are memorable. Where do they come from?
A In 1992, I took a road trip across the U.S. The motto for that year was "Columbus: Discoverer of the New World," and I was interested in what the new world is, and for whom. I also wanted to photograph an Indian man in South Dakota who posed in tribal costume for tourists. But when I found the man, I didn't photograph him; I felt embarrassed about it.
When I returned to Ottawa, someone told me about the Champlain monument and the Indian scout that used to be at its base. From that point on, I started searching for Indian figures in the landscape; I wanted to play on the idea of the "vanishing Indian" that way.
One thing led to another, and in 1999, Ali Kazimi made a film about my work. Ali started the film by holding up a plastic cowboy and a plastic Indian. After the film premiered, he gave me the figures and said I'd probably find something interesting to do with them. So I went for a walk in Ottawa, and posed them in the landscape; that was the beginning of the series."
C.R.A.Z.Y Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée (CA, 2005) 127 mins It's a story of two love affairs. A father's love for his five sons. And one son's love for his father, a love so strong it compels him to live a lie. That son is Zac Beaulieu, born on the 25th of December 1960, different from all his brothers, but desperate to fit in. During the next 20 years, life takes Zac on a surprising and unexpected journey that ultimately leads him to accept his true nature and, even more importantly, leads his father to love him for who he really is. A mystical fable about a modern-day Christ-like figure, "C.R.A.Z.Y" exudes the beauty, the poetry and the madness of the human spirit in all its contradictions.
February 4 to March 6, 2009 Opening Reception: Thursday, February 4, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Dominion Street brings together an extensive body of work by emerging Moncton-based photographer Jaret Belliveau. Documenting his family over the course of five years, Belliveau originally focused on daily life until his mother was diagnosed with cancer. The images that developed out the experience convey the internal workings of a family’s struggle with illness and ultimately life after personal trauma. Included alongside Belliveau’s striking colour documentary portraits is a collection of old found family photographs. This juxtaposition of two forms of the autobiographical image highlights the slippery relationship between the vernacular and the documentary.
Alongside Belliveau’s documentary practice his publications include editorial work for The Sunday Times magazine; The Saturday Telegraph magazine; The Walrus magazine; Maclean’s magazine and The Globe and Mail. In 2005 Belliveau was selected by the Musee de L’Elysee for an exhibition entitled reGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow and has published images with the Magenta Foundation. Belliveau is currently editing his first feature length documentary film. He is represented by Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto.
Copyright Jaret Belliveau courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery.
Bertrand Carrière featured in the recent issue of Belgian View magazine. Written by Georges Vercheval, the article is titled Bertrand Carrière: Lieux mêmes. To find out more and buy your copy please go to: www.viewmag.be
January 16-March 14, 2010 Opening Reception: Saturday, January 16 at 2:30 pm CAMBRIDGE GALLERIES PRESTON 435 King Street East Cambridge, Ontario
"Reliable" marks Fausta Facciponte's second solo exhibition of large format photographic close-ups of doll's faces. The artist uses digital photography as a means of reclaiming these common childhood playthings, many of which have been found second-hand or purchased on eBay. Each image has been constructed out of dozens of individual photos that have been digitally stitched together to capture the fine detail of each doll's expression, their individual quirks and personalities. At first glance these images appear cheerful and bright, but they also call to mind historical mourning and memorial photographs, which often focused on children as their subject.
Where: Ace Art Gallery, 2nd fl, 290 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg MB Reception: Friday, February 5th, 7pm Runs - 6th February – 5th March 2010 Artist talk - Saturday 6th February , 2pm 6 live performances, limited seating per show, booking is essential!
"Local favourite, Sarah Anne Johnson, artist of international acclaim and 2008 Grange Prize winner to debut new work at aceartinc.
Dancing with The Doctor is a continuation of House on Fire, which examined the medical abuse suffered by Johnson's grandmother, Val Orlikow, in CIA-funded experiments.
This choreographed installation is a significant departure for Johnson- it includes her first performance work and the results are as extraordinary as they are moving. Few contemporary artists would take this risk in their practice and the vein tingling excitement she has engendered make this is an absolute must-see. Winnipeg has an art coup on its hands.
The exhibition features life-sized stage sets based on rooms from the original dollhouse in House on Fire. Contemporary dancers, (Ming Hon, Holly Treddenick and Tanja Woloshen,) dressed in costumes also designed by Johnson, perform on the sets, embodying the women haunted by a CIA Doctor’s dreadful experiments."
GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD Dir. Donald Shebib (CA, 1970) 90 mins
Goin' Down the Road chronicles the lives of two young men from the Maritimes who move to Toronto in order to find a better life. It starred Doug McGrath, Paul Bradley, Jayne Eastwood and Cayle Chernin. Despite a lack of production expense, it is generally regarded as one of the best and most influential Canadian films of all time and has received considerable critical acclaim for its true-to-life performances. In 2002, readers of Playback (magazine) voted it the 5th greatest Canadian film of all-time.
The story is about desolation, as two friends Pete and Joey travel from Nova Scotia to Toronto in hope of finding a better life. When the prestigious jobs they expected do not materialize, they are forced to work in menial, low-paying jobs in a bottle factory and a carwash. Joey gets a waitress pregnant, marries her and moves into a dream apartment with furniture on borrowed money. Meanwhile, Pete has higher ambitions which also go unrewarded. When their seasonal jobs disappear, they are forced to move in together. Desperate, they decide to rob a Loblaws grocery store at Christmas. After botching this job too, they decide, in desperation, to head west.
Hitting the mark at the Durham Art Gallery (251 George Street East, Durham) Anthony Koutras and the other Fine Art Graduate and doctoral students in Art History & Visual Culture at York University will be producing a dress rehearsal for their upcoming thesis work from January 23 to March 14, 2010. In collaboration with AGYU Assistant Curator Suzanne Carte-Blanchenot, the exhibition will be a “test site” for new ideas, projects, and exchanges between the players.
TEST SITE
23 January - 21 March 2010 Opening Reception: Saturday January 23rd, 2010 For more information or directions please contact the Durham Art Gallery at 519.369.3692 or info@durhamart.on.ca. www.durhamart.on.ca
Laura Letinsky at moniquemeloche for her exhibition The Dog and The Wolf, starting January 16 and running until March 13, 2010.
Press Release The Dog and the Wolf is Letinsky’s newest series of photographs. The title is from Aesop’s Fable of the same name, but also refers to the French phrase L'heure entre chien et loup -- the time between dog and wolf is seen when dusk becomes night. This is a mysterious time when day and night exist together, when a dog is no longer a dog but not fully a wolf. Exploring this concept, Letinsky is now photographing in twilight as opposed to the morning light that permeated her earlier work. The subject matter of her recent still life photographs mirrors the darker lighting and mood with a grotesque beauty. Dead hares, birds, and even an octopus more typical of this historical genre share the stage with lollipops, candy canes, and half-eaten fruit from the artist’s own daily life. For the full press release, please go to www.moniquemeloche.com
Opening reception is Saturday, January 16th, 4-7pm moniquemeloche 2154 W. Division Chicago IL 60622 www.moniquemeloche.com
THE NOTEBOOK Dir. Nick Cassavetes (USA, 2004, 124 mins)
The Notebook, an epic love story centered around an older man who regularly visits an invalid woman. He reads to her from a faded notebook, and though her memory diminishes with each day, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths. His words give her the chance to relive her turbulent youth and the unforgettable love they shared.
As teenagers, Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (Ryan Gosling) begin a whirlwind courtship that soon blossoms into tender intimacy. The young couple is separated by Allie's upper-class parents who insist that Noah isn't right for her. Several years pass, and, when they meet again, their passion is rekindled, forcing Allie to choose between her soul mate and her new fiancé who represents her class order. This beautiful tale has a particularly special meaning to an older gentleman (James Garner) who regularly reads the timeless love story to his aging companion (Gena Rowlands).
Robert Bourdeau's new book "Robert Bourdeau The Station Point" will be released during the spring of 2011. MaryAnn Camilleri, president of the Magenta Foundation, and publisher of this new book, writes:
"Taken over the past three decades throughout Europe and North America, these photographs are of age-old landscapes, historical treasures of architecture nestled in the countryside and rusting industrial sites reclaimed by nature. Bourdeau is deeply interested in how certain structures lose their identity and take on other feelings and ambiguities, and at other times become guardians or sentinels of physical and emotional space. He is also fascinated by the dark mysticism of mediaeval architecture and by brooding landscapes, the exactness of his photography disclosing the hidden geometry of nature.
Trained as an architect, Bourdeau (born 1931) was lured to photography by leafing through an issue of Aperture. This led to a crucial encounter with Minor White in 1958, and a spiritual, decade-long apprenticeship. The tie with the school that emerged from Camera Work was further enhanced by Bourdeau’s connection with Paul Strand in the late 1960s.Working with a large-format view camera, Bourdeau favours long exposures. Most of his photographs are contact printed, either from an 11-by-14-inch or an8-by-10-inch negative, a method that allows for a minimal loss of definition in reproduction. Bourdeau has exhibited internationally since 1967.His work is in the collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; the Museum of Contemporary Art and The Renaissance Society, Chicago; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa."
On Wednesday January 20th, at 6:30 pm, the Textile Museum of Canada is presenting a talk with Daniel Tanenbaum, son of collectors Carole and Howard Tanenbaum. Daniel will use examples from his own collection of vintage and modern daguerreotypes to talk about the art of collecting and the collector’s eye in “Collecting Daguerreotypes with Daniel Tanenbaum.”
Robert Burley’s Great Lakes photographs are featured in the exhibition "Liquid of Rain and Rivers"curated by Melissa Bennett at the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
Liquid of Rain and Rivers On view December 5th, 2009 to April 11th, 2010 Opening reception on Sunday January 31st, from 2 to 4pm.
THE NEW YORKER Goings On About Town January 4th, 2010
GALLERIES—CHELSEA
ALEX WEBB AND REBECCA NORRIS WEBB This married couple shows color photographs from several trips to Cuba that emphasize the easy compatibility of their distinct visual styles. Alex usually takes a broad view of streetscapes complicated by shadows, reflections, and arrested movement; he has a filmmaker’s ability to find the skewed but perfect balance in a scene that threatens to spin out of control. Rebecca tends to focus on details, framing intriguing still-lifes and capturing marvellous shots of birds, including a pigeon that appears to be flying away from a freshly laid egg. Both Webbs use color like the Fauves—in hot, vibrant swatches and pungent accents. The results are the opposite of tourist views: pictures that are generated and animated by their subjects, never imposed on them. Through Jan. 2. (Ricco/Maresca, 529 W. 20th St. 212-627-4819.)
After the madness of the holidays, early January tends to be a quiet month on both the gallery and shopping scenes. This week's launch of First Thursdays on West Queen West aims to change that. About 35 of the district's art galleries, shops and restaurants will stay open until 10 p.m. for the new monthly event.
As part of Thursday's festivities, the recently opened Toronto Institute for the Enjoyment of Music (821 Queen St. W.) will present two free musical performances. Over at Camera (1026 Queen), the Stephen Bulger Gallery is hosting a free film screening of The Queen. And women's wear boutique Magpie Designs (884 Queen) will present live music. "In the dreary months of winter, it's nice to have something fun going on," says Magpie co-owner and co-designer Cathy McDayter.
By staying open later, boutique and gallery owners hope to attract not only the after-dinner crowd, but new customers whose schedules prevent them from visiting during regular business hours. Participating stores are offering First Thursdays sales, which shoppers can access by downloading a savings "passport."
While First Thursdays are organized by the local Business Improvement Area, tonight's event isn't just about boosting business.
"It's an invitation to come see our area," says Tao Drayton, owner of vintage clothing shop Cabaret. "It's about a neighbourhood, not just the businesses, but the people, the artists and the community that lives and works down here."
At least two art galleries will host openings Thursday from 6 to 9. Angell Gallery (890 Queen) will unveil work by Calgary-based artist Bradley Harms. Scheduling the opening for First Thursdays lets the gallery "broaden our audience," says owner Jamie Angell.
At Lausberg Contemporary (880 Queen), visitors can meet German artist Jürgen Paas at the opening of his show, "In the Presence of an Original."
For art lovers – and those slightly intimidated by art galleries – arts journalist Betty Ann Jordan will lead an art walk. Kicking off at 6:30 p.m. at the Edward Day Gallery (952 Queen), where artist Doug Guildford will be present, Jordan's tour will visit five galleries and a restaurant (Oddfellows), introduce participants to artists and end with hot chocolate at the Drake Hotel. Complimentary "wine and nibbles" are promised.
The art and design walk is just the beginning, Jordan says. "Our hope is in upcoming months that we will expand the walks to three theme tours. One will be art and design. Another will be music and spoken word and the third will be food and drink."
As for First Thursdays, "it's a work in progress," Jordan says. "It's just going to get better and better."
Murray Whyte from the Star writes about his top 5 shows for 2009, including Sarah Ann Johnson's exhibition at the AGO titled "House on Fire". He writes:
House on Fire: Sarah Anne Johnson at the AGO
Johnson--vines-2 I'm pretty hard on the AGO, as anyone who's ever so much as skimmed anything I've done on ye olde institution would know; but this one, simply, hit it out of the park. Johnson, a thirtysomething artist from Winnipeg, often combines homespun photographic manipulations -- images purposefully crudely retouched by hand, drawn or scribbled on -- with eerily primitivistic, archetypal-seeming sculpture, detailing a dark inner mythology of her own making. For House on Fire, which the AGO smartly acquired, Johnson's subject was not mythology, but a dark episode in her family history; her grandmother was one of the unfortunate few who was an unwitting subject of pharmacological mind-control experiments surreptitiously conducted by the CIA on patients at the Allen Memorial Institute at McGill University, Montreal.
The resulting work occupies a space somewhere between darkly fantastical, half-remembered nightmare and a chilling reality almost too brutal to be believed (above is a photograph Johnson has re-imagined, of herself and her sister being held by her grandmother, as children; the encircling vines growing from the tortured woman's figures speak of a permanent, inexorcizable haunting). Personal, affecting and thoroughly worked through -- Johnson's pieces, both photographic and sculptural, carry a tragic personal weight with their perfectly rendered, hand-made qualities -- House on Fire is exactly what the AGO should be doing.
FIRST THURSDAY on WEST QUEEN WEST TORONTO’S MONTHLY CULTURAL CRAWL Come Out and See "The Queen" on West Queen West!
8:00 PM THE QUEEN Dir. Stephen Frears (UK: 2006) 103 mins It’s 1997 and Diana the 'People's Princess' has died in a car accident in Paris. The Queen Elizabeth II, played by Helen Mirren, and her family decide that it is best if they remain hidden behind the closed doors of the Balmoral Castle. The heartbroken public does not understand and request that the Queen confronts her people. This also puts pressure on newly elected Tony Blair, played by Michael Sheen, who constantly tries to convince the monarchy to publicly address the tragedy.
For more information on First Thursdays and the WEST QUEEN WEST Art + Design District – Bathurst to Gladstone please visit:www.westqueenwest.ca
Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh 21 January–11 April 2010 Curated by Sunil Gupta
This is a landmark exhibition giving an inside view of how modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have been shaped through the lens of their photographers. From the earliest days of photography when the first Indian-run photographic studios were established in the 19th century, this exhibition tells the story of photography’s development in the subcontinent with over 400 works that have been uniquely brought together. It encompasses social realism and reportage of the key political moments in the 1940s, amateur snaps from the 1960s, and street photography from the 1970s. Contemporary photographs reveal the reality of everyday life, while the recent digitalisation of image making accelerates its cross-over with fashion and film.
For more information about the show, please go to Whitechapel Gallery's website at www.whitechapelgallery.org
The exhibition is organized by the Whitechapel Gallery, London, in collaboration with Fotomuseum, Winterthur.
Stephen Bulger Gallery is sending you our best wishes for the holidays and for a wonderful 2010. We will be closed on December 24th, 2009 and will open again on January 5th, 2010.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) Dir. Chuck Jones & Ben Washam (USA: 1966) 26 min Bitter and hateful, the Grinch is irritated at the thought of the nearby village having a happy time celebrating Christmas. So disguised as Santa Claus, with his dog made to look like a reindeer, he raids the village to steal all the Christmas things. The village is sure to have a sad Christmas this year.
Miracle on 34th Street (1947) Dir. George Seaton (USA: 1947) 96 min Doris Walker a no-nonsense Macy's executive, desperately searches for a new store Santa. She hires Kris Kringle who insists that he's the real Santa Claus. But, he has many skeptics like Doris and her six year old daughter, Susan. So Kris goes to court to try and prove it. Is he the real Santa Claus?
"No bed of roses" Play recreates 1969 Lennon and Ono stunt
Playwright Risha Yorke’s new production — John/Yoko Bed Piece — explores how both today’s political left and right still fail to grasp John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s subtle populism.
By: JOHN KEILLOR FOR METRO CANADA December 15, 2009
More Details John/Yoko Bed Piece at The Toronto Centre for the Arts, Studio Theatre, December 16th through Jan. 2, 2010.
Before returning to England to become the new Foreign Secretary, British diplomat Robert Conway has one last task in 1935 China: to rescue 90 Westerners in the city of Baskul. He flies out with the last few evacuees, just ahead of armed revolutionaries. Unbeknownst to the passengers, the pilot is replaced and their airplane is hijacked. It eventually runs out of fuel and crashes deep in the Himalayas. When hope runs out, the group is rescued and taken to Shangri-La, an idyllic valley sheltered from the bitter cold. The contented inhabitants are led by the mysterious High Lama. Initially anxious to return to civilization, most of the newcomers grow to love their new home. Conway is particularly enchanted, especially when he meets Sondra, who has grown up in Shangri-la. However, Conway's younger brother George and Maria, another beautiful young woman they find there, are determined to leave.
Director Natasha O'Connor filmed artist Rosalind Solomon in her New York City apartment, talking to the artist about her installation "Adios." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXtmblUaNng
On December 9th, 2009, artist and filmaker Clive Holden began a round table discussion of his 2004 film cycle, Trains of Winnipeg - 14 Film Poems, and its recent inclusion in The Auteurs' on-line film library. For the next two weeks he will be discussing the film, and artist-made film distribution in the 21st century, with eight great people. After the first week, it will be opened up to "questions from the floor" ( which includes all The Auteurs members).
A group of Anterean aliens return to earth to take back some cocoons of their people they left behind from an earlier trip. The cocoons are resting at the bottom of the ocean. They kept the recovered cocoons in the swimming pool of a house they rented in a small Florida town. Their mission is hampered by three simple, aging senior citizens who like to swim in the unguarded swimming pool, which is also next door to the old age home they live in. One day when they go swimming, they feel energized and "ready to take on the world!" When they find out it is because the pool was recently bought by four alien Antereans incognito as humans, the old folks offer to help the Antereans return the cocoons back to Antarea. As a reward, they offer something magnificent.
Aperture Foundation has published a book of Alex Webb's photographs "Istanbul: City of a Hundred Names", Edited by Orphan Pamuk.
About Alex Webb
San Francisco-born photographer Alex Webb is an avid photojournalist whose work has been featured in New York Times Magazine, Life, Geo and National Geographic. He joined Magnum Photos in 1976 and has published six photography books, including "Crossings" and the limited edition "Crossings." He has also received numerous awards, including the 1988 Leopold Godowsky Color Photography Award.
Winnipeg photo show exhibits rarely seen images of 1950s Arctic famine
WINNIPEG — Sometime in late February 1950, a Canadian photographer pulled a camera out of his parka and into the stabbing Arctic cold, focused as best he could in the flickering lamplight inside an igloo, and pressed the shutter.
The resulting image - an Inuit mother, haggard from hunger and dressed in shabby caribou skins, fiercely pressing her nose and lips to those of her youngest child - has since become iconic.
But the story behind Richard Harrington's memorable print, and the many others he made around the same time, is less well known. And that's what a show now on at the Winnipeg Art Gallery hopes to remedy.
"It's certainly long overdue," said Darlene Wight, one of two curators behind the exhibit, which runs until March.
Harrington made six trips to the Arctic between 1948 and 1953. He travelled by dogsled and often lived with the Inuit, who still largely depended on the land. It was a life that informed their traditional culture but depended on the availability of caribou.
Harrington's 1950 trip came in a year the caribou didn't. The result was famine. As southern Canadians were welcoming a prosperous decade of suburbs and big-finned cars, many of their northern fellow citizens were starving to death.
On Feb. 8, a few days before he snapped his most famous picture, Harrington wrote in his journal:
"Came upon the tiniest igloo yet. Outside lay a single, mangy dog, motionless, starving ... Inside, a small woman in clumsy clothes, large hood, with baby.
"She sat in darkness, without heat. She speaks to me. I believe she said they were starving.
"We left some tea, matches, kerosene, biscuits. And went on."
More than once, Harrington photographed someone who would be dead the next day. And when he returned south, it was those images that finally alerted the rest of Canada to what was going on in its Arctic backyard.
Most Canadians are unaware that famine stalked their land within living memory, said Frank Tester, an Arctic sociologist and historian at the University of British Columbia.
"It's not a story that's well-understood or appreciated," he said. "We have an image of this country that excises this period altogether."
In fact, although Harrington's work is sold and exhibited at Toronto's Stephen Bulger Gallery, the Winnipeg show of 23 images is his first at a public art institution in Canada in more than two decades. His photographs have never toured the country they portray.
"(Harrington) didn't work within this idea of being a fine artist," said Mary Reid, the show's other curator.
"He was certainly very much a commercial photographer, working as a photojournalist. It's just now within the last 10 years that photojournalism is starting to make its way more prevalently known within the fine art canon."
Harrington's low profile can't be blamed on lack of quality. His Arctic work was praised by no less a photographic luminary than Henri Cartier-Bresson. He was the only Canadian in the world-touring 1955 Family of Man show curated by Edward Steichen.
But even the Winnipeg show may not have happened without the intervention of Harrington's widow, who visited the gallery and showed her husband's work to Reid and Wight.
"I was just absolutely blown away, not only by the quality of the photography, but also by the subject matter as well," Reid said.
The show - which also exhibits sculpture by Inuit carver Charlie Sivuarapik, whom Harrington later photographed - contains plenty of tragedy. But some prints are from other Arctic trips Harrington made and offer a wide view of traditional Inuit life during a time it was disappearing.
"These are very, very proud, striking images of a people that were not devastated," said Wight. "It's really important for people to see (Inuit) pre-community life and how it was very arduous, but also how the people were very proud and had a good life." Tester first saw Harrington's work 20 years ago.
"It's a window into people who made their own meaning, who survived in a climate that was incredibly demanding," he said. "The pictures portray a people with fundamental strength."
Reid said Winnipeg gallery-goers were crowding into the Harrington show even before the captions were mounted on the walls.
"We couldn't keep them out of the space."
By the end of his 1950 trip, Harrington could no longer take pictures. His fingers had been frostbitten too often.
In mid-March, as he waited for an airplane to take him south at what is now Arviat, Nunavut, Harrington watched his Inuit guide travel off.
"Kumok has gone into the glittering wilderness, swallowed up, only a tiny, moving dot, soon out of sight," he wrote. "The greatest and most infinitesimal spot, who conquers and lives, using snow for his home, caribou for his food and clothing.
There was yet another poster making competition titled Paint Hope in the city, on the same day, for the same purpose – spreading awareness about AIDS – This was organized by UNAIDS in partnership with another organization.
That was not all, as a documentary film, I Want To Live, made by Sunil Gupta was also shown to the guests. One of the issues addressed in the film was the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. This was followed by a short panel discussion by Mona Mishra, Ratan Singh and Anandi Yuvraj.
FILMS CAN HELP: One of the guests present, Anjali Sen, said “It’s time that more and more films on this issue are made, so that AIDS awareness spreads among people, and they also know what causes it.” Designer Rohit Gandhi was present there too, and he said, “Films, posters and counseling can change the mindsets about HIV positive people.” http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/parties/delhi/When-Delhi-Painted-Hope/articleshow/5296401.cms
This December 3rd, 2009, Gallery44, opened their 30th Anniversary exhibition "Wall to Wall, 30th Anniversary Edition".
Gallery 44, an artist-run photography center located at 401 Richmond Street, Unit 120, turns 30 this fall. It first opened in 1979 and has had a tremendous impact on local artists and its surrounding community as it has developed into a key focus of the Canadian photo art scene.
Exhibition and Sale of photographs dating from 1979 to 2009 by Gallery 44 members and friends. Exhibition continues until December 19 - www.gallery44.org
PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY Dir. Albert Lewin (USA, 1945) 110 mins
The “Picture of Dorian Gray” is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1891 novel, and became the classic tale of vanity. A handsome young Victorian gentleman, Dorian Gray, has his portrait made by a close friend who is obsessed with his beauty. Though at first Gray is an innocent young man, under the influence of amoral Lord Henry Wotton, he embarks on a journey of vile undertakings. As the years pass, Dorian Gray does not age, but evidence of Grays sins are apparent in his portrait, which grows uglier with each transgression. He keeps it safely hidden in the attic. But his mysterious behavior and ageless appearance begin to attract suspicion.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 1, 2009) - The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, today announced the appointment of Stephen Bulger as a member of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board.
"As a renowned photography specialist and photographic art dealer, Mr. Bulger brings extensive knowledge and expertise that will be of great value to the work of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board," said Minister Moore.
In 1991, Mr. Bulger graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Arts, Photographic Arts from Ryerson University's School of Image Arts in Toronto and began working in the photography department of the Ontario College of Art. He participated in the creation of the Ryerson Gallery, the School's first off-campus exhibition space and was its first Director until 1993. In 1995, he founded the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto and, since then, he has curated over 130 exhibitions. In addition to selling photographs and collections to international institutions and individuals, he has been working as an appraiser of photographs for donations and insurance purposes. Among his prestigious clients are the National Gallery of Canada and its affiliate the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography; the Library of Congress in Washington, DC; the National Gallery of Australia; the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography; and other museums in Switzerland and France.
Mr. Bulger has participated in many North American and European art fairs and acted as juror at Hart House photography competitions. He has published catalogues, books, and articles and has given lectures and interviews on subjects related to his domain of expertise. In 1997, he co-founded CONTACT, Toronto's photography festival, showcasing over 1000 local, national, and international artists' work. Over the years, Mr. Bulger has been involved with the boards of Canadian and international professional associations. He is currently the President of the Board of Directors of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers in Washington, DC.
The Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board's mandate is to make determinations regarding the outstanding significance and national importance of cultural assets under the Cultural Property Export and Import Act. It is also responsible for determining the fair market value of items donated to Canadian organizations such as libraries, archives, and museums. In addition, the Board reviews appeals of applications for cultural property export permits that have been denied. For more information about the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board, please visit www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/pgm/bcm-mcp/cebc-cperb/index-eng.cfm
Photographer Richard Harrington travelled to Canadian Arctic to capture traditional Inuit way of life By: Alison Mayes
Two girls asleep under caribou skins during the famine in 1950, Padlei, NWT. (RICHARD HARRINGTON)
The Inuit called him "Adderiorli" -- the Man with a Box.
The box was his camera.
Canadian photographer Richard Harrington took epic journeys by dogsled between 1948 and 1953, bringing back images of the traditional Inuit way of life that astonished the world.
Harrington captured life on the land in the final years before the Inuit were forever changed by contact with the South.
"He was the window on this culture for so many people," says Winnipeg Art Gallery director Stephen Borys. "These (photographs) are historical documents, as well as amazing portraits."
November 28, 2009 - March 14, 2010 WAG Exhibition Documents Vanishing Inuit Way of Life
This November 28, 2009, the Winnipeg Art Gallery opens a stunning exhibition of the work of the late Richard Harrington, one of Canada’s most respected photographers. "Richard Harrington: Arctic Photographer" continues until March 14, 2010.
“Richard Harrington had an amazing career,” says Mary Reid, Curator of Contemporary Art and Photography. “He travelled to over 100 countries in the course of his career, and had some 2,400 photographic stories published in magazines and 24 books. In 1987 a major exhibition of his photographs, Incredible Journeys, was held at the Canadian Museum of Photography in Ottawa.”
Following the footsteps of an unknown World War I photographer, Bertrand Carrière photographed the contemporary landscapes that once were the scene of infamous battles. His resulting photographic series, titled Lieux Mêmes has recently been exhibited at Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto. Although the show has ended, I’m certain this won’t be the last time we’ll be seeing this series. I interviewed Carrière for the occasion, trying to get a sense of its preoccupations and process.
Ontario-based photographer Vid Ingelevics gave an artist's talk at the Art Gallery of Peterborough Thursday, Nov. 26.
The talk is entitled Vid Ingelevics: hunter/gatherer where he investigates the human presence and imposition on the landscape.
"His large-scale photographs of rustic hunting platforms and woodpiles expose human-made structures that are so common to our region we rarely think about them. Capturing structures that seem to exist outside of any recorded history, his photographs document and record images of collective memory without disturbing them, states a press release.
This exhibition draws our attention to what Ingelevics calls "two of humankind's oldest survival strategies -hunting and gathering."
LINE OF BEAUTY AND GRACE: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT JOCK STURGES Dir. Christian E. Klinger (USA, 2008) 56 mins
A tale about photography and art, family and life, dealing with the history of man and woman, life and art. Many art historians consider Jock Sturges, born in 1947, to be one of the most important fine art photographers of our times.
As a catholic and graduated in psychology and photography, he survived the attacks of conservatives in the United States. Sturges has created a series of intensely powerful and moving photographs with an outstanding sensitivity for composition and light. Sturges's artistic work is an uncompromising search for truth and clarity. His private life is marked by his open nature and inspired by the love he shares with his wife Maia.
In LINE OF BEAUTY AND GRACE, the filmmaker and photographer Christian E. Klinger journeys into the life and work of this extraordinary man.
Jeff Thomas is in the group exhibition “Crossing Lines: An Intercultural Dialogue”, curated by Srimoyee Mitra and presented by SAVAC (South Asian Visual Art Centre) and the Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant.
The exhibition runs from November 29th, 2009 until January 22nd, 2010.
The opening reception is November 29th, 2009, from 1pm to 4pm
With eight artists across Canada, the Glenhyrst Art Gallery in Brantford, located next to Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and home to a large South Asian community, is the perfect backdrop for the exhibition “Crossing Lines: An Intercultural Dialogue”.
South Asians and the First Peoples’ communities epitomize the complexities of co-existence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Canada. While both communities are referred to as “Indians” their experiences and histories of racial and socio-economic marginalization differ widely.
Roy Caussy, Bonnie Devine, Ali Kazimi, Afshin Matlabi, Yudi Sewraj, Greg Staats, Ehren Bear Witness Thomas and Jeff Thomas reckon with the experience of loss and displacement and reflect on the ideology of reconciliation. The art works in the exhibition articulate the importance of engaging in dialogues with one another to better understand the multiple perspectives and histories that make up the contemporary Canadian society.
Jeff Thomas, artist and curator speaks about his landmark collaboration with Ali Kazimi on the film Shooting Indians: A Journey With Jeff Thomas, which is featured in the exhibition: Since Ali and I first met in 1984 and began our documentary road trip, the stimulant of identity politics has continued to evolve and some twenty five years later it is good to see that the film resonates with the public and new exhibition projects like "Crossing Lines: An Intercultural Dialogue".
Please join them on November 29th, 2009 at 12 pm The Art Bus to Brantford departs from 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto, will feature an intimate tête-à-tête with Ali Kazimi and Jeff Thomas as they discuss their landmark collaboration in the film “Shooting Indians: A Journey With Jeff Thomas” featured in the exhibition. The bus will return to Toronto at 5pm.
1pm-4pm Opening Reception and Artist Talks at the Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant
Alex Webb started his education in photography at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, completing his academic degree with History studies at the same university. His professional career began as a reporter. For many years, he worked for prestigious magazines such as Life, Geo and New York Times Magazine, and in 1976 he joined the prestigious agency Magnum Photos as an associate member, becoming a full member since 1979. He was elected President of the agency this past summer.
The Council of Alcobendas has awarded a prize for Alex Webb’s work, recognizing the highly humanistic and technical quality of his photographs, which show a “lyric and realistic” sense of childhood and an overall sense of being human. The winning photograph (on the left) is “Mexico. Oaxaca state. Tehuantepec. 1985. Children playing in a courtyard.”
The Premio Internacional de Fotografia Alcobendas comes with 10.000 Euro, and the prizewinner must be a documentary photographer who illustrates the rights of childhood throughout his career. The work must encourage reflection on the different and fascinating questions that characterize the global situation of children.
The jury was composed by Lola Garrido, collector and independent curator; Pepe Font de Mora, director of the Foundation Foto Colectania; Carlos Perz Siquier, photographer, National Prize of Photography 2003; Jose Maria Diaz-Maroto, photographer and curator of the Alcobendas’s Collection; and Eva Tomo, Culture and Childhood City Councilor of Alcobendas.
Alex Webb will receive the prize on November 18th, 2009 at 7pm n the Cultural Center Pablo Iglesias, from the Major of Alcobendas, Ignacio Garcia de Vinuesa.
A reminder that today The Funding Network - Toronto charity event is taking place.
Each event begins with delicious refreshments, the project presentations, and time for questions and discussions with the presenting organizations. Then an informal pledging session takes place. Each person is entirely free to offer support to all, some, or none of the projects presented on a given day.
The event is at 40 King St East, the Scotia Plaza downtown, on the 44th floor, in the offices of Borden Ladner Gervais. Please rsvp to janisr@woodbridge.com
You do not have to be a member of The Funding Network to attend and all are welcome. Admission is free, and there is no obligation to make a charitable donation, however, you must register.
Anthony Koutras has completed and installed his bench artwork, "Camouflage" in Liberty Village (Northwest corner of Liberty and Fraser), Toronto, as part of the BENCHmark Program, 2009.
Dir. Bertrand Carrière (Canada: 2009) 9 min. 40 sec.
Chemins de cendres, a project that developed out of an ongoing photo series “Lieux Mêmes” retraces images of the Western Front taken by an unknown Canadian photographer during the First World War. Projected as a dual-frame display, the video juxtaposes still video shots of current day sites related to the WW1 -battlefields, rubble-strewn streets, soldier’s portraits in cemeteries, against travel views through train windows in France and Belgium. Opposing stillness and motion, the video becomes a journey of visual and sound contrasts between fixed historical narratives and the changing views of modern memory.
GALLIPOLI
Dir. Peter Weir (Australia: 1981) 110 min.
Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) is an idealistic young Australian rancher with a talent for running. When Australia is putting together regiments to help the British war effort for World War I, he abandons his athletic pursuits and treks off to Perth with his fellow runner and friend Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson), and enlists in the army. They are sent to Gallipoli, where they encounter the might of the Turkish army.
Two new books out this September, "Adventures in Perception", by Scott MacDonald (2009, University of California Press, http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/11304.php ), includes an essay and long form interview about Clive Holdens' series "Trains of Winnipeg".
and "Place - 13 Essays, 13 Filmmakers, 1 City", edited by Cecilia Araneda (2009, Winnipeg Film Group), http://www.winnipegfilmgroup.com/place.aspx , includes a chapter by Larissa Fan about Clive Holdens' Utopia Suite and Trains of Winnipeg.
The Auteurs, avant garde and experimental in its filmmaking, has received widespread and high quality distribution. The Auteurs is the Criterion Collection's ON-LINE distributor. From their website: "The Auteurs is a website making great films from prominent festivals around the world accessible to anyone through high-definition video streaming. Together with online film viewing, we bring together the most original coverage of festivals, filmmaking, and cinema culture in the form of an online film magazine. Finally, we unite film watching and film criticism with film discussion by allowing users to rate and review films, as well as discuss cinema in our forums."
