CADN graduate recognized for prestigious essay prize

Contemporary Art, Design & New Media Art Histories
Thursday, March 15, 2018

Vanessa Bateman (MA, Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories, 2013) was recently awarded the student essay prize from the Universities Art Association of Canada, for her paper “Ursus horribilis.” This award, which recognizes the best essay presented by a student at the UAAC conference, comes with a cash prize and the opportunity to publish the essay in the peer-reviewed journal RACAR.  The jury noted that this year's round was exceptionally competitive; congratulations, Vanessa!

Vanessa Bateman (MA, OCAD U. 2013) is continuing her studies in Art History as a PhD candidate at the University of California, San Diego.

More information about her activities can be found here: http://visarts.ucsd.edu/phd/vanessa-bateman

Graduate Programs Info Nights and Online Webinars

Join a Graduate Program Info Night and/or online webinar this November. They are your opportunity to meet instructors, students and alumni from the program to help you learn more about courses, the learning environment and degree outcomes.

Abstract artist Callen Schaub

OCAD U student Olga Kholod visits the latest exhibition and performance by abstract artist (and OCAD University alum) Callen Schaub.

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And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, new paintings by Nick Ostoff, Faculty of Art

painting_circular frame-like image on background
Friday, December 2, 2016 - 5:00am to Saturday, January 14, 2017 - 5:00am

Christie Contemporary is pleased to present And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Nick Ostoff, opening Friday, December 2 from 6-8pm. 

This body of work continues Ostoff’s exploration of objects and spaces within the interior domestic sphere—cast shadows, reflected light, random surface marks, and fragments of commonplace objects, the type of overlooked elements one might find half-concealed in the background of a generic family snapshot—with the aim of addressing both memory, and the unheimlich (Freud’s term for the ‘estranged familiar’). Despite the intimacy of this context, Ostoff is not interested in autobiography, self-portraiture, or sentimentalizing the familial. Rather, he is attracted to these objects and spaces for their very banality and ordinariness. Through his particular working process, they are agents ripe for perceptual reshaping, not unlike scenes viewed through a cinematic filter.

Looking to the way in which quotidian space is naturally transformed through a condition of absence into a reflexive index in memory, Nick Ostoff further amplifies this quality of the imperfect echo with the mechanics of representation and the painterly process. In re-framing overlooked but familiar visual phenomena, Ostoff seeks to heighten their perceptual ambiguity, to suggest suppressed elements of the uncanny, and in so doing, activate a kind of phenomenological intensity. There is a palpable sense of the ‘not seen,’ in part achieved with a working methodology that involves reduction and restraint, where seemingly straightforward imagery is all but ushered away from the conventions of representation, reconfigured as ostensible abstraction, to create an elliptical viewing experience in which fixed perspectives are destabilized. 

Working from anecdotal photographs, each painting is deliberately built up through multiple layers of translucent pigment, a crucial aspect to the recontextualization of these images, a process which effectively dissolves the spatial/temporal specificity of the photographic source, while retaining its pictorial trace. Thus, each painting is situated in an ambiguous realm that is proximate to, yet utterly removed from our quotidian experience. 

Venue & Address: 
Christie Contemporary 64 Miller Street Toronto, Ontario
Website: 
http://www.christiecontemporary.com/exhibitions/
Email: 
info@christiecontemporary.com
Phone: 
416 551-2005

OCAD U artists shine at Yorkville Village Arts Fest

Picture of the interior of OCAD U pop up shop
Woman painting on a large canvas
Monday, November 7, 2016 - 5:00am

The third annual Yorkville Village Arts Festival kicked off with a gala event on November 3, unveiling the exhibition of one-of-a-kind contemporary art pieces created by 28 OCAD University students and recent graduates. The exhibition is open to the public through to Wednesday, November 9.

Over 200 guests attended the opening, where they were privy to a first look at the transformed and recently renovated Yorkville Village, interwoven with displays of art throughout the centre and retail wings. Artists were present to discuss their work while a live painting demonstration by Dahae Song captivated attendees.

"For the past 6 years, First Capital Realty has embarked on art initiatives across the country allowing us to support local artists and make contributions to the communities in which we live and work. Through our collaboration with OCAD University, First Capital Realty provides students with an opportunity to nurture and showcase their incredible talent," said Adam Paul, First Capital Realty President and CEO. "This is the third year we're doing the Yorkville Arts Festival and our goal is to build it into a premier art event and to help launch the careers of new artists."

"It's tremendously exciting for emerging artists to have their work exhibited to the public in such a beautiful, welcoming space," said Dr. Sara Diamond, OCAD University President and Vice-Chancellor. "We are grateful to First Capital Realty for inviting us again this year and for their ongoing support of our students."

The artwork presented at the festival was chosen through a rigorous jury process and will span photography, sculpture, painting and video installation. All artworks are for sale to the general public for the duration of the festival.

Also part of the Arts Festival is the Yorkville Village Arts Festival Pop-Up Shop, open until Saturday, November 12. The shop offers for sale a dynamic selection of student, alumni and faculty work including textiles, ceramics, artist multiples, cards, jewellery and more from 50 different artists. 90% of all sales will go to the creators and 10% will be donated back to OCAD U to support this initiative.

 

Captive Visions: Contemporary Canadian Art

Cathy Daley at Eli Klien Fine Art, NY
Saturday, January 19, 2008 - 5:00am to Saturday, March 8, 2008 - 5:00am

Eli Klein Fine Art presents a major gallery exhibition of important contemporary Canadian art. This show includes a selection of some of the most prominent Canadian artists such as Cathy Daley, Marcel Dzama, Tony Scherman and Max Streicher--several of whom will be showing in New York for the first Time--in addition to the work of emerging artists who are beginning to gain recognition such as Talia Shipman, Elena Willis and Christopher Ross. Reflecting Canada itself, the artists present a multiplicity of aesthetics and
perspectives and present painting, sculpture, photography and drawing. This exhibition is titled Captive Visions. Captive is defined as held in bondage, enslaved and also as enraptured, as by beauty; captivated. Ideas are unleashed from captivity, and beauty is revealed; Canadian art is discovered.

Venue & Address: 
Eli Klein Fine Art 462 West Broadway, New York, New York
Email: 
Info@EKFineArt.com
Cost: 
Free

CAFKA.07: Haptic

CAFKA: Haptic
Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 5:00am to Sunday, September 30, 2007 - 5:00am

CAFKA (Contemporary Art Forum | Kitchener & Area) promised you a Bigger, Better, Biennial visual arts forum and we plan to deliver! For eleven days in September we will once again transform the Waterloo Region into a world-class venue for contemporary art.
Kent Anderson
Jennifer Angus
Artinverse
Diane Borsato (Cambridge Galleries)
Doug Buis
Judy Chicago (Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery)
Mark Cypher
Christine Marie Davis
Max Dean (Waterloo Regional Children's Museum)
Wim Delvoye (Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery)
Nicolas Dumit Estevez & Maria Alos
Wyn Geleynse
Ann Hamilton (Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery & Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)
Marcia Huyer
In-Sun Kim
Jems Robert Koko-Bi
Kristiina Lahde & Adam Brown
Edmund Law
Kelly Mark
Jens J. Meyer
Michael Pinsky
David Rokeby (OCAD alumnus)
David Spriggs
Nicholas Stedman & Kerry Segal
Stelarc
S.U.R.G.E.
Ehryn Torrell
Plus a video programme curated by Laurel Woodcock.
And there's even more to come! Make sure you visit www.cafka.org and sign up for our e-newsletter so that you can see exclusive Artist Previews and receive updates as details are confirmed.

Venue & Address: 
Contemporary Art Forum | Kitchener and Area 141 Whitney Place, Kitchener, Ontario
Cost: 
Free

Beyond vision: Sensing neglected senses in contemporary art

Failing to nurture our senses not only detracts from our appreciation of the subtleties and beauties of everyday experience, but also strips away layers of meaning from our lives.

— Roman Krznaric, The Wonder Box


When one thinks of an art gallery, visual aesthetics are — typically — forefront in the mind. Visual arts such as painting, photography, sculpture and drawing are standard gallery fare, which goes hand in hand with the ancient and ongoing privileging of sight in Western aesthetics.

Yet, at a time when visual culture has exploded to the point of near-inescapability, some artists and audiences are seeking to engage with our other senses. Within OCAD University’s artist ranks, several have been pushing creative boundaries by presenting work that involves not only sight, but also scent, sound, touch and taste.

In this article, I offer glimpses of work by three such artists who are creating experiences that rattle visitors’ expectations by integrating senses typically neglected in the gallery space. The results can be at once challenging, refreshing and exciting. In addition, encounters with their bold, multi-sensory work encourages us to question how we define galleries, art and aesthetics.

 



Reincarnate , 2016, Amanda Robertson-Hébert
Amanda Robertson-Hébert
Reincarnate, 2016

Reincarnate , 2016, Amanda Robertson-Hébert
Amanda Robertson-Hébert
Reincarnate, 2016



Scentsual art

The visual is not the most effective means of displaying a subject. Some have even argued that scent can be as powerful — if not more so — than sight. One explanation for this arises from the fact that scent and memory are intrinsically tied.  That’s because the olfactory bulb has direct connections to two brain areas that are strongly implicated in emotion and memory. Meanwhile, a study of scents in the gallery space found that scent increased visitors’ focus and memory.

Drawing on the power of scent to galvanize attention, stir memories and encourage engagement, Amanda Robertson-Hébert’s recent work Reincarnate (2016), while visually stunning, also has a major olfactory element. The sculpture was created using moss, soil and otter fur, and Robertson-Hébert encourages audiences to smell the work so that the earthy, musty scent of these materials can be integrated into their experience of the piece.  

 



Chocolate Sculptures. He Loves me If?, Kaia’tanoron Bush, 2016
Kaia’tanoron Bush
He Loves me If?, 2016

Chocolate Sculptures. He Loves me If?, Kaia’tanoron Bush, 2016
Kaia’tanoron Bush
He Loves me If?, 2016



Hands and tongues

Kaia’tanoron Bush has incorporated both taste and touch experiences into her piece He Loves Me If? (2016). Bush’s sculpture consists of carefully crafted biomorphic forms carved from chocolate — presented much like Easter eggs in a basket. The gallery didactics encourage visitors to have a taste.

There is also a tactile aspect to the piece because a visitor must handle the sculptures and use a large kitchen knife to carve off a slab of the edible sculpture. With every slice of the knife, every bite taken, the sculpture changes, making the visitor integral to the work’s development.

 



SOFTDATA, 2016, Jill Price
Jill Price
SOFTDATA, 2016

SOFTDATA, 2016, Jill Price
Jill Price
SOFTDATA, 2016



Ambient pillows

Jill Price’s SOFT DATA (2016) sculpture integrates visitors’ bodies through sound. This series of soft cloth sculptures was equipped with a variety of speakers installed to amplify the ambient noises echoing in the dramatic shadows cast by the pillowy forms. SOFT DATA’s sonic element heightens visitors’ awareness of the gallery’s sounds, which receive much less attention than the visual aesthetics of the experience.

 

(Roberston-Hébert's and Bush's work is currently on display until May 7, 2016, as part of the Primitive show at the Indigenous Visual Cultural Centre.)

 

Emily Cluett is an emerging curator enrolled in OCAD University’s Criticism & Curatorial Practice MFA program.

 

Author: 
Emily Cluett

OCAD University's Florence Program Visiting Artist + Speaker Series welcomes FABRIZIO AFFRONTI

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 4:00am

OCAD University's Florence Program Visiting Artist + Speaker Series II brings eight international artists, academics and gallerists from Berlin, Florence, Glasgow, London and Milan to OCAD University’s Florence campus studio to engage in artist talks, lectures, workshops, individual studio visits and critiques over the winter semester. This unique opportunity offers students insight into how a successful international practice is developed as well receiving constructive feedback on their process and in-progress and final outcome independent studio work. 

Fabrizio Affronti is the gallery director and owner, of Brand New Gallery in Milan, Italy. The Gallery is a space devoted to Contemporary Art, suspended halfway between a gallery and a center for cultural promotion, a platform where artists, curators, and collectors can meet and exchange ideas. Brand New Gallery is the brainchild of two art historians, Chiara Badinella and Fabrizio Affronti, whose aim is to promote the work of foreign artists known internationally, but as yet unseen in Italy. Availing themselves of the collaboration of important American and European Contemporary Art galleries, Brand New Gallery commissions individual artists to do site-specific projects. The gallery features five to six exhibitions per year, in addition to lectures and seminars on Contemporary Art. www.brandnew-gallery.com

Organized by Linda Martinello, Assistant Professor / CLTA, Faculty of Art, OCAD University

 

 

Venue & Address: 
OCAD University Florence Campus
Website: 
http://www.brandnew-gallery.com
Email: 
lmartinello@faculty.ocadu.ca
Florence Visiting Artist Series Part II poster, text with details of speakers
grey artworks on white gallery wall

OCAD University's Florence Program Visiting Artist + Speaker Series welcomes FABRIZIO AFFRONTI

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 4:00am

OCAD University's Florence Program is hosting a Visiting Artist + Speaker Series which brings six international artists, critics and gallerists to our international campus to engage in artist talks, critiques and individual studio visits. This unique opportunity offers students insight into how a successful international practice is developed as well receiving critical feedback on their independent studio work. 

MARCH 16  FABRIZIO AFFRONTI 

Fabrizio Affronti is the gallery director and owner, of Brand New Gallery in Milan, Italy. The Gallery is a space devoted to Contemporary Art, suspended halfway between a gallery and a center for cultural promotion, a platform where artists, curators, and collectors can meet and exchange ideas. Brand New Gallery is the brainchild of two art historians, Chiara Badinella and Fabrizio Affronti, whose aim is to promote the work of foreign artists known internationally, but as yet unseen in Italy. Availing themselves of the collaboration of important American and European Contemporary Art galleries, Brand New Gallery commissions individual artists to do site-specific projects. The gallery features five to six exhibitions per year, in addition to lectures and seminars on Contemporary Art. www.brandnew-gallery.com

Organized by Linda Martinello, Assistant Professor / CLTA, Faculty of Art, OCAD University

 

Venue & Address: 
OCAD University Florence Campus
Poster for the 2016 Florence speakers series

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