
Area(s) of Expertise
Contemporary Photography, Sequence and text, Digital Photography and VideoOverview
April Hickox is a lens-based artist, teacher and independent curator who lives on the Toronto Islands. Over the course of over 35 years, she has made images that reflect the natural world, through which I hope to transport the viewer to a place they may have been and is perhaps familiar. Through lens-based explorations of site and place, she investigate collective histories embedded in the landscape. Observe tracts of land that have escaped development, or areas that are in the process of natural regeneration. "My work questions what is “wild” and how we are renegotiating our relationship with wilderness and our environment" Hickox observes the pockets of green spaces more specifically focusing on the Carolinian forest areas. Some of these areas include the Toronto Islands, Handcock Woodlands in Mississauga and Point Pelee a national park in southern Ontario. she visited these sites regularly, observed and photographing the changes that have taken place in the park, and documented the overlapping layers of human and natural histories. April has mined the distinctions between personal and public sites through film, video, photography and installation.
Currently her work includes a studio practice using the still lives traditions. Provenance Unknown is rooted in narrative histories that individuals accumulate throughout their lives and the ability of inanimate objects to shape memory. Currently this direction in her work continues in both photographic and video works with Provenance Unknown, and Variations a series of video works exploring the studio still life.
Her work can be found in numerous public and privet Canadian Collections has been gratefully supported by all levels of funding throughout her career and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
Education
OCA, Toronto, Ontario 1974-78 AOCA diploma and 5th year graduate studies program, Photography and Printmaking Twickerham College of Technology, London, England 1974, Photography and Graphic Design
Professional Experience
On Line
Web site: aprilhickox.com
Maclaren Art Centre http://maclarenart.com/exhibitions/april-hickox-closer-to-home
Lens Culture https://www.lensculture.com/april-hickox
Heist http://www.heist-online.com/april-hickox-gallery/
Katzman Contemporary http://www.katzmancontemporary.com/aprilhickox/
CCCA Artisti Profile http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/artist_info.html?languagePref=en&link_id=208
Apriil HickoxContact Feature Exhibition, http://2012.scotiabankcontactphoto.com/featured-exhibitions/838
Park Workers OCADU, http://www.ocadu.ca/about_ocad/articles/headlines_archive/20120726_park_workers_exhibition.htm
Spacing Magazine, http://spacing.ca/toronto/2012/07/07/island-artist-brings-attention-to-city-workersLiving out Loud, CBC Radio, http://www.cbc.ca/livingoutloud/episode/2010/11/19/november-19-2010
Blouin Artinfo, http://www.artinfo.com/node/802634
Hantise, curator Eve De Garie-Lamanque http://artmur.com/en/hantiseHarbourfrount Centre, Gather, http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/visualarts/2011/gather
Waterlines, Wetlands and Whirlpools, Canadian Experimental Films that hold water. Struts Gallery, http://www.strutsgallery.ca/archives/2010_Sites_Waterlines.html
Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre, http://www.cfmdc.org/node/1545
Tessera, images for artist book, http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/tessera/article/viewFile/25135/23329
Related Community Service
2013 Committee member, Co-Curatorial Chair, Art with Heart, Casey House Fundraising auction
2010–2013 Committee member, Project 31, OCADU Fundraising auction
2010–2011 Curator/facilitator, Gay and Lesbian Youth Line, Auction
2010 Project Source, digital archive of women photographic teachers in Canada
2000 Mentor, Manitoba Mentoring Artist for Women’s Art, Manitoba
2000 External Workshop Leader/Examiner for fourth year thesis students working in Image and Text, Faculty of Photographic Arts, Ryerson Polytechnic University
2001 Artistic Advisor, Wind by Shannon Cooney, Dusk Dances
1999 Committee Member, Gallery 44 Outreach program. 20th anniversary site project
1997–2000 Advisor and Training Coordinator for Arts and Crafts at Silent Voice Camp for the Deaf
1980–1991 Founding Director, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto
1990 Member, Cultural Policies Working Group of Toronto developing arts policy for the city of Toronto
1990 Member, Visual Arts Committee, Toronto Arts Council, advising the board on policy and the awarding of cultural grants to individuals and organizations working in film, video, and photography
1988–90 Founding Board of Directors and member, Toronto Artscape Inc., an association working to develop affordable studio space for artists in Toronto
1988–89 Member, Steering Committee, Artist-Run Centres Toronto
Selected Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2017 Variations, Portraits, Notes and From the Blue Period Katzman Contemporary
2016 Variations, 4 chanel video work, Surrey Art Gallery, British Columbia
2016 Provenance Unknown Canceled Paintings Katzman Contemporary
2016 April Hickox, Recent work, Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener Ontario
2014 Invasive Speices, Katsman Contemporary, Toronto, Ontario
2012 Vantage, Main Space, Katsman Kamen Gallery,Toronto, Ontario
2010 Compost, Leo Kamen Gallery, Project Room, Toronto, Ontario
2009 Gather, an installation of five backlit billboards. Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario
2008 Ritual, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2006 Drift, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2003 Landscape and Memory, Main Space, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Landscape and Memory: Point Pelee, an installation at the Art Gallery Of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario
2002 Porcelain, Crystal, Glass, Main Space, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2001 Glance, Leo Kamen Gallery, Project Room, Toronto, Ontario
2000 Within Dialogue, an installation at Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Within Dialogue, site specific installation, St. Norbert Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1999 Untitled, site specific installation, Portland and Richmond Streets, Toronto, Ontario
1998 Tracings, Prime Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Song, installation, Portland and Richmond Streets, Toronto, Ontario
1997 Blink, street level photographic installation, Portland and Adelaide Streets, Toronto, Ontario
Utopia/Dystopia, billboard project, Floating Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1996 Excerpts Photography Narrative, centre d’exposition l’imagier, Aylmer, Quebec
1995 Dissonance and Voice, installation and outdoor site work, curated by Richard Rhodes, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario
When the Mind Hears, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Ontario
New Works, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario
1994 When the Mind Hears, Vu, centre d'animation et de diffusion de la photographie, Québec
When the Mind Hears, part one, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto
When the Mind Hears, part two, Garnet Press, Toronto
When the Mind Hears, The Photographers Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1993 When the Mind Hears, le mois de la photo, Complexe de la Cité, Montréal
1992 Roses, Wind and Other Stories, Floating Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Roses, Wind and Other Stories, Garnet Press, Toronto
Roses, Wind and Other Stories, Galerie Séquence, Chicoutimi
Roses, Wind and Other Stories, Vu, centre d’animation et de diffusion de la photographie, Québec
1991 Speak, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
1990 So to Speak, La Centrale (Galerie Powerhouse), Montréal, Quebec
Film Screenings
2012 The Queen’s Garden, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario
2010 When The Mind Hears, Waterlines Film Festival, Struts Gallery, Sackville, New Brunswick
2009 Consonance, Frame to Frame, Images Festival, Toronto
2001 When the Mind Hears Pacific Cinematheque, Vancouver, BC
2000 When the Mind Hears Our Voices, Loop Collective, Toronto
1996 When the Mind Hears, Ann Arbour Film Festival, Michigan, USA
Cinematheque Ontario, A tribute to Marian McMahon
1995 When the Mind Hears Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Toronto International Film Festival, Film Makers Workshop, Helsinki, Finland
Awards \ Grants
2014 Ontario Arts Council Senior Artist’s Grant
2014 Toronoto Arts Council Visiual Arts Senior Grant
2009 Ontario Arts Council Chalmers Professional Development Grant
2008 Toronto Arts Council Visual Arts Senior Grant
2006 Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance
2004 Ontario Arts Council Senior Artist’s Grant
2003 Canada Council B Grant
2001 Canada Council B Grant
2000 Member Emeritus, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography
1999 Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance
1998 Ontario Arts Council Senior Artist's Grant (Visual Arts)
Canada Council B Grant
1997 Canada Council B Grant
Commissions
Collections (selected)
Art Gallery of Peterborough, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Bennett Jones, Burroughs Memorex, Canada Council Art Bank, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography,
Central Guarantee Trust, Clarkson Gordon, CN Hotels, Canadian Government, Dept. of External Affairs
Government of Ontario, Glenhurst Art Gallery, Ministry of Social Services, MacLaren Art Centre,
British Airways, Maclean-Hunters, Norcen Energy, Oakville Galleries, Price Waterhouse Inc.,
Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Trust Co. Ltd. Ryerson Polytechnic Photography Collection, Toronto Board of Education, Toronto Dominion Bank, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Burnaby Art Gallery, Fidelity Investments, Aimia.
Selected Publications
The Lake, Artist book by Maggie Groat, Published by Art Metropole release November 2013
Hantise, curator Eve De Garie-Lamanque, Art Muir, Catoluge, 2010
Prefix Photo #22, Portholes Portfolio, 2012
Made In Canada, Carte Blanche, published by The Magenta Foundation, 2006
“Landscape and Memory: Point Pelee,” Art Gallery of Windsor, catalogue and interpretive DVD
“Revealing the Subject,” Oakville Galleries, curated by Shannon Anderson, catalogue, http://www.oakvillegalleries.com/307.html
Prefix photo #5, “Within Dialogue,” Portfolio 2002
“Babs’ Tea Cups,” Art by Numbers, Peter Goddard, Toronto Star, Febuary, 2002
“Cinescope,” Betty Anne Jordan, Toronto Life, September, 2001
“Within Dialogue,” Gary Michael Dault, The Globe and Mail, January, 2000
“Letter from Toronto/New York, No. 86”, A.D. Coleman, Contact’s Photograph Lesson,
“The Little Black Box,” John Bentley Mays, The Globe and Mail, May, 1998
“La carte de l'être,” Katy McCormick, Next Arte Cultura Roma, Italy #27, 1997
“Dissonance and Voice,” catalogue text by Richard Rhodes, September, 1995
“Scents and Sensibility,” Elisabeth Kimball, The Globe and Mail, September, 1994
“When the Mind Hears,” Deirdre Hanna, Now Magazine, February, 1994
“Being is only the Beginning,” Denis Lessard, Blackflash, Saskatoon, Vol. 12 No. 2, 1994
“In the Seam = En couture,” Renee Baert, catalogue, December, 1994
“Photography in Contemporary Art,” Christine Bernier, catalogue, Embodied Spaces, 1993
“When the Mind Hears,” Denis Lessard / Katy McCormick, CV photo, September, 1993
“Stillness and Motion in Concertos of Imagery,” Kate Taylor, The Globe and Mail, March, 1992
“Adjustments in Focus,” Rachel Rafelman, The Globe and Mail. April, 1992
Professional Affiliations / Boards / Juries
2013 Jury Member, Varley Art Gallery
2012 Jury Member, Art Gallery of Mississauga
2000 Jury Member, John B. Aird Gallery
2003 Jury Member, Ontario Arts Council Artist in Education Program.
2001 Jury Member, Open Studio’s 100 prints exhibition
2002 Jury member, Ontario Arts Council, Chalmbers Award
2001 Printmaking Juror, Toronto Outdoor Exhibition
2001 Jury Member, Toronto Arts Council, Visual Arts Grants to Individuals
2001 Jury Member, Art Council of Manitoba, Arts Organizations and Artist Run Centres
1999 Juror, Collingwood Photographic Exhibition
1995 Photography Juror, Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
2000 External Assessor, le mois de la photo, Canada Council
1999 Jury Member, Artists In Education, Ontario Arts Council
1998 Jury Member, Artists In the Schools, Ontario Arts Council
1997 Jury Member, Art Council of Manitoba for grants to Visual Artist
1995 Jury Member, The Ontario Arts Council Photography and Holography Projects
1994 Jury Member, The Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance
1992 Jury Member, The Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance