Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Pictures from the fair - Art Toronto 2012
Toronto's International Art Fair October 26-29
Set up day!
An amazing collection of art from galleries around the world.
Parts Gallery booth 221
The PG crew on opening night, Fiona Freemark, Casey Roberts, Dianna Witte and Ric Santon.
Friday, October 5, 2012
JEFF DEPNER - OCTOBER 11 - NOVEMBER 4
Vancouver B.C. painter Jeff Depner draws from his "Reconfigured Grid" series to bring FORMING, an exhibition of new work, to Parts Gallery in Toronto.
Navigating the process of painting through it's core formal aspects, Depner pits the rigidity of the grid with the dazzle of perspective, mechanical precision with human imperfection, thick against thin, and puts to work the spectrum of colour, contrast and saturation. Standing before each piece is a journey in time, taking us through the decision making process by revealing and unvieling the mysteries painting.
His work has been shown across Canada, the United States and Germany.
You can check out Rob Loanes fecalface.com interview with Jeff Depner here.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Siobhan Humston August 11- September 09
Some artworks seem to exist in some marvelous dimension beyond the fibers of canvas and paper, and the paintings of Siobhan Humston are among them. They become living things, not only the product of rigorous technique and fearless experimentation but evolving beyond that, into another realm. Transformation happens because these forms are indivisible from their environment. To look a Siobhan's work is to have an immersive experience - you are in this world, and because you are now part of it, you become answerable to it too.
-excerpt from catalogue essay by Sarah Gee www.sarahgeeart.com
Monday, June 18, 2012
Casey Roberts June 21 - July 15
Artist Statement
My work illustrates a fantastic landscape. It represents nature's subtle way of dealing with the peculiar aspects in the relationship with mankind. A giant glow-in-the-dark heart, or a pile of precious gems tells us that we are loved, just as blood squirting from an oak tree trunk says, all is not well. I am inspired by my conversation with the landscape, I imagine long monologues when pine forests make me laugh and mountains test my patience.
My paintings are created with a photochemical process known as cyanotype. The cyanotype is a civil war era process that when exposed to sunlight and developed gives a vibrant blue image. I paint with this light sensitive medium directly on paper or canvas. With everyday items such as baking soda, bleach and peroxide I am able to achieve a range of colors and textures thru controlled chemical reactions. I repeat this process adding many layers until the image is fully realized, often finishing with watercolor painting or a collage element.
It's not as nerdy as it sounds.
My paintings are created with a photochemical process known as cyanotype. The cyanotype is a civil war era process that when exposed to sunlight and developed gives a vibrant blue image. I paint with this light sensitive medium directly on paper or canvas. With everyday items such as baking soda, bleach and peroxide I am able to achieve a range of colors and textures thru controlled chemical reactions. I repeat this process adding many layers until the image is fully realized, often finishing with watercolor painting or a collage element.
It's not as nerdy as it sounds.
 |
cannonball (a bigger splash)
cyanotype w/gouache on paper
42" x 52 cannonball (a bigger splash) |
 |
after lunch our thoughts turned to typography
cyanotype on paper
40" x 52"
|
 |
island life
cyanotype on paper
42" x 52"
|
 |
summer is wasting (incredible rattail)
cyanotype drawing
42" x 42"
|
 |
peace and love
cyanotype w/gouache and glow in the dark on paper
42" x 42"
|
Sunday, April 15, 2012
on the web - friends of Parts
We love Carolyn and Derrik's unique stylings and personal vision that transforms a Leslieville house into their home. They are also art lovers and collectors. Since it was featured on the DesignSponge blog we've been getting a great deal of interest in Jeffrey Harrison work.
Thanks for sharing, C+D! You should visit Carolyn's design site at DesignerJots
Sunday, March 18, 2012
IN THE NEWS- Jeff Depner
New work by Jeff Depner will be featured at Parts Gallery later this year!
Meanwhile, here is a nice interview he gave to the invariably cool blog Little Paper Planes.
(http://blog.littlepaperplanes.com/now-featuring-jeff-depner/)
(http://blog.littlepaperplanes.com/now-featuring-jeff-depner/)
Monday, March 12, 2012
Some Quick Notes on Artists' Statements
A friend from the University at Albany sent this to me after a discussion about the torture most artists go through trying to put together an "artists statement". I thought I'd share some excellent pointers from writer, educator and art-star Nayland Blake.
1. Tell the truth. Describe your work, and your life as it is, not as
you think someone wants to hear it to be. Don’t anticipate your
reader’s biases.
2. Write often. Get into the habit of writing about what you do on a
regular basis. It will give you much more material to pick from when
the time comes for you to make a formal statement.
3. Rewrite often. *It’s much easier to edit and rewrite an existing
piece than it is to generate something new on deadline. Revising
allows you to sharpen ideas and cut out redundancies. Allow yourself
to make messy first drafts and then go back into them.
4. Use specific examples. Watch out for generalities about your work.
If you want to make a point about how an idea functions for you, show
how it functions in a specific piece. Don’t feel like what you have to
say has to be equally true of everything you make. Practice describing
pieces as if your audience was sightless.
5. Use history sparingly. Don’t assume that everyone will know what
you mean when you refer to the work of other artists or artistic
movements: their ideas my well be antithetical to yours and your point
may be lost.
6. Big words do not make your work look better, or make it any more
meaningful.
7. Phrases to watch out for:
a. “As a ” often used to sneak in biographical information and as
justification for the work, i.e.: “As a veteran my work is concerned
with the ideologies of bodily distress",
“as a volcano survivor I want my pieces to have a certain vibrancy".
Find another way to tell people who you are and why you do what you do.
b. “The viewer is invited ” or any of its variations. Often folks use
this to try to force people into a specific experience of the work. It
begs the questions How and Why is the viewer invited.
c. “Interest, interesting, interests ” Try writing about your
enthusiasms rather than your interests.
d. “The body ” Resist the temptation to make an idea sound more
theoretical by sticking the word “the” in front of it. Always ask
yourself “which body, or whose body.”
8. Finally, imagine that you are writing in sand, not carving in
stone. Your artist's statement is not a contract made for all
eternity: it is a snapshot of your thinking about your practice at a
specific moment.
Nayland Blake
1.25.05
*Remember that your statement is not a "piece"--it is a statement. If you have to write a statement to contextualize your statement, you've fucked up.
1. Tell the truth. Describe your work, and your life as it is, not as
you think someone wants to hear it to be. Don’t anticipate your
reader’s biases.
2. Write often. Get into the habit of writing about what you do on a
regular basis. It will give you much more material to pick from when
the time comes for you to make a formal statement.
3. Rewrite often. *It’s much easier to edit and rewrite an existing
piece than it is to generate something new on deadline. Revising
allows you to sharpen ideas and cut out redundancies. Allow yourself
to make messy first drafts and then go back into them.
4. Use specific examples. Watch out for generalities about your work.
If you want to make a point about how an idea functions for you, show
how it functions in a specific piece. Don’t feel like what you have to
say has to be equally true of everything you make. Practice describing
pieces as if your audience was sightless.
5. Use history sparingly. Don’t assume that everyone will know what
you mean when you refer to the work of other artists or artistic
movements: their ideas my well be antithetical to yours and your point
may be lost.
6. Big words do not make your work look better, or make it any more
meaningful.
7. Phrases to watch out for:
a. “As a ” often used to sneak in biographical information and as
justification for the work, i.e.: “As a veteran my work is concerned
with the ideologies of bodily distress",
“as a volcano survivor I want my pieces to have a certain vibrancy".
Find another way to tell people who you are and why you do what you do.
b. “The viewer is invited ” or any of its variations. Often folks use
this to try to force people into a specific experience of the work. It
begs the questions How and Why is the viewer invited.
c. “Interest, interesting, interests ” Try writing about your
enthusiasms rather than your interests.
d. “The body ” Resist the temptation to make an idea sound more
theoretical by sticking the word “the” in front of it. Always ask
yourself “which body, or whose body.”
8. Finally, imagine that you are writing in sand, not carving in
stone. Your artist's statement is not a contract made for all
eternity: it is a snapshot of your thinking about your practice at a
specific moment.
Nayland Blake
1.25.05
*Remember that your statement is not a "piece"--it is a statement. If you have to write a statement to contextualize your statement, you've fucked up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)