This month Galerie Nicolas Robert is presenting the exhibition Afterimage by artist Jim Verburg. In this series of new works Verburg explores the complexities of light and shadow using the restrained monochromatic palette of white and black.

The artist created this body of work by rolling ink onto glass objects, which are then printed in multiple layers onto newsprint. Other techniques include the use of charcoal and powdered graphite which is applied to sections of translucent tape, and then transferred onto paper or sheets of semi-transparent mylar mounted on a black background.

The pieces presented in this show are moody and reflective. I felt like I was walking along the moors on a foggy morning, my vision obscured by the soft degradation of ink and charcoal that make up the landscape. Only a momentary piercing of sunlight cuts through the fog and gives shape to the shadows.

Verburg also makes use of transparent tape in his “Untitled” works (referred to as ‘the line between†1# and #2). These pieces remind me of wood grain, with their repeated straight lines dividing the picture plane into horizontal and vertical sections. They  are in stark contrast to the softer pieces using ink and shadow.

In another display of contrast, the artist has layered rectangular sheets of mylar onto a black background. The sheets are superimposed, with one sheet in particular tilting to the right. This gives the piece a three dimensional quality that draws the viewer’s focus towards the center of the image.

This body of abstract, minimalist works is both enigmatic and mysterious.

Galerie Nicolas Robert, space 524
Jim Verburg
Afterimage
April 19 to May 24, 2014
http://galerienicolasrobert.com

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On show this month at Galerie Hugues Charbonneau is an eclectic mix of artists: Marie-Claude Bouthillier, Tammi Campbell, Jean-Benoit Pouliot, Julie Trudel and Trevor Gould present their visions in a variety of media for the show Point Ligne Plan.

Montreal based artist, Marie-Claude Bouthillier has been exploring the connection between text and textile in her work since the late 1980s. Bouthillier creates an interplay between shapes forming a personal dialogue with many intricate parts. In this current show, the artist has presented three pieces from her collection Familles (2012). These modest-sized pieces entitled hannah02, hannah03, and hannah04 are fascinating artworks, glowing in vibrant red acrylic paint on canvas. A repetition of rounded shapes and straight lines find consistency in recognizable patterns. The eye is lead into believing that the different sections of shapes are levels of three dimension layers, one on top of another. The line of sight points towards the middle and the viewer is drawn into a space that seems to be in constant movement. In looking at these pieces, I liken them to the surface of the sun which displays an ever changing kaleidoscope of form and structure.

Alberta native Tammi Campbell currently lives and works in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan but has shown her work in different parts of Canada including The Banff Centre, the International Symposium of Contemporary Art of Baie-Saint-Paul, Galerie de lâ€UQAM in Montreal and the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatchewan but to name a few.

In the ‘Point Ligne Plan show, Campbell has presented pieces from two of her collections. The first being a series of graphite on folded Japanese Kozo paper entitled Dear Agnes, and the other are two pieces made with acrylic on museum board for the Work In Progress series.

In her Dear Agnes series, Campbell presents three 8 ½ x 11 sheet of Kozo Japanese drawn with rudimentary lines drawn with graphite. The lines are structured with even spaces and look like carefully placed bamboo blinds. The artist is quoted as saying that her inspiration for this work came about from a quote by Canadian artist Agnes Martin who was a native of Macklin, Saskatchewan. “My interest is in experience that is wordless and silent and in the fact that this experience can be expressed for me in art work which is also wordless and silent” (Martin).  According to Campbell, her pieces are silent letters in response to Martinâ€s work.

In keeping with the use of lines and minimal space, Campbell presents two pieces from her Work In Progress series. Instead of straight lines, Campbell focus on rounder shapes that silently make use of negative space to provide a reflection into the seemingly unfinished creative process of her work.

Jean-Benoît Pouliot is a self-taught artist who has made a name for himself with his foray into etching and his participation as part of the duo Lâ€oeil de verre since the early 2000s.

In this show, Pouliot has presented three untitled pieces done with acrylic on canvas. Minimalist in nature, Pouliot explores simple lines that pierce and cut away at the overwhelming negative white space. Sharp lines are distinct in the foreground while additional shapes and muted tones are relegated to the background.

I really enjoyed the work by Julie Trudel who presented colourful pieces made with acrylic and silkscreen ink on Plywood. Trudelâ€s work is sonic and vibrates with colours that you can almost hear. The paintings are created by way of dropping the paint onto the plywood. This makes for an interesting manipulation of the media used to create a rich texture reminiscent of the seeds of a sunflower plant. White paint is added to the colours being used to change the tonal structure and impart movement into the pieces.

Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Trevor Gould is a graduate of the Johannesburg College of Art and at the University of South Africa. Gould has one of the most interesting pieces in this show. What we have here is a sculpture of the body of a man painted in silver up on top of the shoulders is a small hairy white monkey clutching the neck where the human head might be.

In his work, Gould explores issues of colonialism and post-colonialism and the appropriation of cultural space.  In reconstructing plants and animals that are reminiscent of his native South Africa, his creations serve to represent the domination of one culture over another.

Galerie Hugues Charbonneau
Marie-Claude Bouthillier, Tammi Campbell, Jean-Benoit Pouliot, Julie Trudel, Trevor Gould
Point Ligne Plan

July 6 – August 8, 2013
www.huguescharbonneau.com

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Montreal-based artist, Etienne Chartrand, credits his early years of doing graffiti as the source for his unique style of painting. By this admission, he has joined a growing list of taggers that began their foray into the arts by being exposed to raw expression from the streets. Chartrand (also known by his tagging name Nixon) has moved on from random concrete as a way to capture his creativity and now looks to canvas to communicate his visions.

The collection of canvases by Nixon now on show at the Espace Robert Poulin are charged with vibrant energy and whimsical talent. Graffiti art can, by its very nature, act as a voice for youth lamenting the harsh realities of the street, but for Chartrand no such heavy overtones exist in his work. His creations come to life in a world filled with happy, unassuming characters that are the product of boyhood fantasy. Working with mixed media on canvas, there are countless ships and wondrous machines with anthropomorphic qualities strewn about the scene. Another popular motif are ecstatic dinosaurs which are far from the lumbering creatures found in science text books, but are instead presented in vibrant tones of colour. They pop out of dreamy thought clouds and become magical creatures, traipsing about in an urban ‘wonderlandâ€.

Those familiar with the underground comic book scene of the late 60s will see the influences of Robert Crumb and the work of Harvey Kurtzman (MAD magazine). If you closely you will also see an homage to some of the work of Tex Avery, who was part of the golden age of American animation. Along for the ride are humanoids who are nonsensical in appearance with bulging eyes, overgrown teeth and massive lips further accentuated by stunned looks on their warped faces. These are characters that are there purely for their own sake and do not need to offer any particular message to justify their existence.

There is no particular theme to Chartrand’s paintings; his work is a representation of disjointed dreams with a quick succession of images. Working with a rainbow of colours by way of spray paint, oil and ink, he gives his creations texture and depth. Subjects are superimposed one upon the other and despite the highly charged moment, Chartrand is successful at being able to imbue each character with their own individuality that blends together smoothly within their unique environment.

Be sure not to miss Chartrand and his “friends” in full play at Espace Robert Poulin until July 6^th, 2013.

Espace Robert Poulin, space 411
Etienne (Nixon) Chartrand
Recent Works
June 2 – July 6, 2013
www.espacerobertpoulin.com

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Currently on show at Galerie Pangée is the exhibition Medium Dreamers featuring works by Ukarainian artist Anna Pahlavi. Pahlavi is a versatile artist who incorporates the mediums of photography, painting and drawing to convey deeply buried emotions.

In her collection of drawings the artist has created a series of images using ink on paper. Surrounding the drawing is a web of cotton fiber interlaced with pins, forming a loose circle. The recurring motif in these works is a female figure with an elongated, blackened face. It looks as though the soul of the woman is being sucked out by another mysterious figure. The string and the pins have their part to play in this drama as the lights of the gallery create a shadow play on the paper, forming a three-dimensional effect that draws the viewer into a vortex that surrounds these shadowy figures.

Next to the drawings are a set of six daguerreotypes mounted on hand welded oxidized steel with copper framing. Each piece has a distinctive phrasing which is open to interpretation by the viewer..

On an adjacent wall is Pahlaviâ€s work titled Nudes, which is a collection of eighteen black and white photographic prints featuring the female form. The images are saturated and highly contrasted. The feeling is lush and the subjects are frozen into position. To create this effect, Pahlavi took a series of photographs of original prints and repeated the process until the edges of every image had turned into an indistinguishable blur. This technique in essence blurs the lines between what is reality and the solitary world that is inhabited by these lovely figures.

Pahlavi is quoted as saying that with work her goal was to move people in a way they would not forget. This show accomplished exactly that by briefly stepping into an illusory world created by the artist.

Galerie Pangée, space 412
Anna Pahlavi
Medium Dreamers
May 3 – June 16, 2013
www.galeriepangee.com

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The representation of mass media, classical motifs and identity are themes that are currently being explored at Espace Robert Poulin with the show featuring the work of Bosnian artist Sadko Hadzihasanovic.

Born in Bosnia, Zadko Hadzihasanovic was classically trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo and at the University of Belgrade. He left his country and everything that he had known and immigrated to Canada in 1993.

Coming to Canada, the artist was shocked by the complete reversal of lifestyle that he had known back in Bosnia. Here in North America, he remarked on the influence of the American consumer driven economy.  An overwhelming bombardment of the masses with a constant loop of aggressive, media-infused stereotypes built upon a foundation of pop-culture. While there is a passive acceptance of these norms in our society, Hadzihasanovic provides a refreshing gaze on these topics by combining personal stories blended with a healthy dose of criticism.

The show at Espace Robert Poulin is titled “Les voyages de Gulliver” which is an excellent title that describes the artistâ€s perspective on his adopted homeland. Like the fictional character written about by Jonathan Swift, Hadzihasanovic was  a traveller who came to these shores. Indeed, Hadzihasanovic took on the role of Gulliver in a large scale work done with mixed media which is a featured centerpiece as you enter the gallery. In this representation he incorporates his own personal style of using repetitive images like that found on common household wallpaper.

The artist works mostly with mixed media collage and integrates found materials into his work. Much of that mixed media is reminiscent of wallpaper, Hadzihasanovic is clearly fond of the repetitive effect of motifs. He begins with the wallpaper as a base and then introduces characters to tell a variety of different stories. It is ironic in many ways because wallpaper is usually the sort of thing that disappears into the background and yet this time the viewer is being invited to look closely at muted characters brought to life in his works of art.

While there is much focus on his mixed media work, the artist has also produced a number of smaller watercolours, which Mr. Robert Poulin points out is very difficult to do. I myself was amazed at works which demonstrate his classical training as a painter. Some of these watercolours feature self-portraits of himself while others are renditions of island palm trees along the beach.

This new show by Zadko Hadzihasanovic is a personal invitation to discover a rare talent with many stories to tell

Espace Robert Poulin, space 411
Sadko Hadzihasanovic
Les voyages de Gulliver
April 11 – May 11 2013
www.espacerobertpoulin.com

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Currently on show at Galerie Trois Points are two incredible artists with divergent styles that express their own unique vision. Scott Everingham is presented in his solo show entitled Until Dust and Olga Chagaoutdinova in her installation Un-Raveling.

Everingham is a Toronto-based artist whose talents have established him as one Canadaâ€s well-known artist. Having earned his BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University and his MFA from the University of Waterloo – where he is currently teaching, Everingham has been featured extensively throughout Canada, the United States and Europe.

As compared to his previous creations, this show features Everinghamâ€s most recent work on large canvases which provide a suitable space for abstract motifs that are suspended in controlled burst of movement. With large brushstrokes and contrasting colours, random shapes and lines are thrown together in a non-existent world creating architectural designs of multiple dimensions. In this collection, the artist experiments with the idea of creating a canvas in a day which lends a certain immediacy to the nature of his work.

The backgrounds, which are saturated with thick layers of paint incorporate a combination of muted tones and a dégradé of colour to create a sense of depth that allows Everingham to explore the relationship between disjointed marking and negative space. His work draws you in and surrounds in an altered dimension frozen in time.

Based in Montreal, Russian born artist Olga Chagaoutdinova finds her voice of expression in photo and video essays that explore the domestic mindset, globalization and suffering in contemporary society. Her work has garnered international recognition and has secured her placed in privately owned collections by Hydro Québec, The Far East Museum of Fine Arts in Khabarovsk, Russia, the Kebola Collection in Havana, Cuba, and the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec.

In her presentation Chagaoutdinova has chosen to work with video. In a sequestered area of the gallery, a large screen projects the face of Chagaoutdinova which is striking due in part to her pale blue eyes and fiery red hair. In this video, the artist is staring directly at the viewer during the entire length of the performance. As she stares blatantly at the audience, her facial expression undergoes transformation as she is smiling and pleasant at the beginning of the video, then starts crying with her lips quivering with morose sadness and then emerges as locked in mortal fear and worry as her gaze widens in absolute fright. While we are easily transfixed by her facial expression, a number of disembodied hands are constantly playing in her hair, running through the fiery strands of red. Sometimes these hands are kind and gentle as they caress her face and lightly place her hair in a  attractive position at other times, the hands are rough as the grab her chin and forcibly shake her face around with disdain.

When I consider the title of this show, I am lead to think that the Chagaoutdinova could easily represent the viewer who at times may feel like the world is at odds with them.  The average person may feel manipulated by others as represented by the hands in this video. Depending on our moods we can be happy at one moment and vulnerable the next. Who has never felt that the world is crazy and felt that life was ‘unraveling†right before their eyes?

This latest work of Chagaoutdinova is visceral and challenges our idea of our place in a discordant world.

Galerie Trois Points, espace 520

Scott Everingham – Until Dust
Olga Chagaoutdinova – Un-Ravelling
February 23 – March 30, 2013
www.galerietroispoints.cqc.ca

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The representation of complex concepts and ideas conveyed through simple lines is the focus of Alex Jowett‘s incredible works, now showing at Galerie Nicolas Robert.

Jowett is well known as a photographer and writer, and his work has taken him on many travels around the world filing his head with visions of seascapes. In this current collection, the artist worked with ink and tempera on canvas and paper.

Upon first glance one may interpret Jowett’s works as simple line drawings, but the artist is quick to point out that he views his creative process as a meditation. In fact, the muted colours and the repetition of lines are meant to place the viewer on a beach, looking out in front of them and contemplating the horizon.

After staring at the image for a while, the separation between sea and sky become clear, you can almost hear the waves quietly rushing up the beach while the horizon remains calm.

One of the more interesting pieces was the set of three paintings hung together entitled Hommage to the Ocean (triptyque) drawn with black ink on white paper. This work was an elegant rendition of a sunrise, in which Jowett maintains a set number of lines in all three pieces. By varying the distance of the lines he is able to mimic the shadows cast during an early morning sunrise, the light barely perceptible around you. By the third piece Jowett shows the power of the sun splitting the horizon and making a distinct separation of the two hemispheres, giving a clear impression of the sun perched up high in a cloudless sky.

The most fascinating creation in this collection by far is the piece titled Isla Negra, which like its other counterparts is made with the same repetition of determined lines. This time Jowett makes a selection of lines thicker at certain points and later thins them out. In standing back from the work and looking at it you can literally see movement – lines transform into  clouds and waves upon the ocean…incredible!

For the piece titled With My Back To The World Jowett spread primer on the canvas before applying the ink to emphasize the impact of the lines.

This series of works could at first glance be considered purely abstract, but I think the artist has used simple lines to create a series of representational works that are fully fleshed out images of a watery landscape. A show that is definitely worth seeing.

Galerie Nicolas Robert, space 524
Alex Jowett
Beyond the Horizon
January 26 – March 2, 2013
www.galerienicolasrobert.com

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On exhibit at the Art45 Gallery is the show FOUR by Canadian artist Landon Mackenzie. Currently based in Vancouver, BC, Mackenzie is a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (1976) and completed her graduate work at Concordia University in 1979. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal for her service to the arts for Canada and has worked as a distinguished professor in visual arts at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver since 1986.

Well known for her large scale paintings, Gallery Art45 has chosen four of her most recent works to be featured in this exhibit. Working mostly with oil and acrylic on linen, these four pieces are in line with an ongoing theme in the artistâ€s work which has been a keen interest in the cartography, maps and neurological systems. Her uses of colour and form have produced a wildly vivid and abstract study on the human systems of movement.

The first selection of Mackenzieâ€s work in the gallery is the piece entitled Rose Square. Aptly named, this piece is comprised of a multitude of squares all superimposed upon one another. At first glance, there is a clear layering technique used to present the shapes. The base coat of this work is done in pink followed by green and then red squares speckled generously with blue squares. I canâ€t help but think of pixels on a computer screen vying for the attention of the end user. Images on a screen are made up of hundreds of pixels and this canvas acts as a zoom lens that blows up the size of the computer generated shapes and allows us to have an intimate look into this hidden world. On an adjoining wall is the piece Signal (Birthday Party) which is part of her Neurocity Series (2010-2011) and is quite literally an explosion of colour. Multiple lines of colour that are joined at a focal point in the middle of the canvas fly out in all directions accompanied by concentric rings of white spheres which spin out from the centre and occupy the canvas. Although this piece is entitled Signal (Birthday Party), I am somewhat inspired to envision this painting as a representation of the universal Big Bang at its moment of conception. The allusion of movement is dazzling as your senses are assaulted by colour flying at you at full speed.

On the opposite wall is the piece of  entitled Wild Red which is imbued with a rosy red colour overlaid with shapes that look like tree branches with circles of colour growing like fruit from a tree. The circles are made up of hues like deep greens, violets, ochres and oranges and are also reminiscent of a tree with colourful leaves in autumn.

Next to this piece is the canvas (Spin) Otis and Ash. This work is made up of a yellow base completely covered with circles, rings and spots of varying sizes and colours. Unlike her other painting Signal, the lines in Spin seem to be creeping their way in from the edges of the canvas towards the centre. At the centre is cloudy white area that highlights curvy lines made up of evenly spaced dots.  The look and feel is reminiscent of the Berlin or Paris subway systems that are integral in connecting people and places like that of human arteries that maintain the smooth function of the human body.

The latest works by Landon Mackenzie are creations that are Kinectic and cybernetic which by their very nature form bridges and ladders for the influx of information and ideas in a larger system of which we are all a part of.

Art45, space 220
Landon Mackenzie
FOUR
February 15 – March 23, 2013
www.art45.ca

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Currently on show at Visual Voice Art Gallery are the exciting works by artists Andrea Rausch and Geneviève Saumier.

Andrea Rausch is a German born artist who is currently based inHamburg. She studied at the Hochschule für bildende Künste inHamburg and at the Royal College of Art inLondon,England. Her work has been featured extensively in her home country and in theU.K.  Rauschâ€s work has also been featured in five art catalogues.

Seeing the work of artist Andrea Rausch is an invitation to delve deeply into the psyche of the artist. Currently on exhibit is her series Umnachtungshaut (Blackout Skin) which as the artist points out described a period in her life when she went through emotional trauma. According to Rausch: “I felt as though darkness was enveloping me like a skin.” The paintings act as a catharsis in which Rausch has employed a richly textured palette to illustrate the deepest and darkest part of her soul. Working in abstraction her vision is intense with emotion as she creates haunting narratives of her experience.

In much of her work, there are representations of the female form set against a backdrop of warm intense reds and oranges juxtaposed by dark lines black lines of charcoal and ink that impose themselves upon the canvas. Rausch is said to incorporate archetypes of Greek mythology into her work; and with layered movement infused with unrestrained brush strokes she has created her own dark narrative populated by passionate characters

Geneviève Saumier is a local artist born inMontreal who completed her education in Visual Arts at ConcordiaUniversity and obtained an MA in Anthropology from Université de Montréal. Saumier is currently based in Mexico City.

Her work is a dialogue of energetic lines and vague silhouettes brought to life by warm colours that grow organically in a fluid landscape. The artist’s vocabulary includes fluid lines, rapidly brushed circles, and other geometric shapes which establish a dialogue with the spectator. In creating her own unique style, Saumier has employed a method of dripping paint layered with wide brush strokes framed by blocks of colour. These drippings are like roots which connect the disembodied shapes afloat in a frenetic space. Colour is a passport into her vibrant world that is permeated by convoluted figures drawn with sharp black lines trying to break through a veil of multiple hues. A certain ambiguity is infused in her Saumierâ€s work that is both pleasurable and whimsical in nature.

Visual Voice Art Gallery, space 421
Nightfall
Andrea Rausch, Geneviève Saumier
February 7 – 16, 2013
www.visualvoicegallery.com

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The hidden world of monsters and imagination titled Lycanthrope is the latest exhibition by artist Jim Holyoak at Galerie Donald Browne from January 12^th through to March 2^nd, 2013.

When asked about his work, Holyoak has clearly stated that he does not like to have a particular thesis to his work. Holyoak drives home this point by saying “thesis statements strive to focus, to clarify and to prove a point. My anxiety around such declaration is that they may be deflections/evasions from the very confusion, chaos and libidinous complexity of things.”

The exhibit consists of a series of ink drawings on paper of varying sizes, personal letters and newspaper clippings. There is also large set of paper murals saturated with ink which display drawings of trees of different sizes. Added to the murals are round cutouts pasted throughout the exhibit in the shape of tree stumps.  These slices are like floating bubbles which gives texture to the murals. I was particularly impressed with the representation of trees in a perspective that mimics the experience of walking in the woods. I also appreciate Holyoak’s delicately drawn figures, a direct influence of his apprenticeship in 2007 with master ink painter, Shen Ling Xiang inYangshuo,China.

A majority of the work is dedicated to the representation of a variety of animals both real and imaginary that exist in a forest setting. Holoyak is particularly fond of bats as they are often associated with the twilight world, which is a running theme in his work. Imagination is not merely a diversion of the logical mind but acts as a bridge between this world and the natural world. In going across that bridge, Holyoak tries to capture the transition from the human to the animal.

“When I draw pictures I draw a lot of animals, and this is my way of imagining what it would be like to have a different body than my own. I want to know what itâ€s like to be something else, somewhere else, sensing and knowing different things” says Holyoak and by way of his work, he has accomplished exactly that employing the technique of body printing.

In one of his prints, he used his face, arm and stomach to leave an impression on paper and later goes on to fill in the image with a picture of a wolf. It is this wolf, a shadow wolf speaking from another dimension that is represented in a poem written on the wall as one enters the gallery. In another example, he used a print of his tongue to draw a shape of a snake and his feet to create an imaginary animal with human features.

Holyoak works extensively in black, white and grey and finds that colour distracts from the tone in his work. Holyoak states that he is very light sensitive and for this reason cherishes rainy Salt Spring Island, BC, which is where he grew up as a young teenager. He is very fond of rain, snow, fog and the night, and so for him it makes sense to limit himself to this palette, and to emphasize the stark contrast between light and shadow, the seen and unseen.

The show Lycanthrope is both haunting with the heavy use of black ink but is still rather whimsical, as the artist introduces the viewer to a set of fantastical animals in various states of transformation. A show not to be missed!

Galerie Donald Browne, space 528
Jim Holyoak
Lycanthrope
January 12 – March 2, 2013
www.galeriedonaldbrowne.com

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