Exhibition of 60 Painters

I saw the exhibition 60 Painters last week at Humber College Art and Media Studio in Etobicoke, just the day before the exhibition closed. The show was described as " the most ambitious overview of contemporary Canadian painting in recent memory. The artists are a mixture of emerging artists and very well established artists. Some of the artists are within the first few years of their practice while others are in their third or fourth decade of exhibiting."

The exhibition was organized by Scott Sawtell, an instructor at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto and at Brock University in St. Catharine's.

The show was spread over 12,000 sq feet of space at Humber College's art and Media Studios, winding in and out of classrooms, hallways, theatres and film studios.

The statement on the wall at the entrance to the exhibition read, in part:
"We now live in an age where information and imagery operate with unrivalled speed and vastness. It is because of these advances that our world is changing like never before. Technology's evolution is accelerating faster and faster, intellectual property is replacing physical labour in first world economies, and scientists are documenting considerable differences in the cognitive development of 'plugged in' teenagers. What role does painting have in a society where people are more informed than ever, but also more detached? What role does painting have in a society where the shiny, the quick and the 'Now' is all that matters? What does painting offer with its physicality and scruffiness, connection to history as one of humanity's oldest art-forms, and its darned nuanced deliberations?"

"In this time defined by technical innovation, scientific discovery and social upheaval, painters are doing what they have always done: make works that are reflective, reactionary, poetic, questioning and magnificent."

I love the idea of such a large exhibition focusing on the work of contemporary Canadian painters. I'm happy that so many young artists are still involved with painting and find it to be a still relevant means of expression. I also liked the fact that the work of established artists was exhibited alongside the work of emerging artists so there was no hierarchy of presentation.

I think my overall sense of the exhibition was that if this work reflects the society that we live in today, then we are in big trouble. I found so much of the work to be about chaos--conflating disparate elements and ideas. So many of the pieces had so much going on in them that my eyes ached from the work of looking.

You could say I am old and out of touch. And that could well be the case.

Or perhaps this work truly is reflecting the world we live in, with it's technical innovations, social upheaval, environmental disasters, wars and detachment. You can see the individual works on the 60 Painters website.

I include photos of the work that I really liked in this exhibition.

John Brown Stupid #1 Oil on panel

Andy Patton -A Cottage at Year's End Oil on panel

Matt Bahen -Beneath the Night's Pale Globe -Oil on panel

Nicole Collins-Black Flag for Painting-wax pigment and rope on canvas on board

Meet the Owners of a Scottish Castle

Anne Tristine Nguyen, Ali Orr Ewing, their children, Ava, Atticus and their dog, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Dunskey Estate, Portpatrick, Scotland Anne Tristine Nguyen and her husband, Alistair Orr Ewing are the owners of Dunskey Estate near Portpatrick, Scotland where I will teach a painting workshop in September. Dunskey is a splendid Edwardian castle on 2000 acres of ocean-front land with miles of walking trails. As well as daily workshop sessions in the studio on the top floor of the castle, our small group of artists will enjoy breathtaking hikes, superb accommodation and fabulous meals. Not having met owners of a castle before, I asked Anne if I could interview her to hear a little of their background story and that of the castle. Can you tell me a little of your personal story and that of your husband, Alistair Orr Ewing? Anne emigrated to America when she was ten years old, but it was at an art gallery in Saigon, her birthplace, where she met Al

The Importance of Silence in Art

Gathering Light 60x60" Oil on canvas © 2014 Janice Mason Steeves Michael David Rosenberg, the musician known as Passenger, sings, "See all I need is a whisper in a world that only shouts." In the workshops I teach, I find that one of the most common problems with paintings is that they shout. Most have too much going on: too many small shapes, too much texture, extremes of colour, too many lines, too much, too much. One thing I say most often as I walk around the classroom working with students individually, is 'make bigger shapes'. But not only bigger shapes. Quiet shapes. Where can your eye go and rest in the painting? That isn't a consideration in much of contemporary painting or much of contemporary life. Ours is a noisy world both visually and auditorily. Ours is a world that shouts. People are afraid of silence. I wrote a blog post 3 years ago about planning a retreat in my own home, where I shut off the computer and the phon

Liminal Time

The word liminal comes from the Latin, limen meaning threshold. an in-between place, a place of transition, a time of waiting and not knowing. Dawn and dusk are considered liminal places. Crepuscular animals, like foxes and coyotes are most active at this time of day, a time that is considered a magical time in Celtic spirituality and to Indigenous people which is perhaps the origin of their designation as tricksters. As I write this, the northern hemisphere has just passed the vernal equinox, where day and night are of equal length.We are in a liminal space between winter and spring right now, unsure if we will have one more storm or snowfall before spring finally settles in. We're also in a liminal place as we live through this pandemic with the anxiety and discomfort of not knowing. A time of great transition for the entire world, wondering what we've learned from this and what lessons we'll carry forward. Author and Franciscan friar Richard Rohr describes limi

Janice Mason Steeves

Search This Blog