Art Quilt Elements 2020

Eyes on the World, by Diana Fox
hand-dyed fabric, 79" x 84"

Follow this link to see an online exhibition of impressive art quilts.  Many different techniques are on display, from digital printing on fabric to thread painting, and even a quilt made of salvaged wood.

The virtual exhibition will be available until July 9, 2021.

Visions Art Museum's virtual exhibition

Visions Art Museum, in San Diego, California, is a non-profit organization with a focus on fibre art. It stages twenty exhibitions annually, and though it is now closed to visitors, four of its shows are currently available on-line.

Octopus and Crab (detail), Beth Blenkinship

Beth Blankenship's solo exhibition, "Connecting Threads", showcases her longtime fascination with marine life. Using thread and beads, she has made a series of vessels celebrating the diversity of aquatic plants and animals.

Meltdown #1 (detail), Sandra Meech

Canadian artist Sandra Meech has a longstanding interest in the people and landscape of the polar regions.  "Polar Expressions" is a masterful display of her use of painted cloth and stitch to create contemporary quilts.

Break Up, Maria Shell

"Shifting Tides: Convergence in Cloth" is a group show, staged by members of Studio Art Quilt Associates. Its 46 varied works focus "on the current state of the Pacific Ocean ecosystem, its marvellous natural diversity, and the human activities that both sustain and threaten oceanic life".

The Wave, Carol Simpson

Finally, small works by local artists, "The Seaside Quilt Group", are on display in the show "The San Diego Seaside".

Fans of contemporary art quilts will have much to explore in this virtual collection.

Quilt as Political Statement

AIDS Memorial Quilt panel, NAMES Project

This recent article in The Observer, by Karen Chernick, traces the history of quilts as political statement.

In Quilting as a Radical Act: An Exhibition Examines the Art Form's Revolutionary Impact, Chernick reviews a new exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art, titled Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change. 

While the common public perception of quilts and quilters is one of cozy domesticity, the reality is often different. This show gathers together over 30 quilts from the mid-19th century onward, revealing a long history of quilts made for social causes.

Quilts that comment on our current pandemic, and that pay tribute to its victims, are no doubt already in the making. 

Artists Reinvent the Mask

 From The Guardian: 45 artists were asked to reinvent the mask. Here's the link.

Porcupine Fish, Liz Sexton

Beak, Elizabeth Morisette

Breathing Apparatus, Adrienne DeLoe

Preview of upcoming auction at Heffel

Once again, Heffel will hold a live auction of fine art at its Toronto location. The Post-War and Contemporary Art will be auctioned on July 15, 2020, at 5 pm, and the Canadian, Impressionist and Modern Art will be auctioned later that day, at 7 pm.

Most of the items to be auctioned were on display at the Montreal branch of Heffel for the past three days, and I was lucky enough to catch the event. The preview has not been well-publicized, as the venue is not suitable for large crowds during this pandemic.

The Heffel Gallery in Montreal is located in a fine old mansion on Sherbrooke Street. Below are some interior shots of the preview. Sadly, they fail to capture the dazzling quality of the works on view, or the grandeur of the setting. Artists include Christopher Pratt, Alex Colville, Jean Paul Lemieux, Joan Mitchell, Emily Carr and Jean Paul Riopelle. Also represented are most members of the Group of Seven.

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The Heffel website includes photos of all the works to be auctioned. By clicking on any image, you can access a close-up, as well as biographical information about the artist, the provenance of the painting, and the price it is expected to sell for at the auction. 

Estate Sale at the Alan Klinkhoff Galleries

John Little, Rue Beaudry, de la Gauchetière, Montreal, 1963
oil on canvas, 24 x 30

Both the Toronto and Montreal branches of the Alan Klinkhoff Gallery will be involved in an exhibition and sale of the Mitzi and Mel Dobrin collection of Canadian art.

Robert Pilot, The Lane, Peel Street, Montreal, 1950
oil on canvas, 28 x 22 in

More than 90 first-rate paintings will be featured, from artists like Molly Lamb Bobak, Emily Carr, Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Clarence Gagnon, Lawren S. Harris, and A.Y. Jackson. The paintings may be viewed on-line at the gallery website. Also on the site are the reminiscences of the Dobrins' son, Lewis, and of gallerist Alan Klinkhoff, who tell the story of the Dobrins' approach to building their collection.

Tom Thomson, Early Spring, Algonquin Park, 1917
oil on board, 8 1/4 x 10 1/2 in

To see this museum-quality collection of art, visit the Alan Klinkhoff Gallery in Toronto, March 12 - 21, 2020, or in Montreal, March 26 - April 4, 2020.

Toronto branch: 190 Davenport Rd, Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm

Montreal branch: 1448 Sherbrooke St. W., Tuesday - Saturday, 9 am - 5 pm

Imagine Van Gogh @ Arsenal

This immersive experience of image and music is currently staged in the cavernous space of Arsenal, an art venue in southwestern Montreal. It has been getting rave reviews, and continues until March 1, 2020.

Originally designed to be projected in the old bauxite quarries of Les Baux-de-Provence, it is now a "must-see" for winter-weary Montrealers.

More than 200 of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings are thematically presented, sometimes in extreme close-up, allowing viewers to appreciate the energy of the artist's brushwork.

The accompanying sound track is replete with well-chosen musical selections from Saint-Saëns, Satie, Prokofiev, and others.

The film portion of the exhibit runs about 30 minutes, but visitors should plan on spending some additional time reading the bilingual explanatory panels about Van Gogh's life.

Even the floor serves as a screen for ever-changing imagery.

For more information, visit the Arsenal website.

Event at the Leonard Cohen gallery show

In my post of November 17, 2019, I shared some images, descriptions and inspirations of work included in our group show, Tribute to Leonard Cohen, at the Musée Régional de Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

Two months later, at 2 pm on Sunday, January 19, the artist-participants of the exhibition will be at the gallery to talk about their work.

Presentations will be in French and English. The show closes on January 22.

New exhibition at the MMFA

Another crowd-pleasing show is scheduled for this spring and summer at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. "Paris in the Days of Post-Impressionism: Signac and the Indépendants" will run from March 28 until September 17, 2020.

Paul Signac, Juan les Pins. The Evening, 1914

The museum's website reads,

"Discover a magnificent body of 500 paintings and graphic works from an exceptional private collection to be exhibited in its entirety for the first time – the largest collection of works by Paul Signac, but also of avant-garde: Impressionists (Monet and Morisot), Fauves (Dufy, Friesz and Marquet), Symbolists (Gauguin, Mucha and Redon), Nabis (Bonnard, Denis, Lacombe, Sérusier, Ranson and Vallotton), Neo-Impressionists (Cross, Guillaumin, Luce, Pissarro, Seurat and Van Rysselberghe) and observers of life in Paris (Anquetin, Degas, Lautrec, Picasso and Steinlen).

For more information, visit https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/upcoming/paris-1900/.

Art auction at Heffel

Two auctions are scheduled later this month at the Toronto branch of Heffel, the fine art auction house: one of post-war and contemporary art and another of Canadian, impressionist and modern art.

The works that will be up for bidding have been previewed in Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal, and I was lucky enough to spend some time at the Montreal preview this weekend. (The preview continues today, 11 am - 6 pm.)

The Heffel building, located on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal's Golden Square Mile, has some beautiful features, including an impressive hand-carved interior staircase, ornate ceiling mouldings, and stained glass windows.

The star attraction of the event is Femme au Chapeau, by Pablo Picasso. It is expected to sell for $8 - $10 million Canadian. Its subject is Dora Maar, and it is said that her portrayal here embodies the conflict and angst of the artist while living in Paris during the German occupation.

Femme au Chapeau, Pablo Picasso, 1941
oil on canvas, 24 x 14 7/8 in

Four works by the Canadian painter Jean-Paul Riopelle will be offered for sale at the auction. The most impressive of these, shown below, is expected to sell for about $1 million Canadian.

Untitled, Jean-Paul Riopelle, 1955
oil on canvas, 24 3/4 x 80 3/4"

Heffel has provided much background information about the various works on its website, as well as in several small printed catalogs. The website offers visitors the chance to zoom in on the details of each painting. Here is a description of Riopelle's technique, as described by a contemporary:

"I will never forget this scene. First, he did not paint with a brush but rather with what looked like a putty knife. Second, judging by the hundreds of empty tubes that lay at his feet, he was using a phenomenal quantity of paint. He did not unscrew his tubes. He decapitated them in one move with his knife without ever using the cap. Red, blue, or green: the colours appeared suddenly at the tip of his fingers. Because that is how he was doing it: he held all the tubes (say three or four or as many as his hand could hold) in his fist and then either poured them directly on the canvas or managed to have one colour mixing with the next by pressing the tubes in a certain way." 

Karlukwees, BC, Walter Joseph Phillips, 1929
woodcut on paper, 10 1/2 x 12 1/2"

Other Canadian artists to be featured in the sale include Emily Carr,  A.J. Casson, Alexander Colville, Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, William Kurelek, Jean-Paul Lemieux, Arthur Lismer, David Milne, James Wilson Morrice, Robert Wakeham Pilot and Christopher Pratt.

La Seigneurie / Le manoir, Jean Paul Lemieux, 1973
oil on canvas, 16 3/4 x 26 3/4"

The preview is a rare opportunity to see so much high-quality work mounted in just a few small rooms. I look forward to reading a report on the auction, taking place November 20, 2019. The event will also be live-streamed.

Several more days of preview are scheduled at the Design Exchange, 234 Bay Street, Toronto, November 15 - 20. For details, go to the auction website.

Morning on the Inlet, A.J. Casson, 1959
oil on board, 24 x 45"

World Press Photo returns to Montreal

The 2019 edition of the Expo World Press Photo Montréal will be presented at Marché Bonsecours from August 28 to September 29. World Press Photo is considered to be the most prestigious professional photography competition in the world. In 2019, the winning photos are divided into eight categories: News, General Information, Contemporary topic, Portrait, Environment, Nature, Sport and Long-Term Project.

The photos are enlarged to be seen by a crowd, and mounted on panels that form a labyrinth through both levels of the venue. Many of them are disturbing, as they often document human tragedy and environmental disaster.

The Grand Prize this year was awarded to American John Moore, for his photograph showing a two-year-old girl in tears during the arrest of her mother, a Honduran immigrant, in the United States. In June 2018, the family attempted to cross the border between Mexico and the United States.

For more information, visit the event's website.

City in Ruins

Thank you to Tess Hall, a participant in my current class with Jane Davies, for sending me a reference to the poem, Building with its Face Blown Off, by Billy Collins.

I am also reminded of this photo from Edward Burtynsky, which I saw recently at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.

Edward Burtynsky, from Three Gorges dam project, China, 2002

This is the kind of devastation that is suggested by my recent imagery of "deconstructed" buildings in a mixed-media series, "City in Ruins", which I blogged about earlier this week.

The Shed opens April 5

The Shed, as seen from the High Line in February 2018

After more than a decade of planning and work, The Shed opens next month on Manhattan's West Side. A 200,000-square-foot structure, it is designed to offer flexible space that will be a "commissioning centre" for all arts and all audiences. The ambitious programming focuses on risk-taking collaborations between visual artists, musicians, dancers, poets and film-makers.

The physical space, named the Bloomberg Building, was financed by a $75 million donation from New York's former mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

Overlooking the Hudson River, the ambitious project is already known for its movable shell. Supported by six-foot wheels, the shell rolls out onto the adjacent plaza in a matter of minutes, creating the McCourt, an enclosed 17,000-square-foot hall complete with light, sound and temperature control.

Some of those involved in the first year of programming include Gerhard Richter, Renée Fleming, Björk, Steve McQueen, and Quincy Jones.

Art for Sale, March 30

And now for an item of strictly local interest.

In my little town of Hudson, Quebec (pop. 5000, little changed for the last 40 years) we have many valuable assets. We are situated on a lake, and our connections to nature include an extensive network of walking trails and parks, a bird sanctuary, a yacht club and three golf courses. There's a lively cultural scene, including multiple artist and craft groups, music and gardening clubs, choirs, two history museums, a literary festival, a summertime flea market, an art gallery or two, and even a theatre.

Much of this activity is sustained by our biggest asset, a vibrant volunteer base. The library, Meals on Wheels, a palliative care centre and so many more initiatives are dependent on volunteers.

But one of the real gems of our little town is the Bunker. Located in the basement of the library, its staff accepts donations of clothing, furniture, kitchenware and bric-à-brac, selling it all at bargain prices and then using the revenue to fund not only the library but many other worthy causes. As the Bunker is only open on Saturday mornings, it has become a community "thing" to pop down and see what treasures await the discerning eye.

On March 30, the Bunker is staging a rare and special event.

Festival international du film sur l'art

The 37th edition of this Montreal film festival opens on March 19, and runs until the end of the month. More than 200 films from 40 countries will be presented, most of them screening twice. Venues include the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Concordia University, and Cineplex Odeon, Quartier Latin. Many of the films are in English, or with English subtitles.

Though I find the website difficult to navigate (is it just me?) it is possible to access all the showtimes, trailers for most of the films, and to buy tickets and passes on line.

A few of the items that caught my eye:

Art in the 21st Century: Berlin

A wonderful insight into the artists' Berlin. Canadian premiere. English.
https://www.artfifa.com/en/movies/art-in-the-twenty-first-century-berlin

Bauhaus Spirit

The rich heritage of the 100-year-old institution and its modern role. Canadian premiere. English and German with English subtitles.
https://www.artfifa.com/en/movies/bauhaus-spirit

Hitler vs. Picasso and the Others

The story of the theft of art by the Nazis. Canadian premiere. English subtitles.
https://www.artfifa.com/en/movies/hitler-vs-picasso-and-the-others

Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt

Filmmaker Kenneth J. Harvey and Christopher Pratt, one of Canada’s pre-eminent painters, take a seven-day trip around Newfoundland, searching for the places where Pratt painted his emblematic works. An honest, hilarious, eloquent, bizarre, even unsettling account of Pratt’s life and art....  Quebec Premiere. English
https://www.artfifa.com/en/movies/immaculate-memories-the-uncluttered-worlds-of-christopher-pratt

John Heward: Words and Silence

A vibrant testimonial to Montreal-born artist John Heward, (1934-2018). World premiere. English with French subtitles.
https://www.artfifa.com/en/movies/john-heward-words-and-silence

Something that I have experienced in past years is that additional screenings of popular films are arranged during the festival, so it pays to check the website for repeats.

Parle-moi d'amour

So glad I was able to see the Parle-moi d'amour event now showing at the Wilder Dance Centre, 1435 Bleury, Montreal.

The exhibition-auction brings together over 300 works of art made by Les Impatients and by professional artists. All works will be auctioned off to support the organization Les Impatients and their activities. Les Impatients' mission is to help people with mental health issues through artistic expression. It offers 64 workshops each week, reaching 650 patients per week, in 15 workshop locations in Montreal and area. It also encourages interaction with the community by sharing the works of its participants.

A silent auction is ongoing, and the event will end with a soirée on the final evening. February 27, 2019.

Some of the participating artists are familiar names. They include BGL, Marie-Claire Blais, Sonia Haberstich, Jennifer Hornyak, Ann McCall, Lili Richard, and Gabor Szilasi. Donated art includes works by Liz Magor, Guido Molinari, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Françoise Sullivan and Claude Tousignant.

The project will continue in April (St.-Lambert) and in May (Verdun). For more information, please visit the website.

Sharing my work

I am delighted to have a chance to share my Cityscapes with a small group on Wednesday, June 13, as part of a series of presentations organized by Hudson Fine Crafts and the local Gallerie Plus.

I plan to show some examples of my work and, because many of the audience are artists and artisans themselves, to share some of the materials and techniques I use to make my stitched fabric collages.

Please consider dropping by if you're in the area!

Papier 2018 next weekend

Dedicated exclusively to the medium of paper and to the possibilities it offers, Papier is one of the largest fairs of its kind in North America. The event is a key driver for Canadian contemporary art, as well as a unique meeting ground for the greater public, enthusiasts and visual arts professionals alike.

Forty galleries from Montreal and beyond are represented.

Friday, noon - 9; Saturday and Sunday, 11 - 6
Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal
2020 William Street

Parking available, metro recommended (Georges-Vanier or Lionel-Groulx station)

The $10 general admission gives access to panel discussions and guided tours in English and French. The $150 VIP ticket also gives access to a select group of artist studios and private and corporate collections, as well as an exclusive cocktail party on the Thursday evening.

More information about Papier 18 is available here.

Quilts as Tools for Resistance: Hyperallergic

Sometimes the general viewing public is surprised that quilts can carry a political message, when in fact quilting has a long history of voicing political and social concerns.

This recent article on Hyperallergic.com surveys the many quilts displayed at QuiltCon 2018 (Pasadena, California, late February) that convey messages of political activism.

Liz Havartine, "She Was Warned"

Rental Collection 2018, Stewart Hall

Every year at this time Stewart Hall in Pointe Claire invites submissions to their rental collection. Of the 500 or so works of art submitted, about one quarter are chosen for the collection, and exhibited for a month in their lovely, brick-walled gallery.

This is a special anniversary for the Collection, marking their 50th year, and the selection process has been altered to encourage emerging artists to submit their work.

All the works chosen will be on view from October 28 to December 3, 2017. The opening is on Sunday, October 29, at 2 pm. The opening tends to be crowded, and is very much a social happening. Those interested in an opportunity to view the art in a quieter moment are advised to go at just about any other time.

And yes, I am delighted to have one of my new pieces in hand-dyed linen accepted into the show. This marks my seventh consecutive year as a participant.

Gallery hours are Monday - Sunday, 1 - 5 pm, and Wednesday 1 - 9 pm.
176 Lakeshore, Pointe Claire, QC
514-630-1220