I hope you can forgive the fact that a week went by without our usual emerging artist/monday morning eye candy and such posts. It’s been a crazy busy time around here lately. Rather then try to play catch up I thought I’d let you guys in on what’s been going on around here lately.
This past weekend I was in Toronto for the Fusion Clay and Glass Exhibition. Bringing together artists from across Canada it was a weekend filled with some of the great ceramic work that our fine country has to offer. I’m pleasantly exhausted and returned home feeling inspired and appreciative of those in our community that work tirelessly to bring events and artists together like this. Celebrating it’s 20th Anniversary this year the Fusion Clay and Glass Exhibition is known for the diversity and talent that it presents year after year. I highly encourage Clay and Glass artists from all over Canada to take note of this prestigious event and to reach out to the organizers to get involved for next year.
#canadianceramics Family picture at Fusion
such an incredible space at the Artscape Wychwood Barns
While in Toronto I always try to stop by and visit some of my favorite pieces at the Gardiner Museum. Lovely to see some of Edmund DeWaal’s pieces there this time. And they also have a sweet exhibition on mapping the influence of Scandinavia Design in Canada highlighting both older as well as contemporary works by artists across the craft disciplines not just ceramics. If you have a mid-century chair obsession (as i do) then it’s a show worth catching.
Also took in the opening reception for Clint Neufeld’s new exhibition at General Hardware Contemporary and the opening of the new (incredible) Craft Ontario retail and exhibition space.
I also had to steal a few minutes to run over to Harbourfront Centre to see the Lindsay Montgomery exhibition that was on in their vitrine gallery. She’s one of my favorite Canadian artists right now so I was pretty excited to get to see the work in person.
And fellow make and do ceramics member Shane Weaver gave us a tour of his latest project: dex(terity) lab. More on that very soon as he will be opening his doors to the public in November…very exciting to see such a beautiful ceramic work and retail space in Toronto. Every city needs one of these!
Okay….so that was just Toronto…
I’m also super excited to invite you to the Void Gallery exhibition of make and do ceramics which opens runs from October 12th to November 6th. This is our first exhibition as a collective. A reception will be held Thursday, October 20th, from 7 to 9pm. Please stop by if you’re in the area or you can view/purchase work online as well. www.voidgallery.ca/makeanddo
I’m sure I’m missing things I need to say… I especially want to thank all those that were involved with making this trip our to Toronto so amazing. It was the break from the routine and the inspiration I needed. xoxoxo carole
Celebrating
our 20th year of high craft clay and glass, the FUSION Clay and Glass
Show at Toronto’s Wychwood Barns opens with a reception on Friday,
October 14th, 6-9pm. Join us in welcoming from the Yukon through to
Newfoundland:
Lauren Blakey, Alison Brannen, Lee Horus Clark,
Yolande Clark, Carole Epp, Jody Greenman-Barber, Jason Holley, Lesley
McInally, Clint Neufeld, Grace Nickel, Mariko Paterson,
Andrea Piller, Marcelina Salazar, Chiho Tokita, Natalie Wadell, Juana
Berinstein, Michelle Bishop, Diane Black, Carolynn Bloomer, Erin
Candela, Courtney Downman, Christopher Reid Flock, LeeAnn Janissen,
Loren Kaplan, Astrid Kruse, Heather Lepp, Hannun Lyn, Michelle
MacDonald, Heidi McKenzie, Jeannie Pappas, Bernadette Pratt, Bill
Reddick, Heather Smit, Joe Speck, Brenda Sulivan, and Catherine Thomas.
Clint Neufeld will guide you through all aspects of mold making and
slip casting in this 5-day workshop. Participants will have the unique
opportunity to join Clint in creating a multi-piece mold of a piece of
machinery from Medalta’s boneyard.
Fee includes:
24 hour Medalta studio access
Full access to the entire Historic Clay District site
All support materials
Artist responsible for:
Accommodations: Units are reserved at Medicine Hat College Student Housing; call 403.529.3820 to book.
A full refund (less a $25 admin fee) is available if you cancel by
the registration deadline. If Medalta cancels, or if you need to cancel
due to medical reasons, you will receive a full refund. If you need to
cancel after the registration deadline, you will be refunded 50% of the
course fee. For cancellations less than two weeks from the start date of
the course, we will be unable to issue any refund.
Join Robin Dupont as he guides you through all aspects of making pots
for the wood, salt, and soda kilns in this 10-day workshop.
Participants will bring a few bisque pieces from home to glaze and load
at the beginning of the workshop and then dive headlong into making pots
that will be fired throughout the workshop. There will be a total of
three atmospheric firings allowing participants to explore new creative
pathways.
Fee includes:
24 hour studio access
Full access to the entire Historic Clay District site
All firings included
Glaze materials in test quantities
Use of shop glazes
Artist responsible for:
Materials and clay
Accommodations: If you would like assistance in finding accommodations, contact [email protected]
Clint Neufeld will guide you through all aspects of mold making and
slip casting in this 5-day workshop. Participants will have the unique
opportunity to join Clint in creating a multi-piece mold of a piece of
machinery from Medalta’s boneyard.
Fee includes:
24 hour Medalta studio access
Full access to the entire Historic Clay District site
All support materials
Artist responsible for:
Accommodations: If you would like assistance in finding accommodations, contact [email protected]
What if the cyberworld of video games entered the frame of
19th century western landscape painting? Or if Ming Dynasty-style
ceramic vessels fused with the cartoon pop of contemporary
anime? Artists Alex McLeod and Brendan Tang deploy an arsenal of Asian
and Western historical styles, science fiction, popular culture, and new
technologies as they combine ceramics, photography, and projected video
to create mesmerizing fantasy worlds that probe the boundaries between
the real and the virtual.
The heart of this exhibition is a collaborative mixed-media
installation by Tang and McLeod that blends digital projection with
ceramic sculpture. Each artist is also represented by a selection of
independent work. Inspired by video games, Romantic landscape paintings,
and dioramas, McLeod’s surreal environments depicted in large panoramic
photographs exist in their own indeterminate time and space. Brendan
Tang’s colourful and wildly incongruous Manga Ormolu ceramic vessels
fuse Asian and Western historical decorative styles with pop art forms
derived from Japanese anime and manga. Guest curated by Rachel Lafo.
Everyday forms – from furniture and fruit to car engines and
confections – are transformed into poignant allegories of desire,
labour, and leisure by these two virtuoso ceramic sculptors.
Beyond the Vessel’s Edge: Ceramics from the Permanent Collection
The functional gives way to the sculptural in this collection
of ceramics by artists John Chalke, Tam Irving, Ian Johnston, Sally
Michener, Alwyn O’Brien, Linda Stanbridge, and Diana Lynn Thompson.
Surrey Art Gallery is located in the Surrey Arts Centre
13750 – 88 Avenue
Surrey, BC Canada V3W 3L1
1 block east of King George Blvd, in Bear Creek Park
