2018 exhibitions

January 17 to March 14, 2018

Catalogue Excerpt

“All roads lead to the one House

from one seed a thousand ears of corn emerge.”

-Rumi

For the 13th-century Persian mystic and poet Rumi, the many can be found in the one; different paths lead to the same destination. The purpose of Call to Prayer is to explore those different paths and bring them together through their music. Call to Prayer is an immersive, sonic installation drawing on the musical traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Beginning as separate threads, the voices of three Ottawa vocalists (in order of appearance: Daniel Benlolo, Terri-Lynn Mitchell and Mona Bahumaid) gradually become entwined, ultimately forming a tonal fabric that finds harmony in difference.

Biography

Ben Globerman is a musician, sound designer, and multimedia artist based in Ottawa. He holds an MA in European Studies (Carleton University) with a specialization in migration, and a BA in Religious Studies (Carleton University), and is a graduate from the Red Bull Music Academy (New York, USA). He is particularly interested in translating conceptual ideas to sound. Ben has composed works for film, theatre, and installation, and has created projects in diverse fields such as healthcare, fashion and public services. Under his Cabaal moniker, he has performed throughout North America, and released four LPs. His installations have explored themes of religious pluralism, bleeding-edge technology, and the therapeutic qualities of sound.

Ben Globerman gratefully acknowledges the support of the City of Ottawa and the Ontario Arts Council.

March 22 to May 23, 2018

Opening: Thursday, April 26, 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Joint opening with the Karsh-Masson Gallery.

Artist talk: Sunday, March 25, 2 pm

Artist statement excerpt

I wish to create a garden for you. It is overgrown, alive and bustling with alternative plants and insects. Fauna and flora from a secret world, an untouchable realm. I wish to express the principles of the divine through a plethora of organic abstraction. I strive to construct creations that lie outside our universe and yet parallel it. Nature begins again in isolation. I have eschewed measurements, sketches, references, strict geometry. I denounce the brutal vulgarity of the straight line and the square. I begin from nothing and build into a frenzy. I champion the curve, indulging in sensual textures. I am driven to express the uniqueness that pervades being.

Biography

Jordan Seal grew up in Ottawa and lived there for most of his life. He vividly remembers drawing when he was young. Making art has allowed him to preserve and foster the wonder and creative jubilation from his youth. Along with being a visual artist, he is a poet, writer, musician, dancer, and performer. He previously organized his own art shows. He believes strongly in the DIY ethic. He believes in having art exchanged for donations. He is a graduate of the Ottawa School of Art, a place where he felt accepted and part of a community. He is a co-founder of the Art of the Uncarved Block, a music label that puts out punk, indie and outsider music. Much of his artistic output is involved in the music scene. Jordan sees art as a spiritual and cultural pursuit that enriches society. There is a strange and brilliant kingdom toward which he is working.

May 31 to August 8, 2018

Catalogue excerpt

Navigating the peculiarly demarcated oases of the virtual, commenting on the speculative nature of screens, and capitalizing on technology’s ability to inspire belief, void loop() is a contemporary meditation on spirituality, pregnant with cautionary messages about the precariousness of our times. If these works represent only a small portion of Eyler’s and Lapointe’s broader investigation on the entanglements of technology, transcendence, and phenomenal occurrences, they exemplify our urge to read fullness and significance into the immaterial void, from the vast expanse of the empyrean regions, down to the void of a video display monitor.

- Laura Demers

Biographies

Anna Eyler holds a BA in Religious Studies and Art History from Carleton University (2010) and a BFA from the University of Ottawa (2015). Recent awards include the Artengine New Media Award (2015), the Spark Box Residency Award (2016), and the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (2017). Her work was included in FILE: Electronic Language International Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil (2017). Eyler is an MFA candidate in Sculpture at Concordia University.

Nicolas Lapointe is a multidisciplinary artist based in Montreal, Quebec. He holds a Diploma in Visual Arts from the CÉGEP de l’Outaouais (2010) and a BFA from the University of Ottawa (2015). Lapointe is the recipient of several awards, including the Dale and Nick Tedeschi Studio Arts Fellowship. Lapointe is an MFA candidate in Sculpture at Concordia University.

University of Ottawa MFA candidate – Thesis exhibition

August 16 to September 23, 2018

As a supplement to our regular programming, City Hall Art Gallery is pleased to partner with the University of Ottawa’s Department of Visual Arts to provide a valuable mentorship and professional development opportunity.

The work displayed in this space is a large-scale evolutionary improvisational installation that explores narrative, trauma and mental health. Different media create an overwhelming space, which viewers can explore to discover links between various examples of witticisms, gallows humour, photography, paintings, doodles and videos. Richardson’s work tries to capture the experiential feeling of his everyday existence, one wrought with struggle and strife. The arrangement of the paintings is somewhat architectural; they have a structure, but one that seems as if it could collapse at any moment. Themes of war, darkness and desperation are not presented in a negative light, but as a means of achieving growth.

-Artist statement excerpt

An Ottawa-based multidisciplinary artist, Pierre Richardson holds a BFA (2016) and is currently pursuing an MFA (2018) from the University of Ottawa. As a person who copes with mental health issues, he explores the dark spaces of the mind. He also seeks out narrative where none is evident as a way of communicating with the subconscious and with viewers of his works.

October 11 to November 27, 2018

Videos and photographs from the Tea Cups series explore the tenuous state of current world affairs. Made by projecting contemporary global news imagery into delicate vintage tea cups, these works evoke our own human fragility, the shattering of fragile notions of peace and social democracy, and the vulnerability of the earth itself to natural disaster, all while bringing worldwide events ‘closer to home’.

Catalogue excerpt

The magic of Cheryl Pagurek’s work lies in how she engages, confronts and gets to the heart of the issue. At the same time, she steps aside, as a painter steps away from the canvas with her brush in hand. She invites us to participate in this back and forth, a dynamic force that generates thought and anger, an energy capable of transforming us into passport makers.

- Marc Mercier

Biography

Since receiving an MFA from the University of Victoria, Cheryl Pagurek has shown widely in galleries, public art events, and film/video festivals, including exhibits at MSVU Art Gallery, Patrick Mikhail Gallery, Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal, VU Photo, Gallery 44, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa Art Gallery, and screenings in Canada, France, Brazil, Columbia, Morocco, Egypt and the USA. She installed a permanent video commission at an Ottawa transit station in 2011. Her work is in many public and private collections, and has been reviewed in Canadian, American and British publications.

Cheryl Pagurek gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the City of Ottawa and the Ontario Arts Council.

December 6, 2018 to January 30, 2019

Opening: Thursday, December 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm

Kaleidoscope highlights new additions to the City of Ottawa Art Collection in 2018. Artworks are added to the Collection each year by way of a peer assessment process through purchase, donation and/or commission. This year, 56 artworks by 34 artists were purchased, eleven artworks were donated and one site-specific permanent public art commission was completed.

The kaleidoscope is a symbol of possibilities and potential; it challenges viewers to adapt their own perspectives as they interpret and re-interpret with each subtle shift of the lens. It encourages us to expand our awareness while encouraging an active and engaged way of viewing. The diverse array of works assembled in this exhibition demonstrate various interpretations of common themes, such as identity and place; however each one is unique, produced within its own set of complex circumstances. Kaleidoscope represents and reveals a wonderful array of viewpoints and richness of vision.

In 2018, the City of Ottawa Public Art Program undertook a pilot project in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action. An Indigenous Liaison was engaged to work with artists in the Algonquin, Métis and Inuit communities in an effort to encourage more applications by Indigenous artists. As a result, the City of Ottawa Art Collection saw a dramatic increase in applications from Indigenous artists and 30% of the artworks purchased in 2018 were by Indigenous artists.

Artworks from this circulating collection are placed in over 160 public spaces and municipal buildings to be viewed and enjoyed by residents and visitors. The City of Ottawa and its various municipal predecessors have been actively collecting artwork by professional artists for over 30 years. As a result, the City of Ottawa Collection has grown to include more than 2,800 artworks by more than 750 artists. The artists featured in this exhibition are but a small fragment of a much larger visual arts community that comprises an abundance of artistic talent in the region.

List of Recent Additions to the City of Ottawa Art Collection

Purchase

Tiffany April, Untitled (Plant), 2017, acrylic and oil on canvas, 122 x 152 cm, 2018-0008

Shahla Bahrami, Censure IV, 2017, paper, 33 x 44 cm, 2018-0009

Shahla Bahrami, Censure V, 2017, paper, 33 x 44 cm, 2018-0010

Shahla Bahrami, Censure VI, 2017 paper, 32 x 44 cm, 2018-0011

Shahla Bahrami, Censure VII, paper, 33 x 44 cm, 2018-0012

Craig Commanda, The Weight, 2013, digital video, 4 min 02 sec, 2018-0013

Kristina Corre, Oceans Between Us, 2017, mixed media on paper, 41 x 51 cm, 2018-0014

Lynda Cronin, Blow, 2018, mixed media on paper, 53 x 76 cm, 2018-0015

Josée Desjardins, Les nouvelles alliances 9, 2015, mixed media, 215 x 182 x 13 cm, 2018-0016

Sarah Fuller, Big Pine on the Highway on the Way to Temagami, 2018, digital print on paper, 112 x 90 cm, 2018-0017

Sarah Fuller, The Path, 2018, digital print on paper, 112 x 90 cm, 2018-0018

David Kaarsemaker, EB Eddy Mill 6, 2017, oil and acrylic on canvas, 62 x 77 cm, 2018-0019

Claude Latour, Nishna and the Offering, 2018, digital print on paper, 51 x 114 cm, 2018-0020

Claude Latour, Four Kings, 2018, digital print on paper, 33 x 48 cm, 2018-0021

Jim Logan, The Letter, 1993, acrylic on canvas, 77 x 61 cm, 2018-0022

Jim Logan, Loneliness, 1993, acrylic on canvas, 76 x 61 cm, 2018-0023

Jim Logan, Life Goes On…, 1994, acrylic on canvas, 41 x 51 cm, 2018-0024

Drew Mosley, Catch and Release, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 102 x 192 cm, 2018-0025

Drew Mosley, Mosely Manor, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 91 x 122 cm, 2018-0026

Marie-Jeanne Musiol, Plant Cosmos no. 5 (Leaf), 2018, digital print on paper, 84 x 64 cm, 2018-0027

Marie-Jeanne Musiol, Plant Cosmos no. 6 (Fern), 2018, digital print on, 84 x 64 cm, 2018-0028

Mélanie Myers, Sans-titre (sapin-folder), 2014, pencil crayon on paper, 107 x 147 cm, 2018-0029

Nadia Myre, Slit, 2017, digital print on paper, 98 x 139 cm, 2018-0030

Jay Odjick, Mushkiki, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 76 x 102, 2018-0031

Annie Pootoogook, Having Some Tea, 2006, pencil crayon on paper, 51 x 66 cm, 2018-0032

Annie Pootoogook, Composition (Listening to the Radio with Coffee), 2005, pencil crayon on paper, 76 x 105 cm, 2018-0033

Annie Pootoogook, Family Home, 2001, ink on paper, 51 x 66 cm, 2018-0034

Barry Pottle, Culture Passed On, 2017, digital print on paper, 40 x 50 cm, 2018-0035

Barry Pottle, Preparation, 2017, digital print on paper, 40 x 50 cm, 2018-0036

Barry Pottle, Silverspoon I, 2017, digital print on paper, 40 x 50 cm, 2018-0037

Barry Pottle, Silverspoon II, 2017, digital print on paper, 40 x 50 cm, 2018-0038

Ramona Ramlochand, unfallen (boys), 2014, digital print on paper, 76 x 114, 2018-0039

Leslie Reid, Resolute I (Cornwallis Island), 2015, oil and graphite on canvas, 83 x 128 cm, 2018-0040

Philip Rose, (Un)Stills, 2018, digital video, 52 mins, 2018-0041

Mana Rouholamini, zigzager le fleuve to zigzag the river, 2018, digital print on polypropylene, 50 x 233 cm, 2018-0042

Mana Rouholamini, adorer le flux to adore the flux, 2018, digital print on polypropylene, 50 x 233 cm, 2018-0043

Vera Saltzman, Lansdowne Park, 2012, photograph on paper, 18 x 18 cm, 2018-0044

Komi Seshie, L’Horizon, 2018, pigment on canvas, 113 x 90 cm, 2018-0045

Meredith Snider, reused, 2018, mixed media, 32 x 29 x 18 cm, 2018-0046

Meredith Snider, preserved, 2018, mixed media, 28 x 10 x 20 cm, 2018-0047

Svetlana Swinimer, Life of an Actor, 2016, acrylic and oil on canvas, 132 x 170 cm, 2018-0048

Tafui, Shield, 2018, mixed media on wood / technique mixte sur bois, 61 x 51 cm, 2018-0049

Tafui, Fragile, 2018, mixed media on wood, 71 x 61 cm, 2018-0050

Katherine Takpannie, Why are you wearing that stupid man suit, 2016, digital print on paper, 44 x 61cm, 2018-0051

Katherine Takpannie, Moments to reflect, I can take a few, 2017, digital print on paper, 68 x 97 cm, 2018-0052

Katherine Takpannie, Pushing Through, 2016, digital print on paper, 68 x 97 cm, 2018-0053

John Tenasco, Armoured Figure, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 51 x 41 cm, 2018-0054

John Tenasco, Transforming Shaman, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 81 x 104 cm, 2018-0055

Anne Wanda Tessier, Building Blocks, 2018, linocut print on paper, 120 x 90 cm, 2018-0056

Douglas Walker, A-545, 2009, oil on panel, 111 x 81 cm, 2018-0057

Colin White, Yen Fung Ding, 2017, ink on paper, 36 x 28 cm, 2018-0058

Colin White, Co Châm, 2017, ink on paper, 36 x 28 cm, 2018-0059

Anna Williams, Leaden, 2017, lead and wood, 10 x 25 x 20 cm x 2018-0060

Anna Williams, Leaden, 2017, lead and wood / plomb et bois, 10 x 25 x 20 cm x 2018-0061

Anna Williams, Leaden, 2017, lead and wood, 10 x 25 x 20 cm x 2018-0062

Andrew Wright, Untitled Photographic Picture #5, 2015, digital print on paper, 149 x 224 cm, 2018-0063

2018 Direct Purchase Peer Assessment Committee members

Heather Campbell, Neven Lochhead, Natasha Mazurka, Carl Stewart, Melanie Yugo

Donations

Tony Fouhse, Guy’s Mom, 2005, digital print on paper, 38 x 38 cm, 2017-0072

Tony Fouhse, Murial, 2008, digital print on paper, 70 x 56 cm, 2017-0073

Tony Fouhse, Rose, 2008, digital print on paper, 64 x 43 cm, 2017-0074

IAMRURIK, untitled, 2005, mixed media on canvas, 122 x 122 cm, 2018-0002

En Masse, EM x Arboretum, 2014, mixed media on panel, 51 x 173 cm, 2018-0003

Hayden Menzies, Dunderhead, 2008, mixed media on canvas, 61 x 61 cm, 2018-0004

Theo Pelmus, Double Self Portrait, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 122 x 122 cm, 2018-0005

Tavi Weisz, Remember Yesterday, 2016, oil on paper, 52 x 52 cm, 2018-0006

James Boyd, Rupture in Cosmic Egg, 1979, mixed media on paper, 99 x 67 cm, 2018-0064

Laurence Hyde, Mechano Time Machine, 1980, oil on canvas, 74 x 64 cm, 2018-0065

Bhat Boy, Updraught, 2017, acrylic on panel, 122 x 91 cm, 2018-0066

Commissions

Jim Tubman Chevrolet SENS Rink

Christopher Griffin, Along the Boards, 2018, stainless steel, 2018-0001, commissioned for Canterbury Outdoor Rink project – 2185 Arch Street