2022 exhibitions

March 17 to April 29, 2022

Opening: Thursday, March 17, 5:30 to 7:30 pm

Artists’ tour: Sunday, April 10, 2 pm
Free admission. Presented in English.

Event protocol:

• Proof of vaccination and masks are no longer required
• Access is limited to the Laurier Avenue entrance

Exhibition documentation images

Exhibition booklet [ PDF - 5.4 MB ]

The digital realm, with all of the terror and delight it has brought into our lives, has accelerated the reality of our fragmentation. It now seems quite impossible to argue for the existence of a true self, located and whole in the flesh and bone of our body. The self is stacked and queued, nipped and tucked, tossed and strewn across our floors, our desks, our drawers, our phones, our email accounts, our cloud storage…

These works are a seductive cut and paste of bodies and selves. The artists lean into the aesthetic of fragmentation that is our contemporary life. While the works did not begin as reflections on the digital, the digital has become so pervasive in the world. Nothing is untouched by computation and its rules, and as they crafted these works, they could see where computation had left its mark.

- Exhibition booklet excerpt by Ryan Stec

Biographies

Karina Kraenzle is a photo-based artist living and working in Ottawa. Over the years, she has combined multiple media with original and found photography, producing bodies of work in series as well as in site-specific installations.  More recently, she has concentrated on various forms of collage, employing the cut-out image as historical artifact, as well as the building material for “sculpting” new images. An ongoing subject in Kraenzle’s work is photography itself – its special relationship to time, memory and the uncanny – as well as its unique capacity to contain certain fictions and uncertain truths.

Andrew Morrow is an award-winning, contemporary Canadian artist whose current painting practice exists at the intersection of art and social connection. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Queen’s University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Ottawa. Morrow’s work has been widely collected, exhibited and reviewed throughout Europe and North America. In addition to his practice as an artist, Morrow is a professor of painting and drawing at the University of Ottawa, and a founding member of the Ottawa Arts Council Young Artist Award Committee. Morrow lives with his wife and two sons in Chelsea, QC.

Cindy Stelmackowich is an artist, curator and academic from Saskatchewan who moved to Ottawa to complete a Master of Arts at Carleton University. She completed Doctor of Philosophy studies in art history and theory in New York, and post-doctoral studies in the history of art and science in New York and Germany. Stelmackowich works within the boundaries between art and science, exploring the materiality of the body through experimental sculpture, installations and digital collage. She has exhibited her artwork across Canada and the United States (Los Angeles and New York). Her artworks are in the collection of the Canada Council Art Bank, the Ottawa Art Gallery and York University.

Cindy Stelmackowich gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Ottawa.

May 12 to July 8, 2022

Exhibition documentation images

Exhibition booklet [ PDF - 2.11 MB ]

Palimpsest: a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain.

Created in collaboration with two local choirs (the Ottawa Choral Society; The Fieldown Singers), Palimpsest I deconstructs and rearranges classic Renaissance choral pieces to create an original multi-channel audio composition, a sonic palimpsest.

Without thoughtful exploration of a piece of art, a work’s indebtedness to historical and cultural origins can be lost. The metaphor of a palimpsest conveys this with subtlety— layers over layers of written words (or in this case, sounds)—revealing the contributing historical and cultural elements latent in any artistic work. In keeping with the theme of a palimpsest, Palimpsest I uses historical music as a foundation on which to layer, synthesize and ultimately compose a new, modern piece.

- Excerpt by Ben Globerman

Biography

Ben Globerman is a musician, sound designer and multimedia artist based in Ottawa. He has composed works for short films and theatre, and specializes in multi-channel audio installations. Globerman uses sound to manipulate physical spaces to create engaging and kinetic experiences for audiences. He has produced multiple conceptually driven audio and video installations for various projects across Canada, from fashion shows to therapeutic spaces in hospitals to soundtracks on public transit. His works have been shown in City Halls and private galleries alike, and his installations have tackled themes of religious pluralism, bleeding-edge technology, and the healing qualities of sound. Globerman has performed throughout North America and has released six LP/EPs. He holds an MA in European Studies (Carleton University) and a BA in Religious Studies (Carleton University). He was also the only Canadian selected to participate in New York’s Red Bull Music Academy in 2013.

This work was made possible by the generous funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and the City of Ottawa (Cultural Funding Program). This exhibition was made possible with support from the Ontario Arts Council.

July 21 to September 16, 2022

Exhibition documentation images 

Exhibition booklet [ PDF - 4.19 MB ]

In Montreal, there is a running joke amongst residents that the city experiences two seasons; winter and construction. Beginning each May, detours, cranes, and neon traffic signs are littered throughout the city, forming a temporary maze for cars and pedestrians to navigate. As a result, the orange pilon has, to many, become both an iconic and ironic symbol for the city. However, the reality of this inconvenient, and often frustrating, season presents much bigger questions surrounding the future of the city at large. The exhibition Intangible Materials presents the perpetual state of change construction poses within the urban landscape. In this show, artists Doug Dumais and Simon Petepiece explore the language of construction along with the ramifications of its embedding into the Canadian landscape.

- Excerpt by Cindy Hill

Biographies 

Doug Dumais is a camera artist based in Charlottetown, Epekwitk/Prince Edward Island, who documents spaces undergoing drastic changes such as construction sites, eroding shorelines, and public institutions. Dumais holds an MA in Art History from Concordia University. He has exhibited at ARTCH, Galerie La Castiglione, this town is small, and Eptek Art & Culture Centre.

Simon Petepiece is a Canadian visual artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Quebec. A self-taught artist, his work deals with the built environment and is informed by the time he spent studying and working in architecture. Using a variety of different techniques and materials, Petepiece’s practice involves the creation of mixed media assemblies that play with the conventions of architectural representation and construction methods. Petepiece has exhibited work in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Dublin. He holds a Master of Architercture from Carleton University.

October 6 to November 25, 2022

Opening: Thursday, October 6, 5:30 to 7:30 pm

Artist tour: Sunday, November 6, 2 pm  
Free admission. Presented in English. 

Access is limited to the Laurier Avenue entrance during exhibit events. 

Exhibition documentation images  

Exhibition booklet [ PDF - 3.4 MB ]

Not long after she’d lost her sister Hazel, I ran into Joyce, and we decided to go for lunch. We settled ourselves on stylish chairs, surrounded by hushed chitchat. At mention of Hazel, Joyce crumpled, as though the loss was physically crushing in on her. In that room of mannerly interaction, tears poured freely down her face. 

Joyce Crago transmuted her uncontrollable private grief into an act of profound communication. She created this work without allowing any of the power and shock of that raw and overwhelming pain to be lost in the beauty of these pieces. They don’t only express that pain, they articulate it. In viewing, we share in it, and understand.  

Crago is a master of composition, and her specialty is arranging what’s been discarded in the wake of major events. Salvaged, staged, and photographed, spent objects become in her hands visually gratifying forms, and the significance with which they are imbued is revealed, laid bare. 

- Exhibition booklet excerpt by Ruth Dick 

Biography 

Joyce Crago is a multi-media Canadian artist with a background in textiles and law. Her creative pursuits are initialized by a compulsion to ask questions about subjects such as death, aging, mortality, and cultural trauma. She attempts to bring order to these subjects under circumstances that are not propitious. 

She was the recipient of the 2021 Project X, Photography Award. In 2020, her work appeared in a featured exhibition at the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and won the Grand Prize at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery’s RMG Fridays: Focused. 

Her works were recently exhibited at the Ottawa Art Gallery and have also been shown nationally and internationally. They are held in the City of Ottawa Art Collection as well as many private collections.

Joyce Crago gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council.

December 8, 2022 to February 10, 2023 

Opening: Thursday, December 15, 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Speeches will begin at 6 pm. 

Access is limited to the Laurier Avenue entrance during exhibit events.

Exhibition documentation images 

Metamorphosis is a process of profound change, from one stage to the next, in the life and history of an organism. Following years of oscillation between COVID-19 restrictions, lockdowns, and interruptions, the pandemic leaves a mark on our collective consciousness. Entering a new era of optimism, the 56 artists taking part in Metamorphosis: 2022 Additions to the City of Ottawa Art Collection use their artistic practices to explore this time of reflection, renewal, and reconnection through diverse perspectives on society and our environment, identity, and memory. 

Metamorphosis explores our relationship to time and personal history in the context of our relationships with ourselves and others, our shared experiences, and our response to the transformative properties of reflection and connection. Some pieces emerge from artists' experiences of change caused by COVID-19, and others portray important reflections on sociocultural issues from their lived experiences. These artworks invite us to look at moments of growth, change, and renewal as opportunities to reflect where we can develop a broader perspective and understanding of the world that surrounds us. 

This exhibition features a selection of artworks added to the City of Ottawa Art Collection in 2022 through purchase and donation. Artworks from the City’s Collection are on display in over 170 municipal buildings and spaces across the city. 

2022 Direct Purchase Peer Assessment Committee: Adrian Göllner, Simon Guibord, Charlotte Healey, Shaya Ishaq, Kosisochukwu Nnebe 

2022 Donation Review Committee: David Barbour, Marisa Gallemit, Annie Thibault