2023 exhibitions

Oskar Dap – We are all immigrants

March 18 to July 2, 2023 

Artist talk: Sunday, March 19, 2 pm
Location: Richmond Room, Ottawa City Hall, 2^nd floor
Access is limited to the Lisgar Street entrance.
Free admission. Bilingual presentation.

Oskar Dap, TO SOMEWHERE ELSE from the series We are all immigrants, 2019, digital print , 61 x 45 cm, courtesy of the artist

Black and white image showing birds flying above and a road that recedes into the distance.

Oskar Dap, NAJ from the series We are all immigrants, 2020, digital print, 45 x 61 cm, courtesy of the artist

A photo of a person on left, text quotes from this person are presented on the right.

Exhibition documentation images

The photographic project We are all immigrants puts forward the faces and realities of migration to promote an inclusive and diverse narrative of immigration. This exhibit reflects on what immigration is and what defines us as a multicultural society. It is intended to demonstrate that we are all first to fifteenth generation immigrants and that we have much more in common than fear would have us believe.

Through their testimonies, the humility and resilience of these immigrants transport us and makes us rethink the concept of “Us.” They put into perspective what culture is and what unites us as human beings – beyond language, appearance, and customs – because at the core, we are all human beings hoping to have a better life.

Biography

Oskar Dap is a digital photographer living and working in Ottawa. He was born in Cali, Colombia, and has lived in an ever-changing social and cultural environment since childhood, which has taught him great lessons of humility and openness. Arriving in Canada in 2016, Oskar Dap expanded his artistic expression through the Professional Photography program at Marsan College, in Montréal. His daily inspiration comes from a thirst to know more and to know himself, through others and through nature. His professional and academic backgrounds focus mainly on theatre and audiovisual communications. In addition to his commercial photography practice, his main areas of interest include street photography, portraiture, and community-based projects.

Oskar Dap gratefully acknowledges the financial support of YourTherapist Psychotherapy and Counselling.

Christopher Schmitt - Convergence

July 15 to October 15, 2023

Artist talk: Friday, July 21, 12 pm
Location: Richmond Room, Ottawa City Hall, 2nd floor
Free admission. Presented in English.

Christopher Schmitt, A.I. Opera House from the series Convergence, 2021, pigment ink on cotton rag, 43 x 56 cm, courtesy of the artist

Christopher Schmitt, Rooftop Resort from the series Convergence, 2021, pigment ink on cotton rag, 43 x 56 cm, courtesy of the artist

Small blue circles and a larger blue rectangle on a bright yellow-green circuit board. A few metallic and black squares, cylinders, and rectangles throughout.

Schmitt’s photography explores the impact of science and technology on the human condition. While new technology often contributes to the betterment of society, sometimes there’s a dark side to how it’s used. For example, deep fakes, identity theft, invasion of privacy and cyber-attacks seem to be an unintended consequence of the Internet and artificial intelligence. For his series Convergence, Schmitt photographed printed circuit boards and then altered the images in post to explore this paradox. The resulting images mimic our increasingly virtual world and challenge our perception of what is real.

Biography

Christopher Schmitt is a lens-based artist residing in Centretown, Ottawa. His research interest is humanity’s relationship with the land within the lens of technology that has become inextricably connected to our lives. Schmitt’s work is informed through his career of 30+ years in high-tech, including 15 years in Ottawa, and a deep interest in science and technology. Schmitt has a Photographic Arts and Production Diploma from the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO) and recently completed residencies at SPAO, for which he received the Sphinx Bursary (2021), and at the Ingenium Research Institute, for which he received a grant from the City of Ottawa’s Creation and Production Fund for professional artists (2022). His photographs have appeared in Do It for the Grain, PhotoED Magazine, and OPAL Magazine, and are held in private collections. Schmitt’s Convergence series was mentioned in The Download, MIT’s Technology Review newsletter.

Pansee Atta – we liberate one another

October 21, 2023 to March 10, 2024

Pansee Atta, we only liberate one another (rendering detail), 2022, vinyl and laser-cut acrylic, variable dimensions, courtesy of the artist

A digital rendering of gallery vitrines. Multicoloured forms spill out of the vitrine windows. Some forms resemble paint splatters, and some resemble figures.

Using the Corridor 45|75 exhibition space as a metaphor for the Rideau Canal and its system of locks, these colourful, monstrous figures aid one another through and past the physical and social obstacles that would contain them. The vinyl and acrylic layers break up the figures’ outlines, visually melding them into a colourful mass of interlinked bodies.