2000 ° 2001 ° 2002 ° 2003° 2004
The BAC's contemporary visual art program is collaboratively developed and delivered by a Program Team that is lead by George Wale, M.Ed., Director of Programs and includes the Curator of the Collection, Jonathan Smith, M.F.A.; Dawn Beatty, Curator of Programs and Preparator, Brad Isaacs. Curatorial objectives are achieved through a series of exhibitions over a number of years rather than any in one fiscal period. Our visual arts program has three areas of focus:
The Burlington Art Centre pays artist fees in accordance with the CARFAC Exhibition Fee Schedule.
(un)
natural selection:
Jean Maddison and Peggy Taylor Reid
December 1, 2002 - February 10, 2003, AIC Gallery
Curator: Dawn White Beatty
Maddison and Taylor-Reid consider scientific ideas through aesthetic and moral
filters.
"My current work comprises a series of photo etchings which explore notions
of 'family', hereditary traits, DNA; via the juxtaposition and manipulation
of botanical and scientific imagery." J.Maddison, artist statement.
"In my work I explore the possiblity of transcendence in a world dominated
by science, technology and a Darwinian attitude. … I want to show the figure
as both a biological form connected to its environment and as a spiritual enigmatic
energy." P.Taylor-Reid, artist statement.
Originated by Burlington Art Centre
Artists' talk
Workshop
Curator's tour
Publication with guest writer
Transcendent
Beauty
Karen Schreiber and Steven Toth
December 1, 2002 - February 10, 2003, AIC Gallery
Curator: George Wale
Sponsored by Appleby College
The artists' imagery, colours, and compositions transcend our reality and approach
a metaphysical beauty. Schreiber's works are based on photographs of the real
world and are manipulated into abstractions with less and less obvious connection
to the world as we perceive it. Toth's works are non-objective. The source of
his imagery is the interaction of his ideas/inquisitiveness … the electronic
software and hardware … and chance.
Originated by Burlington Art Centre
Artists' tour and talk
Workshop
Curator's tour
Publication with guest writer
Helen
Ritcey: Beneath the Surface
January 12 – February 23, Perry Gallery
Artist: Helen Ritcey, Burlington, abstract paintings.
Curator: Dawn White Beatty
The twelve paintings presented are an abstract presentation of the symptoms
of Schizophrenia. The symptoms are reasonably well known; that is, delusions,
paranoia, hallucinations. The feelings that these symptoms evoke in the caregiver
are another matter. Ritcey tries to reflect these feelings in her paintings.
Originated by Burlington Art Centre
Artist: Reception: Sunday, January 19 at 2pm
Artist’s tour and talk: Monday, Februrary 17 at 7pm
Publication with guest
writer.
Wide
Borders: Lynne Heller, Lorraine Roy, and Karen Thiessen
March 2 – April 1
Artists: Lynne Heller, Toronto, textile artist, Lorraine Roy, London/Mississauga,
textile artist, Karen Thiessen, textile artist, Halifax/Toronto
Curator: Dawn White Beatty
Beginning with a shared love of quilting history, techniques and ideas, these
textile artists present an exhibition of contemporary work within the quilt
making tradition, but reflective of the culture and concerns of the times that
they live in. The starting point of the ‘wide border’ can be interpreted
as a formal element of traditional quilt making, a politically charged term
reflective of a global culture, or the personal borders that we construct as
individuals. This exhibition examines the theme from all of these vantage points
showcasing a range of contemporary techniques that reflect the individual signatures
of the makers.
Originated by Burlington Art Centre
Opening reception: Sunday, March 23 at 2 pm
Artists’ workshop and critique session: Monday,
March 24 10 am – 4 pm
Artists Tour and Talk: Monday, March 24 at 7pm
Publication
Lorraine Roy's website
Guest writer: Stuart Reid, Director, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound
C
o n n e c t i o n s
Special Project: BAC 25th Anniversary Exhibition
May 6 – June 17
Coordinator: George Wale
Jurors: Alan C. Elder, Emma Quinn, Donald A. Stuart
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Burlington Art Centre and to recognize
the important role of the artists’ guilds in founding the Centre we have
initiated an eighteen month project, June 2001 – December 2002 which invites
guild and other BAC artist members to participate in a series of seminars and
workshops with visiting artists and curators, developing portfolios, photo documentation
of artworks, cross disciplinary idea exchanges, and investigating the concepts
and processes of collaboration, with the ultimate goal of developing a series
of collaborative artworks for this exhibit in 2003.
Originated by Burlington Art Centre
Sponsored by the City of Burlington and The Hamilton Spectator
Workshops
Jurors’ critiques.
Publication with guest writer June Watson, Adobe
Acrobat PDF
‘w
a t e r’
‘water’ is a project initiated by The Ontario Society of Artists.
Several public and private galleries, artist-run centers, and alternate spaces
across the Greater Toronto Area will mount exhibitions called ‘water’.
Through a range of artistic interpretations, public attention will be focused
on this important environmental element. The Water ptoject website.
The Art Centre has scheduled four exhibitions as part of the ‘water’
project. Sponsored by JAN Kelly Marketing
‘w a t e r’ … Niagara II
July 6 – September 19
Artist: Donna Ibing
Curator: George Wale
The exhibition features a large installation of woodcuts and paper constructions that present the artist's grand version of Niagara Falls. Supplementary information informing gallery visitors of the political, economic, social, and technological issues related to the water that flows over the falls will be presented in a special, interactive educational display in the gallery. We intend to partner with the following organizations for this display: International Association of Hydrogeologists – Canadian National Chapter and the Niagara Falls Public Library.
Originated by Burlington Art Centre
Artist talk
Publication
‘w a t e r’ …Slowly I Turned working
title…
July 6 – September 19
Artist: Rick Pottruff
Curator: George Wale
The exhibition features the artist's high energy, large format drawings of selected
waterfronts in Southern Ontario.
Originated by Burlington Art Centre
Artist talk
Publication
‘w a t e r’ … Water
for Life
July 6 – September 19
Artist: Helen Sovereign, Burlington, installations.
Curator: George Wale
The Sovereign farm pond, north of Burlington, will be the location for this
installation. The evaporating sea, ice ages, and erosion shaped the landforms
and created excellent soil along marshes, ponds, creeks and rivers. The people
who have lived in the area were blessed with the richness of this land. Sovereign
intends to pay homage to the history of the land and water with this installation.
Artist’s performance
Publication
‘w a t e r’ … Shipping
Views
July 6 – September 19
Artist: Nancy Rahija, Toronto, photographs
Photographic documentations of the ocean and Great Lakes freighters that load
and unload in Canadian harbours.
‘w a t e r’ … water
… everywhere
July 6 – September 19
Artists: Burlington Art Centre’s Latow Photographers’ Guild members.
Photographic documentations of the water in and around the Burlington Bay area.
Haydn
Llewellyn Davies: Maquettes
September 27 – November 11
Artist: Haydn Llewellyn Davies, RCA, Toronto, sculptures
Curator: George Wale
The exhibition will review the development of the artist’s sculptural
vision through a presentation of approximately fifteen maquettes and one full-scale
sculpture. In addition to this review, the exhibition will introduce the role
of maquettes in the production of large-scale public sculpture and provide an
opportunity for the appreciation of the maquettes in and of themselves.
“As preliminary studies for his sculptures, Davies’s maquettes have
served different functions depending upon patronage, that weighty power for
all sculptors with a penchant for large-scale production. If the final work
is a commissioned piece, Davies conceives of the work in collaboration with
a factory and must hold himself to his original decisions. If Davies himself
is the designated patron - as is often the case - he both has greater freedom
to make changes and is also subject to his own interrogating eye which constantly
searches out changing form. Davies’s critical visual lens is a Saturnalian
force and he has destroyed 50% of all the maquettes he has ever produced, often
cannibalizing works to generate new creations. Despite the mathematical and
precise appearance of his works, Davies’s sculptures are never a product
of rational thought. He thrives on intuition and a penchant for tension; he
manipulates form, and space becomes an integral part of the physicality of his
production. An artist who consistently remains faithful to his materials, Davies
often works with found objects which he regards as having "lived".
A corroded piece of steel becomes, for him, more beautiful for all it has seen
and experienced. The origins of Davies’s forms and subjects are impressions
of and from memory. He scavenges both building sites and the interstices of
the mind, producing abstract works with profound visceral appeal.” Alison
McQueen
Originated by Burlington Art Centre
Sponsored by the City of Burlington and The Hamilton Spectator
Artist talk: October 19, 2:00 pm
Publication
Guest Writer: Dr. Alison McQueen, Assistant Professor, School of the Arts McMaster
University
Sky
Light: Jean Hanson and Robin Hesse
September 27 – November 11
Artists: Jean Hanson, Burlington, paintings and Robin Hesse, Richmond Hill,
drawings.
Curator: George Wale
Hanson’s abstracted landscapes feature the light of the early morning
and evening. The paintings are serene meditations on the colour and light of
the sky. Hesse’s drawings present the dark night sky lights of stars,
planets and the moon.
Originated by Burlington Art Centre
Artists’ tour and talk: October 26, 2:00 pm
Publication
Permanent Collection Exhibitions
The Burlington Art Centre’s Permanent Collection is focused on contemporary Canadian ceramics.
Recent
Acquisitions
January 15, - December 21, 2003
Curator – Jonathan Smith
A selection of new work highlighting the donations to the Permanent collection
in 2002.
Enid
Le Gros Wise
September 22, 2002 –April 20, 2003
Artist: Enid Le Gros Wise, Paspebiac, Quebec, ceramics
Curator: Jonathan Smith
Enid Le Gros-Wise is known as a master of small fragile porcelain forms. This
twenty five year retrospective, drawn form over a collection of 2001 works marks
the end of one period and the beginning of a new one with the completion of
a large scale installation done especially for this exhibition.
Originated by the Burlington Art Centre
Publication
Alex
Yeung
April 27 – July 27
Artist: Alex Yeung, Toronto, ceramics
Curator: Jonathan Smith
This exhibition is the first in a series that will highlight young artists of
outstanding merit. Alex Yeung, having only recently finished his stay at Harbourfront
already has an outstanding list of exhibition and lecturing credits to his name.
This exhibition will explore the relationship between the vessel and the human
form as Yeung breaks down the distinctions between the sculptural and the functional.
Originated by the Burlington Art Centre
Artist’s talk: April 5, 7:00 pm
Master Class Handbuilding Sculpture Workshop: with Alex Yeung. April 6, 9:30
am – 4:00 pm
Curator’s tour: April 28, 2:00 pm
Publication
Fireworks
2001
August 10 – October 26
Jurors: Ron Roy and Liz Willoughby
Originated by The Ontario Clay and Glass Association
“Fireworks” is the biennial juried travelling exhibition of FUSION:
The Ontario Clay & Glass Association with support from the Ontario Arts
Council. The exhibition features thirty-four handcrafted works in clay and glass.
Teapots:
Art or Craft
November 9, 2003 – March 21, 2004
Artists: Kinishi Shigeno, Vancouver:B. C.; Greg Payce, Calgary Alberta; Chandler
Swain, Ottawa Ontario; Kayo O’Young and Diane Nasr, Kleinberg Ontario;
Leopold Foulem, Montreal P. Q.; Tom Smith, St. Andrews New Brunswick; and Ray
Mackie and Debra Kuzak, Annapolis Royal Nova Scotia and others.
Curator: Jonathan Smith
This exhibition, a combination of works drawn from the BAC’s Permanent Collection and pieces created especially for this project, explores the complex relationship between the social and physical functions of this the most complex of vessel forms. Invited artists include Kinishi Shigeno, Vancouver:B. C.; Greg Payce, Calgary Alberta; Chandler Swain, Ottawa Ontario; Kayo O’Young and Diane Nasr, Kleinberg Ontario; Leopold Foulem, Montreal P. Q.; Tom Smith, St. Andrews New Brunswick; and Ray Mackie and Debra Kuzak, Annapolis Royal Nova Scotia and others.
Originated by the Burlington Art Centre
Artists’ panel discussion
Publication
Sarah
Link: OH!
June 1 – September 28
Artist: Sarah Link, Ancaster and Thunder Bay, ceramist
Added Sound Component: UZU by Rory Mahony
Curator: Jonathan Smith
OH! is the culmination of over a decade long investigation of the theme of transformation.
This new site-specific installation has roots in an earlier work in the BAC’s
Permanent Collection titled ‘Growth’. Link pursued this theme while
at a residency in Japan and at the Art Farm in Nebraska, having exhibited variations
of this theme under the title ‘Tane’. All new work taking into consideration
the plantings and water feature of the site are major consideration in the evolution
of the work.
UZU, a sound work by Rory Mahony consists of sounds created by tapping, knocking and caressing Link's white forms, black Shigaraki clay pods and other ceramic forms. These sounds, played at random with the installation add an element of conservation in the work adding elements of time and meaning to the piece.
Originated by the Burlington Art Centre
Artist’s tour and talk
Poster OH!/UZU
Publication
Bunt
Collection
December 5, 2003 – February 10, 2004
Curator: Jonathan Smith
Herbert O. Bunt has been a driving force in the ceramics community for well
over a quarter of a century. Bunt has championed young artists during this time,
often commissioning work especially for his collection and following their careers
through to maturity. He was the initial donor to the BAC’s Permanent Collection
and has remained active in his support to the Centre. This exhibition will examine
the different recurring themes, especially sexuality and humour that repeatedly
occur in Bunt’s selections. Artists included in this exhibition include
Bonita Bocanegra Collins, Annemarie Scmid Esler, David Gilhooly, Edouard Jasmin,
Jim Hong Louie, Derek Martin, Alexsandr Sorotschynski and others.
Originated by the Burlington Art Centre
Publication
2003 Burlington Art Centre Guild Juried Exhibitions
Built in 1978, the Burlington Art Centre was developed as an ideal
home for the many visual art and craft guilds that had been active in Burlington
since the 1950s. Currently, there are seven guilds that have fully-equipped
studios at the Centre … Quilting, Photography, Handweavers and Spinners,
Potters, Fine Arts, Sculptors and Woodcarvers, and Hooking Craft. Each guild
runs a varied program to promote a greater understanding of their specific art
form and to involve people as creators. The guilds represent an important point
of access to the Centre as a whole. Typical guild participants will enter as
beginners and, through classes, critiques, discussions and exhibitions; they
develop themselves to a serious amateur or professional level.
Each juried exhibition includes a feedback session / critique with the juror
and all artists who have submitted work(s). These are well-attended, provocative,
and important educational events.
All originated by the Burlington Art Centre
Publication for each exhibition
Juror’s critique for each exhibition
Latow Photographers’ Juried Exhibition
March 8 – April 6, F.R.Perry Gallery
Sculptors’ Group Juried Exhibition
April 21 – May 18, F.R.Perry Gallery
Handweavers and Spinners Guild
May 25 – June 22, F.R.Perry Gallery
Quilters’ Society Juried Exhibition
July 6 – August 10, F.R.Perry Gallery
Hooking Craft Juried Exhibition
August 24 – September 21, F.R.Perry Gallery
Burlington Potters Guild Annual Juried Exhibition
October 5 – November 2, F.R.Perry Gallery
Burlington Fine Arts Association Annual Juried Exhibition
November 15 – December 14, F.R.Perry Gallery