News

MEMORIES KNOWN AND UNKNOWN: exhibition opens Jan 9, 2018 / lecture on Jan 31

Monday, January 29, 2018 | By dvivian

William Bell and Grandma, from the Bell-Sloman Collection of the James Gibson Library, Brock University

A Walker Cultural Leader Series and Canada 150 Exhibition and Public Lecture:

MEMORIES KNOWN AND UNKNOWN

Visual Arts faculty have selected photographs and ephemera from the Bell-Sloman Collection of the James Gibson Library, part of a remarkable collection donated to Brock University by Rick Bell in 2010. The collection features more than 300 photos and various papers spanning more than a century that document the Bell and Sloman families, who descended from former slaves in the American south. The exhibition at the Visual Arts gallery will showcase some of the material presented at the Walker Cultural Leader series lecture on January 31, when we are pleased to welcome Dr. Julie Crooks from the Art Gallery of Ontario. Her research situates the Bell-Sloman Collection as a “fugitive archive,’ built with defiance and resistance, in order to preserve, salvage and recover the histories of African Canadian communities whose stories and material artefacts are often left untold or subject to erasure.

Exhibition: Monday, January 9, 2018 to Friday, February 9, 2018
Regular visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday 1 to 5 pm.
To check viewing times of the exhibition please see the webpage.
Location of Exhibition: Visa Gallery and Exhibition Space, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University

Note: The date of the exhibition reception is Wednesday, January 31 at 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The lecture follows at 7:00 p.m. A free community event. Please see below for more details.

THE BELL-SLOMAN COLLECTION AT BROCK UNIVERSITY: A FUGITIVE ARCHIVE

Dr. Julie Crooks of the Art Gallery of Ontario

Dr. Julie Crooks is our second Walker Cultural Leader in Visual Arts for 2017-18. Her public lecture will draw on current research that examines the ways in which black communities, by the mid to late 19th century, in settlements throughout Southern Ontario, used photography as a critical and powerful tool for self-representation. Crooks’ research situates the Bell-Sloman Collection as a “fugitive archive,” built with defiance and resistance, in order to preserve, salvage and recover the histories of black communities whose stories and material artefacts are often left untold or subject to erasure. The exhibition at the VISA Gallery and Exhibition Space (above) will showcase some of the material presented in the lecture.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Preceded by a reception for the exhibition at the VISA Gallery and Exhibition Space.
Location: Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, Brock University (second floor, above the VISA Gallery)
This is a free community event, but tickets are required and are available at wcl-bell-sloman-crooks.eventbrite.com

Tags: A Fugitve Archive, Bell-Sloman Collection, Dr. Julie Crooks, Memories Known and Unknown, Visual Arts, Visual Arts Gallery, walker cultural leader series, WCL
Categories: Announcements, Events, Exhibitions, News
A Special One Night Art Exhibition

Friday, January 12, 2018 | By dtemprile

On January 17, students from Donna Akrey’s 3M90 Advanced Art Practices will be “transplanting their work into the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts building”. Everyone is invited to explore this one night exhibition between 4 and 9 p.m. Maps will be given out to help navigate the space to see the works – some easy to find, others more hidden.

Invasive Species is a collection of self-directed works from third and fourth year students in the 3M90 ADVANCED ART PRACTICES course. This exhibition focuses on themes of information, architecture, the archive, regionality, subjectivity and objectivity, death, resilience, ecology, mental health, space, the institution, invasive and symbiotic species, and site-specific art. The works are comprised of painting, drawing, video, projection, animation, performance, and installation. All of the artists respond to the unique specificities and conditions of the facility and its site.

Victoria Reid, visual arts student in Donna Akrey’s 3M90 course says her objective is “to personify objects in the architecture and space around us to show our connection to the architecture. I chose to do this in order to bring awareness to our relationship and contribution to the growing industrial landscape around us.”

This event marks the mid-year point as the student progress to a final site-specific exhibition proposed to take over parts of downtown St. Catharines in April 2018.

In order to provoke creativity and thought into this exhibition, Akrey asked her students, “if your work was to fit in this space (the MIW) and not the white cube – where might it go?” She says, “This allows the students to consider their work outside of the gallery and in effect pushes research further (as well as the logistics of mounting visual art in difficult spaces). The students have risen to it and are doing a great job.”

Reid comments on what this course and the opportunity of this exhibition has taught her, “Through the process of making this work, I learned how to step outside my comfort zone and I learned that art can be art, even when in unconventional spaces apart from the gallery.”

Donna Akrey is a part-time instructor of visual arts at Brock University. Her exhibition, Also Also held at Rodman Hall from February to April of 2017, was nominated for Exhibition of the Year: Budget Under $20, 000 (Monographic) Award by the Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG). Her collaboration as a member of the Hamilton Perambulatory Unit was recently seen in the Downtown/s – Urban Renewals Today for Tomorrow: The 2017 Windsor-Essex Triennial of Contemporary Art.

Isabella Domaradzki, artist, member of the organizational team for Invasive Species, and student in the 3M90 course says what she looks forward to most about this one night exhibition “is seeing our hard work in creating our art and planning this show come to life. We have learned so many valuable lessons throughout this experience that have shaped our identity as artists, and I think it will be exciting to visualize our growth and progress!”

This one night exhibition is a free event held at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts from 4 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday Jan. 17. Refreshments and snacks will be served in the MIWSFPA lobby. Visit the Invasive Species Facebook event page to stay updated with this exciting event.

See the article in the Brock News.

Tags: 15 Artists’ Common, 3M90, A One Night Exhibition, Advanced Art Practice, donna akrey, drawing, Exhibit, Exhibition, exhibitions, Invasive Species, marilyn i. walker school of fine and performing arts, MIWSFPA, OAAG, Photography, students, visa, Visual Arts
Categories: Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News
Visa Gallery Monitor/Assistant needed immediately.

Monday, January 08, 2018 | By amcbay

Visual Arts Department Gallery Monitor/Assistant Needed Immediately
The position is available to full time VISA students for Thursdays from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Please send cover letter and resume to Professor Amy Friend at afriend@brocku.ca and cc. Monika Lederich at mlederich@brocku.ca

Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News
World-class photographer with a Brock connection

Monday, December 18, 2017 | By dtemprile

“One of Them Is a Human #1” by Maija Tammi won third place in this year’s Taylor-Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. Tammi studied photography at Brock in 2008-09 with Visual Arts professor Amy Friend. (Image copyright Maija Tammi; Used by permission).

(Source: The Brock News | Friday Dec. 15, 2017 by Alison Innes)

At first glance, the photo is a portrait of a young woman.

On closer inspection, the ‘woman’ isn’t human at all. It is, in fact, an android called Erica, developed by Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories in Osaka University, Japan.

The photograph, taken by Finnish artist Maija Tammi and titled “One of Them is a Human #1,” won third prize in this year’s prestigious Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize.

The photograph also has a surprising Brock connection.

Finnish artist Maija Tammi, who studied at
Brock University in 2008-09

Tammi spent a year studying film and art at Brock University in 2008-09. Although she already had a background in photojournalism, her experience at Brock, and in particular a course with Professor Amy Friend, encouraged her towards art photography.

“The Visual Arts program at Brock offers an abundance of opportunity for one-on-one interactions in class with students and professors,” says Friend.

Such interactions allow for personalized and concentrated instruction that allow students to reach their potential.

“Maija flourished in this environment and took advantage of the surrounding community with her interactive installations and thought-provoking course projects,” says Friend.

Tammi cites the film Five Obstructions, which she first saw in Friend’s course, as particularly influential.

The 1967 film shows the remaking of the same story five times, each with a different obstruction. This process of rethinking and reframing inspired Tammi.

“Once you have thought of a concept,” she explains, “you rethink it several times from different perspectives.”

Tammi was immediately interested in the ways obstructions can encourage creativity and used the idea in her class project, redoing the same photograph multiple times with different obstructions.

This experience in Friend’s course influenced her approach to photography. She gives herself obstructions, such as limiting her camera gear, to encourage her own creativity.

Tammi is particularly attracted to portraiture, which she says tells us more about ourselves as viewers of the photograph than the subject of the photo as we project our stereotypes on them.

One of Them is a Human #1 has attracted a lot of attention in the arts community. Although the Taylor Wessing contest rules state that the subject needs to be alive, Tammi’s photograph was accepted because it raises important questions about what it means to be human.

“I’m very excited about the conversation that has arisen,” Tammi says. “It is time to think about what it means to be alive.”

Tammi doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects; she is currently completing a practise-based PhD exploring representations of sickness in art photography.

“I like topics that are very difficult and people don’t like to talk about,” she says.

Friend, who exhibited work in the same show as Tammi in New York in August 2015, has been watching her former student’s success closely.

“Her success is indicative of the connections that many students make with classmates and professors,” Friend says. “When I see opportunities that fit her areas of expertise I send them her way. These are the types of extended interactions that happen when we are given space to know our students.”

Tammi’s work was one of three finalists chosen from more than 5,717 submissions. Selected submissions, including the shortlisted portraits and competition winner, are on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England.

Tags: Amy Friend, Arts, Brock University, Department of Visual Arts, marilyn i. walker school of fine and performing arts, Photography, Visual Arts
Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News
Brock photographers snap up art show awards

Thursday, December 07, 2017 | By dtemprile

Danny Custodio collaborated with his father to create compositions exploring tar’s organic forms and textures.

(Source: The Brock News | Wednesday Dec. 6, 2017 by Alison Innes)

Two Brock photographers were recently honoured for their ability to capture compelling imagery.

Visual Arts student Denise Apostolatos and Administrative Assistant Danny Custodio, from the Rodman Hall Art Centre, both won awards at RMG Exposed: Out of this World, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery art show and charity auction held Nov. 25.

Oil and Vinegar by Visual Arts student Denise Apostolatos, received first place in the youth category at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery Exposed: Out of this World annual photography show and auction.

Oil and Vinegar by Visual Arts student Denise Apostolatos, received first place in the youth category at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery Exposed: Out of this World annual photography show and auction.

Apostolatos’ work, Oil and Vinegar, won first place in the youth category from a shortlist of 40 works from across North America.

She says it was “truly an honour” to be named the winner of the youth category, and to receive two consecutive acceptances to participate in RMG Exposed.

“As an undergraduate student, these opportunities are unique in that they provide a professional outlet to gain recognition and network in a larger context,” she says.

Apostolatos credits the artistic and professional guidance she receives in the Visual Arts program for fostering her development as a creative professional.

“As an undergraduate artist, it is important to see her work outside of the classroom and in the professional art community,” says Visual Arts Professor and Department Chair Donna Szoke. “We are thrilled to see Denise’s work being celebrated.”

The award is also a means to recognize the “talent being produced here in Niagara in our Visual Arts program at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts,” she says.

Rodman Hall’s Danny Custodio took first place in the Conceptual/Non-Representational category at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery’s Exposed: Out of this World annual photography show and auction. He is pictured with award sponsor Mason Bennett of Johncox professional Corporation.

Rodman Hall’s Danny Custodio took first place in the Conceptual/Non-Representational category at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery’s Exposed: Out of this World annual photography show and auction. He is pictured with award sponsor Mason Bennett of Johncox professional Corporation.

Custodio received the Conceptual/Non-Representational Prize for his image Tar, which explores themes of blue-collar labour.

“Tar is a commonly used substance in roofing, the profession my father worked for 45 years,” says Custodio, who collaborated with his father to create compositions exploring tar’s organic forms and textures.

RMG Exposed: Out of this World brings together artists, collectors and curators to celebrate digital photography and support free arts programming for kids and families. The event, now in its eighth year, includes both live and silent auctions of images carefully selected from 466 submissions.

The event is designed to recognize contemporary photographers and draws artist submissions from across Canada and the United States.

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is a public art museum in Oshawa and features a collection of over 4,500 works including Canadian contemporary art and photography.

To view this year’s images, visit the RMG Exposed website.

Tags: Brock University, Danny Custodio, Denise Apostolatos, Department of Visual Arts, Exhibit, Exhibition, marilyn i. walker school of fine and performing arts, MIWSFPA, Photography, RMG Exposed, Rodman Hall, Rodman Hall Art Centre, Visual Arts
Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Exhibitions, In the Media, News
Exhibition: ART BLOCK: BAC on the Block opens Dec .6

Thursday, November 30, 2017 | By dvivian

Work exhibited in last year’s edition of ARTBlock: BAC on the Block exhibition.

Members of the Brock Art Collective will host their third annual ARTBlock: BAC on the Block exhibition beginning Wednesday, Dec. 6 at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

The group, comprised of MIWSFPA students, will showcase works completed on 6-inch by 6-inch panels and made with a variety of mediums. Most works will be for sale starting at $40.

The opening reception will be held Wednesday, Dec. 6 from 6 to 9 p.m.
The exhibition, held in the Visual Arts Exhibition Space, runs until Friday, Dec. 22.

Regular visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.

More information is available on ExperienceBU or Facebook

Tags: ART BLOCK, BAC, Brock Art Collective
Categories: Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, News
Visa Instructor featured in Canadian Art article

Wednesday, November 29, 2017 | By amcbay

Canadian Art has reviewed a recent exhibition that features the work of Visa Sessional Instructor Donna Akrey. Click HERE to read the article.

Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News
Colour Constructs at Rodman Hall/Constructions en couleurs à Rodman Hall

Monday, November 20, 2017 | By dtemprile

Pictured is a view of the exhibition Material Girls at Rodman Hall Art Centre. (source: RHAC)

In fall 2017, Rodman Hall invites visitors to experience the exhibition Material Girls, which brings together Canadian and international female artists from across artistic disciplines and cultural backgrounds. Giving particular attention to the colourfulness and jubilance of this exhibition, in Colour Constructs, students in Visual Arts, Studies in Arts and Culture, and French Studies explore the materiality of colours in their own diverse ways. Student works are complemented by graffiti art by Niagara-based artist Mat Vizbulis, a classroom guest during the semester. Curators Catherine Parayre and Shawn Serfas. /

A l’automne 2017, Rodman Hall invite ses visiteurs à découvrir l’exposition Material Girls, qui regroupe des artistes femmes du Canada et d’ailleurs, dont les pratiques artistiques et l’environnement culturel diffèrent. En s’inspirant des couleurs et de la gaieté de cette exposition, des étudiants-e-s en Arts visuels, Arts et cultures et Etudes en français explorent dans Constructions en couleurs la matérialité des coloris par le biais d’approches variées. Les graffitis de l’artiste Mat Vizbulis, établi dans la région du Niagara, complètent les oeuvres des étudiant-e-s. Commissaires: Catherine Parayre et Shawn Serfas.

Article from the Brock News: Bilingual exhibition to shed light on Material Girls
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2017 | by Darien Temprile

A new Rodman Hall exhibition aims to help visitors experience Material Girls in a new way.

Geo, a piece created by third-year Visual Arts student Lilliana Pagliaro, will be featured in the Colour Constructs/Constructions en couleurs exhibition opening at Rodman Hall Thursday, Nov. 30.

Colour Constructs/Constructions en couleurs, opening at the downtown St. Catharines art centre Thursday, Nov. 30, features works by students in Brock’s Visual Arts (VISA), Studies in Arts and Culture (STAC) and French Studies (FREN) programs.

The exhibition, curated by Brock Professors Catherine Parayre and Shawn Serfas, initiates a sophisticated dialogue with Material Girls, an ongoing exhibition that opened at Rodman Hall Sept. 14.

Material Girls is a large-scale group exhibition of work by Canadian and international emerging, mid-career and senior female artists from different artistic disciplines and cultures. Curated by a team from the Dunlop Art Gallery, a unit of the Regina Public Library, it explores material process and notions of excess as they relate to the feminized body, gendered space and capitalist desire.

For Colour Constructs, students reacted to words, colours and visuals directly related to Material Girls.

STAC students contributed nine texts based on words and expressions found in the curatorial statement of Material Girls; FREN students provided eight written fragments in French, describing colours from Material Girls; and VISA students, in their own paintings, reference the vividness of artwork presented in Material Girls.

In addition to the work of students, the exhibition will include a new large commission by local graffiti artist Mat Vizbulis, who describes his work as ‘genre graffuturism.’

“As the images unfold in layers, we understand that it is truly something unexplainable,” he said. “We are then daring to define things.”

Earlier this year, Vizbulis led Brock students in experiential learning about graffiti and its role in both high art and popular culture.

The opening reception of Colour Constructs/Constructions en couleurs takes place Thursday, Nov. 30 at 5 p.m. at Rodman Hall Art Centre, 109 St. Paul Cres. The exhibition will continue until March 4.

Material Girls continues at Rodman Hall until Dec. 30.

Admission to Rodman Hall Art Centre is free, although donations are accepted. For more information in French or English, visit ExperienceBU.

UPDATE:

French student Amandine Faivre, right,
speaks about her poetry with French Professor Renee-Claude Breitenstein at the opening of Colour Constructs Thursday, Nov. 30. Curated by Professors Catherine Parayre and Shawn Serfas, the exhibition is a collaboration by students in Studies in Arts and Culture, Visual Arts and French Studies. Student artwork is complemented by work by local graffiti artist Mat Vizbulis, who worked with STAC and VISA students over the course of the semester. Colour Constructs is on at Rodman Hall Art Centre until March 4.
Exhibition: Thursday Nov. 30, 2017 – Sunday Mar. 4, 2018

Opening Reception: Thursday Nov. 30, 2017 at 5:00pm

GALLERY HOURS:
Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 10 am to 5 pm
Thursday: 10 am to 9 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 12 pm to 5 pm
Closed Mondays, statutory and University holidays

Free community event however donations accepted (suggested $5).

Tags: 15 Artists’ Common, Arts, Brock University, Catherine Parayre, Exhibit, Exhibition, french, French studies, marilyn i. walker school of fine and performing arts, material girls, MIWSFPA, Rodman Hall, Rodman Hall Art Centre, Shawn Serfas, stac, visa
Categories: Current Students, Events, Exhibitions
Exhibition: Permanent Vacation

Friday, November 10, 2017 | By dvivian

This exhibition will showcase a select group of recent Brock University Alumni: Katie Mazi, Jenn Judson, Matt Caldwell, Alex Muresan, Jessica Wright and Ben Mosher. As these emerging artists expand ideas and develop new work, they continue to recognize the value of the St. Catharines arts community and the impact it has on their practice. It was here at Brock University that their first investigations began and it was at Rodman Hall (2014/2015 & 2015/2016) that their first professional group exhibitions came to fruition. These artists will exhibit new and exciting work they have been producing as they navigate and emerge into the art communities locally and beyond the region. The exhibition will be curated by Asta McCann Brock alumni (Studies in Arts and Culture).

Additionally, Alumni music students: Grace Snippe and Kurt Dunn will be performing for the night of the reception.

Exhibition: Saturday, November 4, 2017 to Friday, December 1, 2017

regular visiting hours for the Exhibition Space are Tuesday through Saturday from 1-5 p.m
for additional times see: gallery webpage gallery facebook page

see the YourTV Cogeco video

Opening Reception: Friday, November 10, 2017, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Location: Visa Gallery, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University

A free community event.

Tags: alumni, Exhibition, Permanent Vacation
Categories: Alumni, Events, Exhibitions, News
HOT TALKS 2017-2018: Professor Derek Knight speaks at Rodman Hall, November 09

Thursday, November 09, 2017 | By dvivian

Geoffrey Farmer, “A Way Out of the Mirror”, 2017, Canada Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale. Image courtesy of Derek Knight.

HOT TALKS

Artist Talks and Gallery Conversations at the Rodman Hall Art Centre
Admission by donation ($5 suggested); Members and Students Free
Sponsored by Partridge Wealth Management/RBC Dominion Securities Inc., St. Catharines

November 09: Professor Derek Knight,
Department of Visual Arts, Brock University

“Art Confidential: Trends and Obsession(s) in Recent Art”

Thursday, November 9, 7 pm
2017 saw the confluence of the Whitney Biennial, Münster Sculpture Project, Kassel’s Documenta 14, and the Venice Biennale. Derek Knight, Associate Professor, Visual Arts, Brock University discusses the pros and emerging cons of the international blockbuster exhibition as well as his top picks, from Pierre Huyghe to Phyllida Barlow to Geoffrey Farmer.

Rodman Hall Art Centre, 109 St Paul Crescent, St Catharines, ON L2S 1M3

Tags: derek knight, hot talks, Rodman Hall
Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News