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
“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.
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.
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
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
ART BLOCK, BAC, Brock Art Collective
Categories: Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, News
Canadian Art has reviewed a recent exhibition that features the work of Visa Sessional Instructor Donna Akrey. Click HERE to read the article.
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).
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
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.
alumni, Exhibition, Permanent Vacation
Categories: Alumni, Events, Exhibitions, News
Geoffrey Farmer, “A Way Out of the Mirror”, 2017, Canada Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale. Image courtesy of Derek Knight.
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
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
derek knight, hot talks, Rodman Hall
Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News
Visa Instructor Irene Loughlin will participate in a panel discussion on the work of Guatemalan artist Regina Galindo on Friday, November 17, 7-9PM. Galindo’s performance Diverting Rivers investigates the impact of Canadian Mining Companies and takes place Thursday, November 16, 7:30-8:30PM. Both events take place at Sur Gallery, 100-39 Queens Quay East, Toronto (East of Yonge Street).
The artwork of Brock Fine Arts Assistant Professor Amy Friend is being featured on the international tour of renowned Canadian musician Diana Krall.
(Source: The Brock News, Thursday, November 2, 2017 | By: Maryanne Firth)
When the e-mail popped into Amy Friend’s inbox, she was certain it couldn’t be real.
But a feeling inside prompted the Brock Fine Arts assistant professor to respond to the inquiry, which asked about her artwork and whether she’d consider collaborating with renowned Canadian musician Diana Krall.
It was soon after that Friend found herself on the phone with the Grammy Award winner discussing possibilities for her upcoming tour.
Friend’s experimental photography has since helped Krall to set the scene on stage, acting as her backdrop as she captivates crowds in venues across North America and Europe.
Brock University Fine Arts Assistant Professor Amy Friend.
Friend’s work has been featured on the jazz singer’s international tour since June and the partnership is expected to continue through to the summer.
The project, which includes art pieces from three different bodies of work, has been “particularly fulfilling,” Friend said.
She has enjoyed the challenge of working with Krall to find pieces that fit the mood and message of individual songs, while also complementing the title of the tour and Krall’s most recent album, Turn Up the Quiet.
“It’s about trying to respect your own work, while also seeing how you can accommodate a vision that will fit within the repertoire they’re working with,” she said.
Friend is currently working to select new pieces for Krall’s Canadian tour dates, including a Nov. 24 show at Massey Hall in Toronto that she plans to attend.
“I’m looking forward to seeing her perform and to seeing my work filling the stage in a concert hall where I have heard musicians like Johnny Cash, Tom Waits and Nick Cave perform,” she said.
Krall’s latest repertoire will include a cover of Bob Dylan’s Simple Twist of Fate, which Friend is particularly excited to find a piece to accompany.
“Much of my work revolves around ideas of memory, impermanence, history and time,” said Friend, who has worked at Brock for the past decade. “I am less concerned with capturing a ‘concrete’ reality. Instead, I aim to use photography as a medium that offers the possibility of exploring the relationship between what is visible and non-visible.”
Work featured on the tour includes hand-manipulated photographs, pieces featuring floating handkerchiefs once belonging to Friend’s grandparents, and artwork inspired by snippets of film from her childhood.
Over the past few months, Friend and Krall have shared many inspiring conversations about family, creativity and women in the arts.
“She has been so great to work with, you could almost forget her status in the music world,” Friend said.
Krall often emphasized the need to respect Friend’s work and always checks in with the artist to ensure she’s pleased with the end results of each tour stop.
Friend called it “refreshing” to be able to engage with other artists.
“It exposes you to experiences that have commonalities and, at times, interesting variances,” she said. “It’s also wonderful to see how my work found a place to exist far beyond my initial intentions.”
The team responsible for the on-stage initiative also included Judy Jacob, a video and visual content director, and Paul Normandale, a lighting designer, who Friend said “took the project to the next level.”
In addition to her work with the tour, Friend has been busy over the past year with international exhibitions in Spain, Korea, Poland, Portugal and France. She has shows coming up in Boston and Italy and plans to release a new book in the near future.
The artwork of Brock Fine Arts Assistant Professor Amy Friend is being featured on the international tour of renowned Canadian musician Diana Krall.