Gallery A - The Robert McLaughlin Gallery

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From December 1, 2014 to February 1, 2015, Gallery A will welcome its first Artist in Residence (A.I.R.) Pete Smith. The RMG caught up with Pete to discuss his upcoming residency and plan of work while at the RMG. Keep watching this space for updates on his project or visit the gallery! For more information about his project, visit www.jmdrp.ca  

RMG: Hi Pete! Firstly, who are you? What is your work about?

PS: I am an artist, writer and educator who lives in Bowmanville. Primarily rooted in painting (and the discourse that surrounds it’s contemporary production), my work negotiates the intersection between the analogue and digital, the painterly and the graphic, the human and the post-human. In this sense, I consider my works metaphors for the overall digital presence in contemporary life.

RMG: What inspired you to make work?

PS: My current interest in digital technology as a conduit for image making came through a course I was asked to teach at OCAD University. In this class, I was required to learn the Adobe Flash animation program. It ended up completely changing my art practice (and really my life, quite frankly.)

RMG: Why were you interested in the Gallery A residency at the RMG?

PS: I was approached about the program last winter, and it sounded like a lot of fun. As an educator and a parent, I’m pretty limited in terms of artist residency opportunities. Consequently, I’ve never done one before. The fact that it was at such an amazing public institution with such a rich history of supporting Canadian abstract painting made the opportunity even more exciting. It sounds kinda trite and cliché, but I really am just so happy to be here.

RMG: What will you be doing during your residency? What do you hope to achieve?

PS: Hopefully a whole lot. Elizabeth Sweeney, (Manager of Public Programs and ArtReach), asked me to do something I hadn’t done before… So I’m definitely doing that here. The basic idea is that I will be remixing the RMG’s permanent collection of works by Jock Macdonald. Originally, my show was supposed to run in February concurrently with that exhibition. Things have changed a bit from that (it now opens in January), but there will still be some overlap with the Macdonald survey show. Linda Jansma and I will be giving our talks on same day.

RMG: Can you tell us a bit more about your Jock Macdonald re-mix video? What was the inspiration for it and how did you make it?

PS: The Jock Macdonald animation is called “JMDRP_2(Double Parker Mix)”. It was made in flash animation. The music is a mash-up I made of a Charlie Parker song. It’s two versions of the same song that have had their time signatures manipulated played over top of each other at the same time. All of the imagery that I make during my 9 week residency will be rooted in still imagery selected from this animation. JMDRP stands for Jock Macdonald Remix Project.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NavQPS1tMOU]

Video stills taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NavQPS1tMOU&feature=youtu.be. Copyright Pete Smith, 2014.

Pete Smith is an artist, critic and sometimes curator based in Southern Ontario. He has exhibited his work extensively since completing his BFA from York University in 1998 and his MFA from the University of Guelph in 2007. Recent solo exhibitions include: Blind Carbon Copy at P | M Gallery in Toronto (2012), New Drawings at Colorida Gallery in Lisbon (2012), Newspaper Drawings at Joan Ferneyhough Contemporary in North Bay, Ontario (2010) and Proverbs for Paranoids at Elissa Cristall Gallery in Vancouver (2009). Smith has given public presentations on the state of contemporary painting as well as on his own work at The University of Western Ontario (2009), OCAD University (2007), The University Art Association of Canada Conference (2007) and the University of the Fraser Valley (2008). His writings on art have appeared in Canadian Art and Border Crossings magazines. He has held teaching positions at The University of Guelph, The University of Western Ontario and The University of Toronto. Currently, he is a lecturer in the Drawing and Painting Department at OCAD University. Visit www.petesmith.ca.

Things are changing around here.

As some of you may have heard, we’re undergoing renovations right now and one of the biggest changes is the creation of Gallery A.

Aileen’s Legacy

The space is named for one of our major funders, the Aked Endowment, which was created from funds donated by the late artist Elizabeth Aileen Aked, who lived in Tyrone, Ontario. Aileen and her parents frequently traveled between Tyrone, Bermuda, Florida and England and Aileen documented every moment of it. Throughout the spring, I worked with Christine our Special Projects Assistant, to go through Aileen’s archive which totaled over 10 banker boxes filled with a lifetime of slides, photographs and 16mm films. (Aileen’s gift also included her 1928 Kodak Kodascope, which was lovingly restored to full working order by Pickering Audio Visual). The films, which date as far back is the early 1920’s, are probably my favourite – these rich black and white silent films, depict her and her family on long rambling road trips in their classic antique Buick, pet parrot in tow. The films include scenic vistas of Gaspe, a road trip to Banff National Park, road-side picnics and sun-filled summer swims.

During all of these trips, Aileen spent a lot of her time painting, and she was an accomplished painter. As an artist, her donation to The Robert McLaughlin Gallery was quite purposeful – she wanted the endowment to support local artists in their professional development and provide opportunities for them to advance their practice.

A Place for Artists

In addition to being the Manager of Public Programs here at the RMG, I’m also an artist and when I came into this position almost 2 years ago, we started thinking about how best to achieve Aileen’s vision. I know that for myself, professional spaces to exhibit are not easy to come by and are often programmed far in advance. I’m always looking for opportunities (and space!) to experiment with new ideas and work with large materials and I want more opportunities to talk with other artists critically about my work.

After surveying and speaking with local artists, the concept of Gallery A was born. We decided to keep the use of the space flexible, to allow artists options in how they wanted to use it. I am imagining most will want to use it for solo or group exhibitions, but there is room for creativity, and thinking outside of the box. We also set up the Art Lab artist residency program so artists can use the space for experimentation, collaborations, new directions and this will hopefully lead to some new exciting work. Gallery A artists will be invited to give public lectures and tours, and we’ll be hosting a slew of professional development workshops, including grant writing, documenting your work, peer-to-peer feedback sessions and hands-on studio retreats.

The letter A is a starting point. It represents a new beginning, and a priority.

It represents our commitment to supporting local artists, which are at the center of Durham Region’s arts community. It all starts with artists. Gallery A can be a starting place for emerging artists as a new generation emerges from Durham Collage’s Fine Arts program. It can be a place for established artists, to exhibit their work, collaborate with peers, and perhaps even take some risks. And it can be a meeting place for communities to work with artists to engage in the arts in ways they had never imagined before. The possibilities for the space are wide open – all you have to do is get started.

APPLICATION DEADLINE NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Information Sessions:

Thursday 18 September 7pm

Sunday 19 October, 1pm

To find out more and to access the guidelines and application form, please follow this link: https://rmg.on.ca/gallery-a.php