Join us in celebrating our long and beautiful winter nights by creating a painting in mixed-media style. We will use acrylic paint, and watercolour to design cold wintry landscapes.
Free admission, no registration required.
This event is generously sponsored by Ontario Power Generation.
Join artist and designer Jair Kale in conversation with RMG exhibiting artist Aaron Jones. Talking as friends and creatives, Jair and Aaron will discuss Aaron’s exhibition, “Fountain of Dreams” and the ideas and influences layered within this new body of work.
Fountain of Dreams is an immersive installation of video, audio, and photo murals that considers the spatial and multi-sensory qualities of haunting and remembrance. Playing with physical and conceptual layers, the exhibition is interested in the interplay between permeable borders – geographical and generational – and between dream states and wakefulness.
This event is free and open to everyone. Please register here.
Seating will be provided for all guests.
For more information on our facilities, please click here. If you have questions about the event or other requests, please email Hannah at [email protected].
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Aaron Jones describes himself as an image-builder who reconfigures materials from books, magazines, newspapers and personal photos into new characters and realities. His collages and photo-based installations are a form of self-and world-exploration; he uses paper as a medium, where rips and tears become painterly brush strokes. Through a cathartic practice of constructing and deconstructing, Jones joins opposing visuals and colours in search of ‘peace’; a spiritual satisfaction. Recently, Jones has been exploring his birthplace of southern Ontario. The circumstances of the last two years have sparked a consideration of how he might survive off his own basic skills and natural resources. Jones has been exploring the natural landscape, as well as researching plants, wildlife, and the natural conditions near his mother’s home in Pickering, to understand their offerings and inner workings. His new intimately scaled, figurative collages are set against large-format pictures of rural landscapes and a video performance, contrasting scale and the ethereal with the real.
Born 1993 in Toronto, Jones graduated with a BA from OCADU in 2018. His work has been included recently in a special project for Nuit Blanche and the Art Gallery of Ontario’s We Are Story: The Canada Now Photography Acquisition exhibtion. He’s also been included in the exhibitions Three Thirty at Doris McCarthy Gallery, From the Ground Up at NIA Centre for the Arts, Ragga NYC at Mercer Union, all in Toronto, and Propped at Oakville Galleries, Oakville, ON. Jones was awarded The Gattuso Prize for his exhibition Closed Fist, Open Palm for the 2020 CONTACT Photography Festival.
Aaron Jones is represented by Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto.
Jair Kale, born and raised in Claxton Bay, Trinidad, grew up in a nurturing nuclear family. Throughout his childhood, he often accompanied his mother to her classes while she pursued her Master of Social Work. During this time, any literature with creative writings captivated his imagination, laying the foundation for his artistic journey and that which would become a cherished pastime, the quest for knowledge.
Embracing multiple artistic facets, Kale emerged as a talented poet, photographer, and designer. His work reflects a keen eye for colour and negative space, a defining aspect evident in his photography and design projects.
Driven by a vision that juxtaposes geographic societies to highlight their parallels and distinctions, Kale delved into exploring the coexistence of diverse cultures in ways outside of the status quo. Holding significant depth, his work encourages viewers to contemplate the nuance and metaphors in the intricate beauty of human relationships.
Kale writes lyrics for Toronto artists, designs clothing for Brands featured in Adrift Skateshop, and recently he has exhibited an installation, Blue Crabs from Claxton Bay at Project1616, an artist run gallery/project space in Toronto. He received his AdvDip as a Fashion Management graduate from George Brown Casa Loma in 2021. Currently living and working in Toronto, he aspires to provoke perception and challenge stereotypical ideologies.
We’d like to thank TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment for their sponsorship of Fountain of Dreams.
We will be inspired by the permanent collection exhibition, “About Time” by celebrating the changing of the seasons. As the weather gets cooler, and the leaves start changing, let’s create textural art using gelli-plate printing techniques.
Free admission, no registration required.
This event is generously sponsored by Ontario Power Generation.
We love our backyards. It can be the sanctuary to hang out, alone, or be with family and or friends. Listen to music, eat some good food, with a cold drink in hand. On these summer evenings, these are the moments that keep us warm and cozy in the winter months. Come over and make memories with us in the Backyard at the RMG!
Willy Nilly is an indie/folk rock band currently based in Kingston. Drawing from -and displaying- a wide variety of influences, lead singer/songwriter Owen Fullerton has always struggled to pinpoint the band’s sound. His vocals have drawn comparison to artists like Nick Drake, Passenger, and Paolo Nutini while the music surrounding the laid back vocal styling is typically more energetic with an often dreamy and sometimes beachy feel to it. The band’s music feels vaguely familiar while remaining unique, a testament to the mishmash of works that inspire Fullerton’s own writing. As a solo act, Fullertown showcases Willy Nilly songs exactly as they are displayed to his roommate’s or girlfriend’s dog upon first writing, although he will wear more than his pajamas.
For years, Matt Toppen has been a part of the underground music scene as an almost mythical figure. From his post-folk debut with Barry Lird, to his balkan nature-core album “nemi” (which led to full tour in Southern Europe) Matt has been at the forefront of experimental music. Working with collaborators Nathan and Jonah, Matt is finally releasing music under his own name. His much anticipated debut EP is slated for release later this summer.
The Portobello Road will be on site serving their organic sourdough pizza using produce grown in Durham Region. They mill their own flour which is then fermented using traditional methods for 48 hours. It is much easier to digest and has been linked to a healthy gut. The lengthy fermentation process of making sourdough releases nutrients including iron, zinc, magnesium, antioxidants, folic acid and other B vitamins.
Summer Stamping
Give stamp making a try in the studio with eraser stamps. Soak in the summery vibes with fun designs available, no prior experience necessary!
Alexandra Luke (i.e. Margaret McLaughlin, 1901-1967) was an important artist linked to the beginnings of abstract painting in Canada and a founding member of Painters Eleven, Ontario’s first abstract painting group (1953-1960). Born Margaret Alexandra Luke in Montreal, the Lukes had been an established family in Oshawa and returned in 1914. Luke graduated as a nurse in 1924 and would go on to marry Clarence Ewart McLaughlin in 1928, grandson of Robert McLaughlin. Always interested in the arts, Luke did not begin formal training until 1928, when she took classes from Jan Ampel. Her early work were landscapes, influenced by the Group of Seven style, in particular, A.Y. Jackson. She was drawn to abstract art by 1933 but did not begin experimenting with it until 1945. She was highly influenced by Jock Macdonald whom she studied under at the Banff School of Fine Arts. Each summer from 1947-1952 she travelled to Provincetown, MA to study under Hans Hofmann, who was considered be one of the most influential abstract expressionist teachers. Luke’s experience with Hofmann had a profound impact on her work, in particular his push/pull spatial theories around colour and form.
Luke was instrumental in organizing the first Canadian all-abstract exhibition in 1952, which opened in Oshawa, and toured across the country. The following year, she exhibited work in the exhibition Abstracts at Home, which led to the first official meeting of Painters Eleven at Luke’s cottage at Thickson’s Point near Oshawa in 1953. Abstract art for Luke was a spiritual journey, saying: “I feel very strongly that Abstract painting is a genuine searching for truth and purity in art.”
Luke painted under a pseudonym that combined her middle and maiden names. This allowed her to avoid confusion with her husband’s first cousin, the painter Isabel McLaughlin. In having a different artist name, it created a personal mythology. The two names represented two distinct lives and worlds. As Margaret McLaughlin she was a wife, mother, and wealthy socialite in Oshawa; as Alexandra Luke she was an artist, intellect, and bohemian. Alexandra Luke holds a special place in the hearts of the RMG and the wider community of Oshawa. She was a patron of the arts in Oshawa and the gift of her personal art collection created a starting point for the gallery’s permanent collection. This exhibition draws from the RMG’s rich collection of artworks by Alexandra Luke that highlight important developments in her artistic journey. Despite the push and pull between social duties and artistic pursuits, Luke’s dedication and passion for abstract art was steadfast.
Installation of Alexandra Luke: Push and Pull at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 2023. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
This month, we will let our emotions take the lead as we create Painters 11 inspired artworks. We will use various mark making materials to creatively express ourselves in the studio, no paintbrush needed! In the gallery, we will celebrate the NEW permanent collection exhibition by creating a quirky collage.
Free admission, no registration required.
This event is generously sponsored by Ontario Power Generation.
Please join us to celebrate the opening of pitch, slip, a new exhibition by RBC Emerging Artist in Residence, Alex Close.
Through her work, Close explores how our experiences in public spaces are shaped by our fragmented, layered, and ever-changing memories. From public performance venues to virtual reality, she is drawn to question engineered experiences and the role that trust plays in our day-to-day lives. This body of work is reflective of Close’s evolving approach to abstract painting and her bold embrace of experimentation in the RMG’s artist residency studio, which is supported by the RBC Foundation’s RBC Emerging Artist Project.
Refreshments will be served. Join us in the exhibition space at 7pm for a conversation between the artist and RMG Associate Curator, Hannah Keating.
Seating will be available. If there is anything else we can do to support your participation, please reach out to Hannah at [email protected].
Let us know you’re coming with an RSVP (not required, but encouraged).
We’re excited to celebrate the opening of The Backyard at the RMG with our community! Be one of the first to experience our reimagined greenspace that is community focused and rooted in creativity. There is limited seating so be sure to bring a blanket or lawn chair.
Throughout the evening we’ll have lots of activities on the go:
7:00 pm Doors open
7:20 pm Welcome, Introductions + Thank Yous
7:30 pm Performance by Tania Joy
8:30 pm Performance by the Professors of Funk
10:00 pm Doors close
The Professors Of Funk is a powerhouse 9-piece band that plays the classic funk, R&B, soul, and Motown music of the 1960s and 70s – music meant to get people to move. This sizzling high-energy ensemble features elite professional musicians with a wide range of experience in groups large and small and backing up artists across a broad spectrum. The presence of a 3-piece horn section, added percussionist, and both male and female lead vocalists ensure that they deliver the authentic flavours found in that era’s timeless sound.
Folk-roots musician, Tania Joy has been using the last few years hone her songwriting, finally following up her 2013 EP, I’ll Be Around, with the release of her EP I Will Stand, produced by 2022 Juno Award winner Hill Kourkoutis (SATE, Digging Roots, Leela Gilday, Madison Violet), a multi-talented artist who played with Serena Ryder and was in The Weeknd’s original backing band.
This project is funded in part by: the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and the Enabling Accessibility Fund; the Ontario Trillium Foundation Community Building Fund; and The City of Oshawa.
Funders
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pitch, slip is an exhibition of new paintings by Oshawa-raised artist Alex Close concerned with the slippery nature of effort and trust. Employing organic tones beside brash bursts of colour, Close’s chaotic compositions disorient and destabilize the viewer, placing them in a position to question what they see. Like sedimentary rocks, these works are composites, not of fossils and minerals, but of abstract shapes and surface textures. For her, these works allude to distant memories and speculative places, but she is excited by the diversity of interpretations different viewers will find in these elusive planes.
The exhibition’s title might bring a handful of specific actions to mind: a singer strives to reach a certain note; a pitcher throws a ball to a player at bat; an employee pitches a new project to their boss. The title also points to a tent pitched and slippery slopes. These divergent definitions, of effort and uneven ground, all influenced the creation of this new body of work; however, Close is particularly interested in the mutual construction of meaning in public space. Her paintings invite the viewer to exert the same kind of effort they might put towards deciphering truth in an image-saturated world.
Alongside instances of voices wavering or tosses falling short, Close is also interested in the slippages of her own memory. Reflecting on an unrealistic desire to remember places and events with absolute clarity, she leans into the patchy nature of remembrance, allowing fleeting impressions to compose imperfect, but provocative images in her mind. Translating those memory maps into paintings, Close ponders the nature of trust as it relates to the images we encounter, not only in our day-to-day lives, but those preserved in our own minds. Like a fond memory reworked with each reminiscence, her compositions are approximations, ideas pitched and slipping, somehow faithful and deceptive at the same time.
This exhibition is supported by the RBC Foundation’s RBC Emerging Artist Project.
Installation of pitch, slip at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 2023. Images by Toni Hafkenscheid.
Join us on June 10, 2023 to celebrate two solo exhibitions at the RMG with brand new work by Aaron Jones and Anna Binta Diallo. Fountain of Dreams is an installation of audio, video, and photos by Aaron Jones that considers the spatial and multi-sensory qualities of haunting and remembrance. In Topographies, Anna Binta Diallo brings an assortment of image fragments into strata-like installations. Playing with physical and conceptual layers, these exhibitions share an interest in the interplay between permeable borders, whether geographical, geological, or generational.
Refreshments will be provided. Please join us for remarks at 2pm, followed by a tour of Topographies with artist Anna Binta Diallo.
This weekend is also the 19th Annual Peony Festival and The RMG Spring Artisan Market! Check out the Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens at 155 Arena St. (just a 12 minute walk from the RMG) between 10 am to 4 pm on June 10th and 11th for family friendly activities and displays.Come back to the gallery on Sunday, June 11th from 11am to 4pm to shop for unique gifts and products by local artisans.
We’d like to thank TD Bank Group for their support of these exhibitions through the TD Ready Commitment.