Running on Empty

Running on Empty:

Kim Adams, John Massey, Kate Puxley, Shayne Ehman and Seth Scriver, Monica Tap, Elinor Whidden, and Jean-Luc Godard

January 10 – April 26, 2015
Opening: RMG Fridays, 9 January, 7-10pm
Catalogue Launch: Sunday 1 February, 1-3:30pm
Exhibition Tour: Sunday 29 March, 1-3pm

Throughout most of Canada’s history, the navigation of the landscape by foot, wagon, or canoe, whether for the sake of discovery, trade, or pleasure, proceeded at much slower speeds than it does now. Paved roads have replaced the trails of those earlier days, although they cross the same hills, marshes, and forests, and their routes follow the same rivers and valleys. Today, our encounters with vistas and wildlife often occur from within the metal and glass armour of an automobile while travelling at 100 kilometres per hour.

In his Futurist Manifesto of 1909, the Italian Filippo Tommaso Marinetti declared that man’s triumphs over nature would lead the way to a better future, and called for the overthrow of all that was old! Just a year earlier, Henry Ford’s Model T had hit the streets of America, signalling the dawn of the motor age when industrial proliferation would radically transform lives by providing access to new kinds of convenience and independence.

Our mass love affair with the car had hit full stride by the middle of the last century, and despite a few bumps and hurdles, it has remained intact to this day. Auto bodies and road trips have been evoked in countless images, narratives, and songs, from Hollywood movies to devoted sections of newspapers. However, over time this near-utopian relationship has come under intense scrutiny from a wide range of cultural and environmental perspectives.

Running on Empty presents the work of artists who consider the seductions, and also disillusionments, in our longstanding infatuation with the car and highway. They situate the car as a mediating force in our relationship with mobility and the land, and explore the interconnection of industry and the natural world. In these delightful and challenging works of art expeditions have unexpected consequences, bucolic scenes become a blur, idyllic scenarios are mere fabrications, and history repeats itself.

– Heather Nicol, exhibition curator

Running on Empty is curated by artist Heather Nicol. A full color, 48 page catalogue with an essay by Heather Nicol will accompany the exhibition.

The exhibition is open to the public from 10 January – 26 April, 2015. Please join us for the opening at RMG Fridays on 9 January 2015 from 7-10pm.

The RMG thanks the City of Oshawa, The Ontario Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Trillium Foundation for their support of this exhibition and programming.

Image – Monica Tap, One-second Hudson no. 4, 2007

Introducing Gallery A

Introducing Gallery A – Fulfilling the Legacy of Aleen Aked and paving the way for collaboration, local artistic exposure and the growth of our vibrant arts community. Please join us for the Grand Opening at RMG Fridays on 9 January.

Elizabeth Aleen Aked was an accomplished artist and a woman with a strong sense of the history and culture of the places she lived, especially her summer home and studio in Tyrone, Ontario. Miss Aked died in 2003; in her estate, a generous portion of her legacy was gifted to The Robert McLaughlin Gallery.

With the support of the Aked Endowment and funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage, the RMG is thrilled to embark on an exciting new initiative aimed at fostering a thriving local arts community.

During the summer of 2014, the RMG was under major renovations to create a professional exhibition space reserved for exhibiting the work of local artists, community collaborations, and themed group exhibits. The new space, features a professional gallery, an artist studio and rooms designed for bringing together arts communities.

Opportunities are available for community partnerships and special initiatives as well as artist residencies that prioritizes artists who wish to experiment with new ideas, collaborate, and work in new directions. Artists will have increased opportunities to give public talks, participate in professional development workshops, and give and receive critical feedback from peers. Programming of this space is separate from our curatorial planning and proposal selections are made with a jury of local artists and arts professionals.

We invite you to visit the new space, take a workshop or apply for an opportunity at Gallery A.

Get Involved!

Grand Opening:

RMG Fridays on Friday 9 January, 7 pm

Information Session:

Thursday 26 February, 7 – 8 pm

Application Deadline:

Sunday 15 March. Projects will take place from September 2015 to February 2016. Application form found at www.rmg.on.ca

On View

1 December, 2014 – 1 February 2015
Gallery A & Art Lab: Pete Smith, artist residency

4 February – 1 March, 2015
Gallery A: Ruth Greenlaw
Art Lab: Toni Hamel, artist residency

3 March -29 March, 2015
Gallery A & Art Lab: Toni Hamel, artist residency

31 March– 12 April, 2015
Gallery A: Speak Up! Youth Art Exhibition

14 April – 28 April, 2015
Gallery A: Durham College Fine Arts Graduate Thesis Exhibition

Events

Sunday 1 February, 1 – 3pm
Talk and Tour with Artist, Pete Smith and Senior Curator, Linda Jansma

RMG Fridays: 6 February, 7-10pm
Opening reception: Ruth Greenlaw

Sunday 22 February, 1-3pm
Talk and Tour with artists Ruth Greenlaw and Margaret Rodgers

Sunday 29 March, 1 – 3pm
Talk and Tour with Artist Toni Hamel and Running on Empty Curator Heather Nicol

Sunday 19 April, 1 – 3pm
Opening Reception: Durham College Fine Arts Graduate Thesis Exhibition

Workshops for Artists

Saturday 10 January, 1 – 3pm
Drawing Workshop with Ron Shuebrook

Ron Shuebrook will lead a workshop about the use of memories as a catalyst for art, while also considering aesthetic forms and expressive processes. Participants will explore a variety of graphic media such as graphite, charcoal, or ink, based on their interests. All materials provided but students are welcome to bring their own tools and materials if they prefer.

Registration required. $25 Members/ $35 Non-Members / Free for adults registered in Winter/Spring 2015 art classes

Sunday 15 February, 1 – 3pm
Grant Writing and Funding Opportunities for Artists

Zhe Gu, Visual Arts Officer at the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) will lead this workshop aimed at professional Visual artists and Fine Craft artists. The workshop will cover the types of grants available, the selection process and how to prepare an effective application. Please bring any applications in progress, your artist statement, or previous grant text.

Free. Registration required.

Thursday 30 April – Saturday 2 May
By appointment during Gallery hours
Artwork Documentation Station

Over the course of three days, artists may document their artwork in an environment designed for effective, professional documentation. RMG staff will be on hand with the appropriate lighting, hanging and photographic equipment. Artists may bring their own camera, or alternately a 10GB USB memory stick to transfer images onto. Maximum of five artworks, no larger than 7ft x 7ft. Wall-mounted works only.

Free. Registration required.

Symposium
Sunday 7 March, 10am – 4pm

Abstraction in Canada: The Legacy of Jock Macdonald

Lunch and refreshments included.

$20 / $15 students / Free for RMG Members

Happy Holidays from the RMG!

How are you planning to transform this year? Whether it’s taking an art class, listening to a new band play at RMG Fridays, experiencing a new work of art in our contemporary exhibitions, or visiting an old friend in our Permanent Collection, make visiting the RMG part of your 2015 routine.

We look forward to seeing you often in 2015. Happy holidays and Happy New Year from the RMG!

Please note our Holiday Hours:
24, 25, 26 December, 2014: Closed
27, 28, 29, 30 December, 2014: 12-4pm
31 December, 2014: Closed
1 January, 2015: Closed
2 January: 10-5pm

The RMG Gift Guide 2014

Vol ‘n’ Tell is an ongoing series of blog posts written by RMG Volunteers. Raechel Bonomo is an Oshawa native, art enthusiast and second-year Print Journalism student at Durham College.

Looking for a great gift this holiday season? Visit the RMG Shop!

To: The host

In many cultures, the pineapple is used as a sign of welcome and hospitality. Why not give this cute (and affordable!) statement piece to your favourite host this holiday season?

$13.00 each

To: The homebody

There are few things better than snuggling up after a long, cold winter day than with a blanket and a cup of tea. For the homebody, interior-design maven, or lover of all things cozy, this 100% wool blanket is the way to go. A bit of a splurge, but totally worth it.

$150.00 each

To: The miss on your list

These handmade, one-of-a-kind necklaces are perfect for the style enthusiast this holiday. They are on-trend, versatile and unique to make any fashionista fill with glee.

$24.00 each

Looking for a gift that is tote-ally amazing? Look no further. These totes are perfect for that fun loving female on your on list.

$22.00 each

To: Mom-to-be or the holiday baby

Perfect for above the new baby’s crib, this plush unicorn head is a fun and offbeat addition to any nursery. Who needs trains anyways?

$45.00 each (other variations include a moose or elephant, not pictured)

To: The tyke in your life

You’re about to become the world’s best aunt/uncle with this Gift in a Tin! Great for travelling, these play-sets fit in a tin suitable for the toddler on-the-go.

$20.00 each (also available: a battery operated train set, not pictured)

To: The comedian

These cards are perfect for the humorous co-worker, in-law or friend. Gift-card not required.

Price varies

To: The man’s man

Don’t know what to get the BBQ master, king of summer, man cave dweller on your list? This handcrafted beer opener is it. At a great price point, this gift is bound to get the party starter.

Images courtesy of Raechel Bonomo.

Interview with Pete Smith – The first Gallery A A.I.R.

“Hot Topics” blog posts come from the desk of Sam Mogelonsky, our Communications & Social Media Coordinator.

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.

Noel Harding is the recipient of the TORONTO 2015 Public Sculpture Commission

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG), in collaboration with the City of Oshawa, is excited to announce that artist Noel Harding will be commissioned to build a site-specific sculpture in celebration of the City’s participation in the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games.

The sculpture will be installed in the spring of 2015, adjacent to the General Motors Centre (GM Centre), Durham Region’s premier sports and recreation facility, and the venue of the boxing and weightlifting events at next year’s TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. The final commission consists of a $150,000 budget, which includes all fees, materials, fabrication and installation costs. The cost of the commission will be provided through the RMG’s restricted Acquisitions Endowment.

“The Selection Committee was impressed by Noel Harding’s submission that shows a real understanding and appreciation of the site and intentions of the project. The RMG is thrilled to be able to facilitate this exciting addition to our downtown,” said Gabrielle Peacock, Chief Executive Officer of The Robert McLaughlin Gallery.

As an artist, Noel Harding produced video art in the 70’s, video projection and installation in the 80’s, kinetic installations and sculpture as theatre in the 90’s. His work for the last 20 years is in public art where landscape and environment are paramount. In general, his work is an engagement in public urban realities: planning, envisioning, and mapping. He has exhibited and lectured internationally and his work is included in collections at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the City of Amsterdam and the Hara Museum, Tokyo. Visit the artist’s website.

The commission installation is set to take place by May 15, 2015 and the RMG will be posting updates about the commission as it develops. Please visit https://rmg.on.ca/gm-sculpture-commission.php for more information.

The RMG Remembers

Today the RMG remembers Canada’s fallen. With 2014 marking the 100th anniversary of World War One, we have the following special programming at the gallery:

Oshawa and the First World War: Selections from the Thomas Bouckley Collection
Until 18 January 2015

When Canada entered the Great War on August 4, 1914, the lives of Canadians across the country were changed forever. For the men who fought on the frontlines and the families that supported them from the home front, WWI was unlike anything Canadians had experienced. Canada’s contribution to the war led to growing autonomy and independence for the nation, but it came at a great price and many Oshawa men lost their lives.

The building of the new Oshawa Armouries was completed in 1914, and by September 1916, men from across Durham Region joined Ontario County’s 116th Battalion. They went on to fight in some of the great battles of the war including Vimy Ridge, Valenciennes and Passchendaele. On the homefront, local businesses worked hard to contribute to the war effort by manufacturing goods to support their family members, friends and neighbours fighting overseas. The Thomas Bouckley Collection’s large number of photographs taken in Oshawa during World War One act as a reminder of the great sacrifice that was made by the Oshawa community.

This exhibition is a part of the WWI Commemorative Project: Oshawa Faithful and Ready. The RMG, the Oshawa Community Museum & Archives, Trent University (Oshawa), Oshawa Public Libraries, Ontario Regiment Museum, Heritage Oshawa, City of Oshawa and Rogers TV have partnered to deliver an ambitious program throughout the year that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WWI. Curated by Megan White.

Exhibition: The Wildman Collection: Posters from the Great War
Until 1 February, 2015

With a population of approximately eight million people, Canada, during World War I, managed to raise an army of 600,000, a navy of 9,600, send over 20,000 men to serve in the British Royal Flying Corps and over 3,000 nurses with the medical corps. There were approximately 60,000 Canadian military casualties and close to 150,000 wounded from 1914-1918.

Propaganda posters played their own role during the Great War. A relatively inexpensive means of mass communication, posters were primarily used to promote enlistment in the forces, raise funds through Victory Bonds, encourage the population against waste, and increase industrial and agricultural production. The tone of early posters was almost festive, as the Allies assumed the war would be over quickly. The images were often naïve and word heavy, appealing to the pride of the young men they were targeting. However, as the war continued and the list of casualties grew, the tone of the posters began to change—the need for new recruits was urgent.

The Wildman collection of war posters was initially a secondary collection: around 1998 Christine and Craig Wildman, both history enthusiasts, decided to augment a collection of rare ephemera with related war posters. The poster collection now numbers over 100, and encompasses posters from both Allied and Central Power countries. We are grateful to the Wildmans for sharing their passion as part of RMG’s commemoration of the beginning of the Great War. Curated by Linda Jansma.

Collectors Talk: Craig Wildman
Thursday, 13 November at 7pm
Join to learn about the history of WWI posters and their use as a form of mass communication. Local collector Craig Wildman takes us through his and his wife Christine’s collection of posters featured in the exhibition The Wildman Collection: Posters from the Great War. This lecture is part of the 100th Commemoration of WWI: Oshawa Faithful and Ready programing happening throughout the year. Free admission, no registration required.

Lecture: Nursing Sisters of WW1
Sunday, 30 November from 1-2pm
Nursing Sisters of WW1: a presentation by Sher Leetooze. This talk is being held in conjunction to The Wildman Collection: Posters from the Great War.

Image: Anonymous Bring him Home with the Victory Loan, 1918

RMG Fridays December: Swing into the Holidays

Welcome winter on Friday 5 November from 7-10pm with a knockout double performance by Dave Statham and the Swing Shift Little Big Band! Step back in time in our photobooth & check out the high-energy dance troupe, That Swing! We present our December event in partnership with the Rotary Club of Oshawa.

David Statham: https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Statham/113444095396892

Bees’ Knees Dance: https://www.facebook.com/beeskneesdance

On the first Friday of the month, join the RMG in celebrating local talent. The gallery buzzes with live musical performances, interactive art experiences, open gallery spaces, social mingling and more. Suitable for music lovers, youth, families, date nights, and culture-vultures.

Free to attend | 7-10pm | Cash Bar | All ages welcome.

Follow the twitter feed at #RMGFridays!

The RMG is grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for their support of this programming.

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is a part of two OAAG Awards

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is a part of two OAAG Awards:

Ken Ogawa wins of an OAAG Design Award for The Collaborationists: Jennifer Marman & Daniel Borins
John Kissick wins an OAAG Curatorial Writing Award for “Racing to the un-finish line: The Drawings—Ron Shuebrook” in Ron Shuebrook: Drawings

The 2014 Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG) Awards were presented on 5 November, 2014 at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. The Awards are annual, province-wide, juried awards of artistic merit and excellence. They recognize the new exhibitions, publications, programs and community partnerships commissioned and produced by Ontario’s public art galleries over the previous year.

At the ceremony, Ken Ogawa, who was nominated by The Robert McLaughlin Gallery and Art Gallery of Hamilton, received a Design Award for the catalogue accompanying the exhibition The Collaborationists: Jennifer Marman & Daniel Borins. The 104-page catalogue features essays, as well as full-color photography, and was printed by Sonic Print.ca, with photography by Rafael Goldchain and John Jones. A digital copy of the catalogue can be viewed at http://www.vlackie.org/edit1.html

“The OAAG awards are particularly important as they represent the best in work from Ontario art galleries, as reviewed by our peers. We are very pleased that Ken Ogawa is the recipient of this prestigious award for The Collaborationists for this stunning catalogue.” – Linda Jansma, Senior Curator, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery

“We are delighted for Ken Ogawa and congratulate him on this esteemed award. The award also speaks to the dedication and creativity of the artists Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins, who brought Ken to the project, which we are so pleased to have been a part of.” – Melissa Bennett, Curator of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Hamilton

The exhibition was organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Hamilton and The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, in collaboration with the Southern Alberta Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Windsor, and was curated by Linda Jansma and Melissa Bennett. The touring exhibition was held/will be held at the following venues:

The Art Gallery of Hamilton (Hamilton, Ontario): 12 June – 29 September, 2013
The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa, Ontario): 16 November, 2013 – 26 January, 2014.
The Art Gallery of Southern Alberta (Lethbridge, Alberta): 15 February – 13 April, 2014
The Art Gallery of Windsor (Windsor, Ontario): 22 April – 5 June, 2016

As well, John Kissick, who was nominated by The Thames Art Gallery, with The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery and the Kelowna Art Gallery, received a Curatorial Writing Award of a Short Text (Under 2,000 words) for the essay “Racing to the un-finish line: The Drawings—Ron Shuebrook” in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition Ron Shuebrook: Drawings. The 46-page catalogue features essays by Melanie Authier, Robert Enright, John Kissick, David Urban, as well as full-color photography.

“We are thrilled for John Kissick on the receipt of this well deserved award. The OAAG awards recognize excellence in curatorial writing across Ontario galleries and we are grateful that our nomination of this dedicated curator and writer was acknowledged.” – Carl Lavoy, Director/Curator, Thames Art Gallery

Ron Shuebrook: Drawings is curated by John Kissick and organized by the Thames Art Gallery in collaboration with the Kelowna Art Gallery, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, MSVU Art Gallery and The Robert McLaughlin Gallery. The touring exhibition was held/will be held at the following venues:

Thames Art Gallery (Chatham, Ontario): August 16 – October 6, 2013
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (Guelph, Ontario): January 23 – April 27, 2014
MSVU Art Gallery (Halifax, Nova Scotia): May 24 – August 10, 2014
The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa, Ontario): October 11, 2014 – January 25, 2015
Kelowna Art Gallery (Kelowna, British Columbia): March 7 – April 26, 2015

The Launch of jockmacdonald.org

“Hot Topics” blog posts come from the desk of Sam Mogelonsky, our Communications & Social Media Coordinator.

Starting at the RMG in September, I had the amazing opportunity to work on a brand new website for the upcoming Jack Macdonald exhibition. In collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery and Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, we have launched of a project specific website at jockmacdonald.org for the upcoming exhibition Jock Macdonald: Evolving Form.

The special project website had a complicated brief. It needed to detail the artist’s life with an extended timeline, have a live drawing tool, as well as ad interactive gallery of artworks. Additionally, it had to be bilingual and have a responsive design so it would work across all platforms – desktop, tablet and mobile. This would be the first time the artist’s works are available online in an interactive, web-based format so we needed help to ensure the website was done in an exciting and accessible way.

To achieve this task, the RMG worked with the design and development studio Junction Design to complete the custom website. Junction design is a leading Toronto based visual identity, user experience design and development studio that is committed to helping organizations bring innovation and interactivity to their audience. We are thrilled with the website and are hoping to see engagement with this tool as visitors learn more about this important Canadian artist across Canada, and the world.

Visit the website at jockmacdonald.org and learn more about the artist and his amazing works! Evolving Form is the first major retrospective of the artist’s work in over thirty years and is a fresh look at the influential artist’s career. The exhibition will be on display at the RMG from 31 January until 24 May, 2015.