21.7.11

SUMMER SALON 5 - MON-FRI 11-3PM



In this photo: Christy Haldane

In this photo: Andrew Salgado, Claudia Ficca and Davide Luciano, Darryl Block, Greg Holman

In this photo: Troy Brooks

In this photo: Cate McGuire, Wil Simpson, Ron Baker

Chris Williams

In this photo: Bette Woodland, Brock Ryan

In this photo: Gary Blundell, Frances Patella

In this photo: Stev'nn Hall, Trevor Nicholls

In this photo: Michelle Reaume, R. Kelly Clipperton
We have just installed our annual Summer Salon group show at the First Canadian Place Gallery and we are excited yet again to be able to show a great collection of both established and emerging artists in such a great space.  The show is open for public viewing from Monday to Saturday 11-3PM.  Hours of operations are subject to change due to private functions.  For more information please contact the Arts and Events office at 416.862.6290

The reception will be held on August 4, and will run from 6-9PM



Summer Salon is officially open to the public!  NEW HOURS: Monday-Saturday 11-3PM





14.7.11

SUMMER SALON 5: coming soon...


Troy Brooks' work for the Summer Salon 5 show at First Canadian Place came in yesterday...  And you lucky readers get a sneak preview!  The show opens on Monday.

FCP Gallery hours are: 11am-3pm Monday-Friday.  Hours of operations are subject to change due to private events.  For more information please contact the Arts and Events office at: 416-862-6290

13.7.11

UNEARTHED / 2012 Apocalyptic Vision Exhibition: WIL SIMPSON

VISHNU, Oil on Canvas, 30 in x 40 in


Wil Simpson's piece entitled 'VISHNU' is on display at Crewest Gallery, 110 Winston Street, Los Angeles CA, 90013.  The work is a part of a comic-book installation featuring separate panels of a narrative on each gallery wall.  The work is scheduled to be presented in a graphic novel form at Comic Con San Diego 2011.  UNEARTHED is on display until July 31st.


Click for photos from the show

Simpson's Green Army series is on display at Pentimento until July 31st.

10.7.11

WIL SIMPSON

Barbie Takes The Stand, Oil on mahogany panel, 61 cm x 121 cm

Whiskey Painting (WISS-KEY), Oil on birch panel, 61 cm x 77 cm

Victor Painting (VIK-TAH), Oil on birch panel, 61 cm x 77 cm

Wil Simpson currently has a collection of oil paintings in the rear section of the gallery which will be hung for the duration of Susan Valyi's sculpture show (until July 31).  The paintings are from Simpson's Green Army Series, which use army men images in conjunction with iconic pictures from the war-era and other historic periods.
     Simpson's work has been shown in Los Angeles in multiple galleries as well as in previous shows here at Pentimento.  As well as the Green Army Series, Simpson is planning work based on model and burlesque-artist Dita Von Teese.

Artist Statement:

( No toy depicted in this work was harmed )
     "Soldiers do not put themselves in harms way for pseudo intellectual ideas or ideals. They put themselves in harms way to defend and to preserve the things that they love and most desire.”
     The equally Iconic and Forgettable Green Army Toy Soldier. Popularized, Vilified and Commercialized. With it’s subtle and perpetual reference to society’s own preconceived notions regarding war and freedom. It is a kind of mirror which reflects the best and the worst in all of us. It represents heroism, honor, service, loss, sacrifice, horror, myth, justice, legend, comedy, chaos, conspiracy, drama, freedom and theatre. The stuff of our Society, the stuff of our Culture and the stuff of life and death. As a global society we both revel in and revile war. Often in the name of freedom.
     The Green Army paintings are titled solely utilizing Military Lingo. For Example, The Phonetic Alphabet, Numbers and Codes or a combination of two or all three. Thereby removing any predetermined conclusions and encouraging the viewer to draw their own conclusions on each
piece. As the Military refers to War as “In Theatre” or “The Theatre of War”. My attempt is to create and to convey a vivid sense of “Theatre”, through the eyes of a common toy. Because in the end, it is only a toy, isn’t it?

7.7.11

SHOW OPENING TONIGHT 6-9: SUSAN VALYI

Aphrodite or She Shells 2 - Wood and resin construction with sea shells and rope
Hero 2 - Wood, old enamel pot and resin construction with shoe lasts
Crossroads - Wood and resin construction with shoe lasts

Susan Valyi was born in Vancouver, and studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, but didn’t find her artistic voice until abandoning her formal education and approaching her sculpture with the naivety of an ‘Outsider Artist’.

     Her work is constructed of puzzle-pieces made from found objects, wood and resin joined together, filled, grinded and polished into human and animal forms with mythical and whimsical silhouettes.  The work is based on preliminary sketches, but is created in a beautifully organic fashion with wave-like curves coming to abrupt joints with found iron and animal bone objects.

     “I started nicking my fingers with my Dad’s tools at the age of 8 and I’ve never stopped.  I feel my life has run the gauntlet between raising a family, caring for a big old house, working as a graphic designer and always, always first in my mind, making art.  I live with my family near a small French town on the border of Ontario and Quebec and I am currently and finally learning to speak French.  I show frequently, mostly in Toronto but I have exhibited as far as Calgary, Chicago and Palm Beach.  I am represented by galleries in Toronto, Oakville, Waterloo, Ottawa and Bracebridge” – Susan Valyi