Papier12: Next Week in Montreal

There is a nice article by John Pohl in the Montreal Gazette about Papier12, which will take place next week.

It has been my pleasure to get to know Emilie Grandmont-Bérubé in the past year, and as a gallerist, I concur with her philosophy:

"It’s the job of a gallery owner to find art that suits a potential buyer – even if the search leads to another establishment, says Emilie Grandmont-Bérubé, co-owner of Galerie Trois Points."

The article goes on to say:

"Next weekend the search will be considerably easier, as Papier 12 gathers 38 galleries representing more than 400 artists into one temporary structure at Bleury St. and de Maisonneuve Blvd., just off the northwest corner of Place des Festivals.

As the name suggests, Papier 12 features works on paper – usually the least expensive art you can buy. And Papier 12, which has no admission charge, is all about accessibility, added Grandmont-Bérubé, who is also treasurer of the organization behind the art fair, the Contemporary Art Galleries Association (AGAC).

Six of Toronto’s best private art galleries have booths at Papier 12."

We are happy to be one of those six galleries from Toronto! I for one would very much enjoy seeing more cross-fertilization between the Toronto and Montreal art scenes. We had a wonderful experience last year showing Alexis Lavoie and David Lafrance, and several of our artists have Montreal connections, either by birth, current or past residency, or via Concordia, McGill or UQAM.

Read more here

and visit the Papier12 website

KWTcontemporary will be showing work by the following artists:

Sean Martindale, Lauren Nurse, Dagmara Genda, Moira Clark, Daryl Vocat, Liz Parkinson, Pearl Van Geest and David Lafrance.

 Watch for more posts from Papier12 next week.

Sean Martindale, "Nature", 2011, c-print.

(Image of the temporary installation of Martindale's sculpture built of reclaimed cardboard, and briefly displayed on a garbage day last spring in a neighbourhood in Toronto's West End.)

Juliusson and Nurse at upArt: installation in progress

Installation is almost complete for our room at upArt, the alternative art fair opening tomorrow at the Gladstone Hotel. Lauren Nurse has made Habitat 67-inspired chrome birdhouse/condos, and Svava Thordis Juliusson offers a selection of her wall-and-ceiling-installed spikey, icy and pooling sculptures, upcycled from humble materials such as rope and cable ties. More to come, including icebergs, I am told.


All fitting for the theme of upArt 2011 : Nature/Culture

Opening Reception October 27 – 7-10pm
Exhibition Hours October 28-30 – 12-5pm
ArtStars* DVD Launch Party: October 29 – 7-10pm
Curators Talk and Tour Sunday October 30, 2pm
Admission $5

This year, upArt seeks to address interactions between nature and culture; offering an examination of the environmental chaos around us through a distinctly contemporary lens. The Gladstone’s annual contemporary art fair, upArt coincides with Art Toronto and has been a site of experimentation and emergent work for over 5 years. upArt offers visitors a fully immersive experience of site-specific projects by local, national, and international artists. upArt 2011 is curated by Laura Berzadi & Britt Welter-Nolan.

More info here.

BIG DOINGS!

Nothing like a busy art month to keep you hopping, and keep the blood warm as the temperature plummets! Fall is my favourite season.

On Tuesday of last week, we participated in Art With Heart, with works on auction by the best of the best Canadian contemporary artists, including our own Lauren Nurse and Alexis Lavoie. Word is the auction alone netted over $500,000 for Casey House.

Last Thursday, we opened the Heather Nicol and Marina Black exhibitions at the gallery. Two gorgeous shows, and we'll have a virtual tour up for you soon.

Tonight is Gala Preview night at the Toronto International Art Fair. We are in Booth 1104,  in the NEXT section, along the West wall. (hint...look for Jay Wilson's 12 foot stalagmite made of toothpicks...really!.. and Kieran Brent's penetrating portrait Will. We'll be easy to spot.) Also, look for Heather Nicol's amazing installation, Spun Out and Lovely in OPEN SPACE.  And check out Svava Thordis Juliusson's Esjublatt,  big, blue and anthropomorphic, and chosen by the Art Dealers Association of Canada for their Masterpiece Wall at the fair.


And, at the Gladstone Hotel, opening tomorrow, upArt, Toronto's alternative art fair.  We'll have a room-sized installation by Lauren Nurse and Svava Thordis Juliusson (room 207) and an installation by Rachael Wong in the public gallery area.

Lots of pictures to come, I promise. Just need a few extra hours in my day.

Art Fair Week in New York: Lauren Nurse at Armory Show

Two of Lauren Nurse's provocative  self-portraits have been chosen by the Art Dealer's Association of Canada for at their pavilion at the Armory Show  (March 2-6, 2011, Pier 94, # 1511)

"Twigs" and "Horns" were most recently exhibited at KWT  in Nurse's solo show, "you are my mirror", which closed this past weekend. These archival pigment prints were produced in an edition of 5 on Hahnemuhle paper. We have one set, available for viewing by appointment at the gallery.

Lauren Nurse: "you are my mirror": Feb 5 to 26, 2011

Lauren Nurse interviewed by Tali Dundin at KWT Contemporary on February 5th, 2011 (later aired on ArtSync)

Click here to watch the interview

"Cultural perceptions of nature have always held a certain amount of anxiety, and have spawned numerous myths, legends and fables.  These narratives expose culture’s uneasy relationship with the natural world.  For example, the figure of the werewolf is the ultimate symbol for the transgression between human and animal, and fears about being consumed are embodied in the figure of the vampire.  I believe that looking closely at these legends provides a key to understanding the culture that produced them. In viewing the monstrous body as a metaphor for the cultural body, I consider the mythic as a symbolic expression of the cultural unease that pervades a society and shapes its collective behavior. 
Previous works of mine have revolved around the idea of collisions between nature and culture - passing comment on some of the ways in which we see nature as existing outside of culture and society, yet simultaneously influencing the ways in which we live. 

The new body of work that I am exhibiting synthesizes my previous interest in the modern separation and opposition between culture and nature, and my current interest in locating the mythological/uncanny in evocations of the ‘wild’.  I am interested in the dissolution of boundaries between categories, ideas, and objects, the tension between inside and outside, and the intersections that occur when borders of the body become fluid and porous." -Lauren Nurse (2011)

Pearls. Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper. edition of five, framed. 2009

Inaugural Show Reviewed in Globe and Mail

The re-launch and inaugural exhibitions which opened last Saturday saw over 350 in attendance, followed up this weekend by a complimentary review from R.M. Vaughan in the Globe and Mail: "... three excellent mini-shows: a suite of crisp neo-Op Art works by Paul Dignan, paintings wherein interconnecting, bent geometric shapes overlap in soothing, hazy colours, with the brighter tones jumping off the canvas like hurled blades in a 3-D movie; Svava Thordis Juliusson’s wacky, twitchy collection of sculptures made from Play-Doh-bright twist ties and packaging materials; and Lauren Nurse’s surreal set of photographs, including a face covered in white globules (pearls? fish eggs?) and a face with glued-on sticks for eyelashes." Read more here

Three Exhibitions and Gallery Re-launch

Three Exhibitions and Gallery Re-launch

Reception: February 5, 6-8 p.m.

Lower Gallery
Paul Dignan: "Another After One"

Mezzanine
Svava Thordis Juliusson: "Saman Safnast"

Upper Gallery
Lauren Nurse: "you are my mirror"

Exhibition runs from February 5 - 26, 2011
Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat, 12-6 p.m.