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.)

Liz Parkinson at Benedicta Art Centre, Minnesota

Above image from an installation of Liz Parkinson's "Popular Nature Project",  earlier last year at Visual Arts Centre, Clarington.

We recently posted about Paul Dignan's exhibition at the Benedicta Art Centre at the College of St. Benedict/University of St. John in Minnesota. By a strange co-incidence, Liz Parkinson, also a KWT artist is exhibiting there, at the same time, in the Gorecki Gallery. (Note to Paul, Liz and Pearl: try to find a warmer place next time...Minnesota, Banff...brrrr! It's cold enough here in Toronto! )

Liz Parkinson's "Popular Nature Project" is an ongoing accumulation of images that aspires to completion as a collection. Each twelve-inch unit, although an independent composition, is seen as a possible component of the larger taxonomic entity: Popular Nature. Overall the project explores relationships between "natura" and "nature inspired" objects and systems of understanding. The portable scale of individual panels enables them to be worked on while traveling, as such acquiring aspects of the souvenir. Often, added to in the studio and inserted into the logic of the growing collection, the gathered information changs as it is influenced by surrounding references. Each addition and reorganization of the collection presents a revised understanding of what is meant by "nature". And like most collections, it may never be complete nor, like nature, its meaning fully explored.

These small mixed media works are a painterly departure from Parkinson's more traditional printmaking practice, but incorporate familiar techniques and media, including Japanese Paper, Rag Paper with litho, drypoint, relief, gold leaf, flocking, encaustic, plaster, and acrylic painting. Parkinson is widely respected as a master printmaker, but we love this new direction too, and we understand she plans to continue with it in a much larger format in the near future.



You can see images of Parkinson's earlier work (from the "Morphology" series at KWT) here.