- Weekend Links: The quiet confidence of craftsmanship
This could be the revelation of some brilliant draftsmanship in exhibitions close to home this month, or the melancholy of having packed up my James North studio this weekend, but my first Weekend Links of 2012 is less issues-driven and more redolent with the high notes of art well made. From anonymous paper sculpture to […]
- Akimblog Hamilton now online
After what feels like a long absence, I had a great time getting back into Akimblog with another Hamilton report that has now been posted for your reading pleasure. Included in this month’s round-up are quite a few stand-outs from James North this month - Jeff Nye at Hamilton Artists Inc., From the Ground Up […]
- The Fisher King & Other Mythologies at Gallery on 4
After a crunch-tastic holiday season and some fantastic high-speed framing from the good people at Earls Court Gallery (seriously Bob, I owe you one), I’m pleased to report that The Fisher King & Other Mythologies is now installed for your viewing pleasure at the Hamilton Public Library’s Gallery on 4. After the past several years […]
- Ghosts of exhibitions past and future
I’ve found lately that the challenge of maintaining this blog lately is not so much in the demands of a full-time occupation - rather, it’s in balancing that job with exhibition commitments inherited from my more flexible freelance days. When combined in recent months, the studio and the office achieved a critical mass that left […]
- ‘A Vanishing of Bees’ at upArt Contemporary Art Fair
Obviously, blogging has not happened around here with anything like my old-time regularity, but at least this time I’m packing a double-barrelled shotgun’s worth of excuses. In addition to the usual demands of the day (and often night) job, I have been investing all free time possible in the studio preparing for my installation at […]
- ‘The Birds and the Bees’ and more in C Magazine
Reviewing exhibitions for the quarterly art magazine circuit is an exercise in deferred pleasure, but it’s well worth the surprise of having a freshly printed issue materialize in your mailbox as a friendly reminder that yes, you did write something a few months ago, didn’t you? Not to mention, new magazine smell.
The most recent issue […]
- Trending the 2011 Sobey Ontario Long List
The viewer’s subjective experience accounts for a lot more in art criticism than I think most art writers would be willing to admit. Experiences as varied as the weather outside or the latest article rattling around inside one’s head has impacted my viewing of countless exhibitions over the years. While many of these involuntary associations […]
- Akimblog Hamilton and St. Catharines now online
My latest post for Akimblog is now online for your reading pleasure. Follow the linkage to see my whirlwindy observations on By Design and By Chance at the McMaster Museum of Art, Rick Pottruff’s Search Engine City at Art Gallery of Hamilton and Colin Lyons at Hamilton Artists Inc.
Rick Pottruff, Search Engine City (detail), 2011, […]
- James North Art Crawl: May
Because this month’s Art Crawl review is longer than most, I won’t go on at length with any preamble except to say that something really peaked this time around - not only in the number of venues to take in, but also in the overall quality of work to be enjoyed. As ever, discussing it […]
- Encounters: McMaster Summa 2011
The opening reception of McMaster University’s Summa exhibition of Studio Art graduates is always a crowded affair, and this year was no exception. Even with one of the most restrained selections of work that I’ve seen in recent years, the main floor galleries at the McMaster Museum of Art were so densely packed that it […]
