- 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 [...]
- 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 [...]
- Lip(stick)service
I didn’t realize that arts award season was well and truly upon us until my morning skim of the BBC news feed heralded the announcement of this year’s Turner Prize nominees with the usual distancing panache designed to further mystify contemporary art for the general populace. This year’s opening zinger… An artist who uses make-up [...]
- Michael Allgoewer at b contemporary
The same night I was milling around the reception for Paul Cvetich’s exhibition at transit Gallery, word was circulating about the concurrent opening of b contemporary, a new gallery on James Street North. Whether by choice or circumstance, former transit gallerist David Brace had kept news of this first reception fairly quiet – b contemporary’s [...]
- James North Art Crawl: March
After a run of underwhelming Art Crawls, I went into this month’s iteration with an uncharacteristic swell of optimism, bolstered by the foreknowledge of interesting prospects on the horizon of spring. Thankfully, that instinct proved promising right off the top of the evening with my first visit to The Print Studio and Brendan Fernandes’ (buli). [...]
- An evening with Vincent van Gogh
It was just over a week ago now that I tempted snowy fate to head down to McMaster University for Dr. Alison McQueen’s lecture, ‘An evening with Vincent van Gogh,’ the second of a public series of talks sponsored by the Friends of Art History at McMaster. Despite being one of those Friends (and I [...]
- New gallery bringing the old and hopefully something new
Now that I’m officially snowed in and bored out of my skull, I find myself with an excess of time in which to catch up on recent goings-on in Hamilton art; namely, the grand opening last weekend of Focus Gallery, the latest addition to an ever-expanding string of arts-based establishments on James Street North. Despite [...]
- James North Art Crawl: January
Considering that I was unable to review the last three Art Crawls, I can thoroughly sympathize with the spirit of hibernation that seemed to prevail during this month’s iteration of what is now a fully established fact of the Hamilton art scene. Perhaps that over-familiar routine is breeding complacent content and fatigue; more likely, my [...]
- The Beard
While I was taking an afternoon tea break and reading new Art21 Guest Blogger Victoria Gannon’s introductory post from California, I had something of a mental stutter when my steady downward scroll hit upon this image in the writer’s survey of soon-to-be-featured artists. Gina Tuzzi, Silver and Gold (2000), 2009. Acrylic on paper. (Source: art21.org) [...]
