- Akimblog Hamilton now online
My most recent post for Akimblog is now online, featuring three current Hamilton exhibitions, all well worth the viewing if you have not yet done so.
Simon Frank, View (from the escarpment) (detail), 2012, log-marking hammer on drywall (photo: Mike Lalich)
A challenge of writing for Akimblog, one that I think has revealed its hand in […]
- 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 2011 Sobey Art Award Shortlist
Last week I attempted to make up for the lack of my usual region-by-region breakdown of the Sobey Art Award Long List by taking a closer look at the Ontario Long List currently on show at Oakville Galleries Centennial Square and Gairloch Gardens. The confluence of those five Ontario-based artists revealed a taut commonality of […]
- 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 […]
- 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 and […]
- 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 […]
- Paul Cvetich at transit Gallery
The visual pleasure that pervades Paul Cvetich’s Ichikupark at transit Gallery is both immediate and fully justified after slower consideration. While the many individual sculptures produce a cacophonous effect from a distance, the writhing shapes of each work slow the eye down when one stops long enough to take in the show one piece at […]
- Prelude to Paul Cvetich
Due in part to writing obligations elsewhere, I’ve been remiss lately in reviewing exhibitions on this blog apart from my drive-by commentary on the monthly Art Crawl here in Hamilton. I’m therefore looking forward to restoring the critical balance around here by bringing in two reviews of exhibitions that opened this past Friday: Paul Cvetich […]
- 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).
(Full […]
