Last chance! Don McCullin: A Retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada

Don McCullin’s work will be featured at the National Gallery of Canada until April 14

Mike Cullen (Twitter) is a young public servant who is also a regular contributor to (Cult)ure Magazine as a music editorialist. His passions include music, coffee, writing, travel and comic books. 

This special exhibition of U.K.-based photojournalist Don McCullin is his first ever solo exhibition, and its provocative imagery provides Ottawa and the National Gallery of Canada a unique opportunity to see a somewhat unknown photographer’s work shine to new audiences.

McCullin’s work spans nearly six decades and a variety of environments; from war-torn Africa, to gangs in London, England to elephant festivals in India back to the Glastonbury area of the United Kingdom.  

His work is both stunning in its simplicity, yet thought-provoking in its content and context.

US marine, Vietnam, February 1968.

In recent years, McCullin has pulled himself away from photographing conflict zones, instead taking up landscape, travel and food photography, but regardless of his topic matter, his eye for composition and subject matter is something to truly experience.

That National Gallery has been running this solo exhibition of over 130 photographs (all black and white) since February, and it closes April 14, 2013, so there is not much time left to take in these incredible works. For anyone interested in photography, journalism or world issues, this exhibition is a must see.

Thanks Mike! Did you see the exhibit? What did you think?

You had better van Gogh to this exhibit

Mike Cullen (Twitter) is a young public servant who is also a regular contributor to (Cult)ure Magazine as a music editorialist. His passions include music, coffee, writing, travel and comic books.

The National Gallery of Canada opened its Van Gogh: Up Close exhibit this past week to critical and popular acclaim.

Featuring dozens of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings, covering nearly his entire career, the gallery has arranged with the assistance of galleries and museums both in North America and Europe a spectacular showcase of the man’s work; a man whom received only limited recognition in his lifetime for his contributions to the art world.

People looking for “Starry Night” or “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear” are not going to find these universally recognized pieces.

Instead, Van Gogh: Up Close provides viewers the opportunity to see the technical artist behind the man. Painstakingly organized and labelled, what the National Gallery provides is an intimate analysis of van Gogh’s landscapes and still-life work; explaining how the painter worked with microcosms and macrocosms, contrast and colour to create what are now considered some of the most beautiful works in the world. Van Gogh painted as many as 2,100 pieces in a career that only lasted some seven years.

This exhibit was not simply restricted to works by van Gogh, and the National Gallery has pulled works that not only inspired the painter, but greatly influenced his work as well. The inspirations and influences were displayed in a rather ingenious way: rooms featuring van Gogh’s work were painted in pale yellow, works that influenced van Gogh were in rooms painted in pale blue, giving a subconscious clue to the viewer as to what they were about to view.

Two main areas of influences on van Gogh’s work included the emerging use of photography in the 19th Century, and Japanese ink drawings, and are exquisitely displayed in this exhibit.

Van Gogh: Up Close runs from 25 May – 3 Sep, 2012. Crowds for opening weekend were substantial, with line-ups to view the exhibit. This will prove to be a very popular exhibit, so patience is required, but well rewarded for art lovers who take the time to see this fantastic collection of works!

You had better Van Gogh to this exhibit!

Thanks for this great snapshot, Mike! We’re already on our way…

Sustainable living: Pearl explains why SLOWest is best

Pearl Pirie is a local arts enthusiast who blogs about the city’s literary events in both word and image. Her most recent poetry collection came out last year. Thirsts (Snare, 2011) launches at Tree on Jan. 24. She will be one of the readers at versefest.ca in March.

Alise Marlane was the feature performer at this month's SLOWest

Alise Marlane was the feature this month at 1277 Wellington St. She sang her own compositions from Wakefield theatre productions and her album, Room for Less, talking about living more and having less. She also sang in French about uniting despite different political positions. She did Pete Seeger covers on her mandolin and guitars. For a couple pieces, a bit of guest starring happened with some harmonicas.

It was a cozy atmosphere and good music. A hat was passed.

How did the event come to be? The SLOWest is a group organized to create a space for meeting minds on ways to build a sustainable community, specifically Sustainable Living in Ottawa West (SLOWest). The group has an events listing of Local Music, Dance, Storytelling, Art.

For those pining for planting season, there’s a gardening talk on January 22. They’re gearing up for partnership with the RightBike.org bike-sharing program. Their January newsletter lists some of the green ideas they have cooking and other collaborations underway.

Tony Turner plays a harmonica at the last SLOWest

The next Coffeehouse will be February 11 with poets Blaine Marchand and Miche Kohler. The evening of March 10 will be a Coffeehouse with singers/storytellers Gail Anglin and Neville Miller.

April 14 will be a night of poetry with a spring launch of a chapbook entitled: In Air/Air Out: 21 Poets for the Guatemala Stove Project. The proceeds all go to the charity of clean air through the Guatemala Stove Project which has a Perth chapter and an Ottawa chapter. They have been building stoves with the Maya people since 1999. This poetry for air project so far has built stoves for two households.

Luminita Suse performs at Bywords Warms the Night for the Cornerstone Women's Shelter

Luminita Suse (right) is one of the poets in the chapbook. The photo was taken at the January 15′s ByWords Warms the Night:, the ninth annual ByWords fundraiser for the Cornerstone Women’s Shelter. It is fabulous when art and poetry and the community can come together to do social good locally or internationally.

A spring launch of the chapbook will happen this Thursday evening, January 19 across the street from Bridgehead at Collected Works. Allison Armstrong, Amanda Earl, Mike Montreuil, Luminita Suse and rob mclennan will be the readers in this round.

Thanks, Pearl! Be sure to check out the chapbook launch this Thursday!

‘Drawn to Art’: A morning out at the National Gallery of Canada

La Piazza Navona by Jean-Baptiste Lallemand is one of 100 works at the National Gallery's 'Drawn to Art'

Mike Cullen (Twitter) is a young public servant who is also a regular contributor to (Cult)ure Magazine as a music editorialist. His passions include music, coffee, writing, travel and comic books.

Armed with a cup of coffee, I braved Ottawa’s unusually unseasonal October with my mother to check out the latest exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, “Drawn to Art: French Artists and Art Lovers in 18th-Century Rome”. This international exhibition highlights the influence and artistry of French artists living in Rome during the 18th century.

St. Jerome by Jacques-Louis David

To be called to the Eternal City to study architecture, statuary and paintings was considered a great honour, and one that few artists managed to achieve during their lifetime. For them, the opportunity to sketch, paint and emulate the great masters before them, both Classical and during the Renaissance meant that they had managed a major achievement in their own artistry.

With over 100 works on display, there’s certainly a lot to take in at this exhibit, but it’s all worth it. Part history lesson, part art lesson, we see some fantastic works by the likes of Hubert Robert, Jean-Honore Fragonand and Jacques-Louis David. (It’s okay if you don’t recognize any of these names — I didn’t, and I thought I knew a lot more about the art world!)

The Sheperd Paris by Jean-Baptiste Frederic Desmarais

Many of the pieces in this exhibit are in North America for the first time, making this a very important exhibit for those who can’t get around internationally to see what’s out there (though by looking at the placards with the paintings, most of the collection has remained in France). Definitely worth the cost of admission, if only to be exposed to artists you might not otherwise have known about.

An amazing European art history lesson right here in the capital! Drawn to Art opened Friday and runs until January 2, 2012 — so there’s lots of time to check it out!

Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome (in Ottawa!)

The National Gallery of Canada

Mike Cullen is a young public servant who is also a regular contributor to (Cult)ure Magazine as a music editorialist. His passions include music, coffee, writing, travel and comic books.

Following up on a fantastic exhibit on Raphael last year, the National Gallery of Canada  is now showcasing a new exhibit entitled “Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome”, which recently opened with much fanfare.

The exhibit takes a fascinating look at the work of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, and how his stylistic interpretation of the real world and the profane dramatically changed how renaissance art was not only produced, but also viewed.

The National Gallery says this exhibit is “five years in the making” and that it encompasses not only the career of Caravaggio, but some thirty-one of his followers/imitators. I have no critical eye when it comes to art, but this exhibit was beyond fantastic. Curators and staff at the gallery have done a fantastic job of not only laying out the art in the space provided, but also an excellent analysis on his impact on the art world.

There was a mix of reality and fantastical in his work, such as his piece “The Musicians” where one can see the inclusion of Cupid in the upper left-hand corner of the painting.

The Musicians, Caravaggio

Caravaggio was also the master of subtlety. In “The Gypsy Fortune Teller”, one can observe a young man having his palm read, but if you look closely, the man is so transfixed by the woman, that he doesn’t even notice that she has begun to slip the ring off his finger.

The Gypsy Fortune Teller, Caravaggio

Caravaggio’s followers were also well displayed, and two of my favourite pieces in the exhibit included “The Lute Player” by Rombouts, and “Fortune Teller With Soldier” by Valentin de Boulogne.

The Lute Player, Rombouts

The “Fortune Teller With Soldier” depicts a man who is trying to pick-pocket a fortune teller while he in turn is pick-pocketed by a young child; the kind of slice of life depiction that Caravaggio himself was constantly trying to illustrate during his short career.

Fortune Teller With Soldier, Boulogne

This fantastic special exhibition is at the National Gallery until September 11, 2011 and I highly encourage anyone to go see it. You do not have to be an art snob to truly appreciate the beauty of this work; in fact, it’s humour and life make it easily accessible to anyone wishing to see some great works of art.

Thanks for the great post Mike! Interested in checking out the Caravaggio exhibit? Click here for more details.

Longing to belong: Siu Hong Yu visits New Edinburgh’s Dale Smith Gallery

Wading, Sarah Hatton

Siu Hong Yu is a scientist working at the National Research Council. Outside the lab he tries to stay out of trouble with live music, food outings, photography, gallery visits, running, hiking, good reads and cinema.

“I’m falling fast while hoping
I’ll land in your arms
’cause all my time is spent here
longing to belong
to you” – Eddie Vedder

Joy to the leaf buds and flower blossoms!

While the tulips are coming in full bloom at one end of the city, I decided to take a stroll to New Edinburgh for some food for thought (and my tummy). After the best-in-town egg benedict at Fraser Cafe, off I went to visit Dale Smith Gallery’s latest exhibition, Belonging, showcasing recent works by Sarah Hatton.

For this series, Sarah explores her ideas of longing with oil, resin and wax and right away, I was captivated by the sense of bittersweet and nostalgia brought about through the paintings’ sepia tone and weeping paint motif. Worked exclusively on wood panels, the pigments steep through tiny cracks of the medium also marking the passage of time. Along with the family dog and Sarah’s daughter, float planes are featured in three of the larger works and I was delighted by the playful framing of tilting angles, almost feel like you are tilting your head to look at something ordinary in new lights while appreciating the moment and your surroundings.

Shore 1, Sarah Hatton

Opened in 2003, Dale Smith Gallery is located at 137 Beechwood Avenue, just east of the ByWard Market area. The main gallery space is relaxed, intimate and filled with natural light. Upstairs showcases other gallery artists including Kristin Bjornerud and Amy Thompson whose

The Dale Smith Gallery, courtesy of Siu Hong Yu

works are currently featured in Ottawa City Hall Gallery’s Place and Circumstance, an exhibition of the city’s recent fine art acquisitions. As for the owner/curator, Dale herself is very knowledgeable regarding each artist’s techniques and inspirations and is always up for a chat.

Thinking back over Sarah’s stunning paintings while listening to Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder’s Longing To Belong, I just realized that water, as the universal symbol for life, is the common element throughout the whole series. With the warmer weather is finally here to stay, I can’t help but to look forward to all the summer fun and friend and family gatherings. I will indeed treasure those precious moments and not to take anything for granted because good times are way too short.

Belonging runs until May 29, 2011.

Country canvas: Q&A with Ottawa artist Crystal Beshara

Vanish I, by Crystal Beshara

Crystal Beshara is an award-winning artist and illustrator who has been painting and drawing since childhood, when she grew up on a 30-acre hobby farm in Eastern Ontario. She’s self-taught realist artist who’s also created a children’s book!

Please describe your art and how you create it.

Crystal Beshara

I am a contemporary realist which means my art is very figurative or representational. I work  from my own photographs taken on trips abroad as far as Mexico or France to more familiar surroundings like the Central Experimental Farm and the iconic landscapes of the Ottawa Valley. I am interested in recording my surroundings, and creating a body of work based on a personal experience in a specific time or place.

This is done by using several photos to create a strong narrative. Once I’ve settled on an idea then I work on sketches to reinforce the theme and build the story. I love creating realistic, detailed work because of the sheer pleasure I gain from studying, dissecting  and exploring my subject. Looking intimately at a subject enables me to have a renewed love for it and see it for what it is, completely objectively.

Although I am most inspired by rural themes having grown up on a farm, I am now exploring  somewhat more fantasy based stories of transformation and personal growth. I explore simple accessible themes that are deeply rooted in sensorial experiences of time and place. Painting is a way for me to share my experiences and visions with others in the hopes that they recognize themselves in these scenarios.

How do you find ways to take your art in a new direction, beyond the canvas?

Cover of Crystal's 'When I Visit the Farm'

I have illustrated 3 published children’s books, including one that I wrote, “When I visit the Farm,” which is based on my daughter’s experiences exploring the Canada Agriculture Museum right here in Ottawa. My work locally has been purchased corporately for it’s distinctly Ottawa Valley theme. The Ottawa Valley Farm Show bought a piece last year, and I had 21 pieces commissioned for the Crowne Plaza Hotel to showcase all of Ottawa’s favourite tourist spots.

Community involvement is important to me. I have participated in events supporting charities like United Way, WaterCan, and have been a guest juror for the City of Ottawa Youth Poetry Award, Ottawa Watercolour Society and Nepean Fine Art League.

You are also an arts educator, creating opportunities — both locally and internationally — for both adults and children to explore their artistic interests. Could you describe that part of your career?

I have taught art and shared my trade secrets for more than a decade. There is no greater pleasure than to share skills that may encourage other to look at their world around them differently. We are surrounded by so much beauty! I’ve taught through city-run programs, colleges, seminars for art supply stores, trade shows and conferences. I taught regularly as a special television guest on Rogers Daytime Ottawa.

Beyond this, I love to travel! I have very much enjoyed an extension of this which involves organizing art excursions and painting workshops where I teach my Ottawa students in foreign destinations! This is a great way to see artwork at its formative stage, share a common interest and learn new techniques that are unique to a whole new environment.

Illustration from 'When I Visit the Farm'

In 2009, I introduced a children’s art program called Mini Masters into my teaching repertoire. This has proved to be a very popular series among parents wishing to enroll their children into fine art classes. This year I am offering several summer camps to choose from for children aged 7 to 12, held at my studio here in Ottawa. Campers explore true painting techniques and work with quality materials while learning about renowned painters and their techniques. The camp’s end culminates with a Vernissage, where parents and children can enjoy an art exhibition with a great energy, food and wonderful conversation with our Mini Masters artists.

What would you tell someone who is looking to purchase their first piece of art?

I would recommend buying a piece you love that moves you or resonates with you.  It’s a bonus that it may go with the decor in your home but this should not be the only factor. In fact, nothing is more flattering to me than having someone actually build a room around my artwork! Buy something that stirs you. Art is very personal and should be. It should take you somewhere; to a place, a dream — something intangible that you may not be able to explain to anyone else. Love the piece, then figure out how to afford it! While an artist may not necessarily be able to offer a reduced price for a work of art, typically artists are flattered enough by your interest to create a payment plan that helps you to finance this new love.

Black Herefords, by Crystal Beshara

Cornfield, by Crystal Beshara

What tips do you have for people looking to discover more about Ottawa-area artists and their work?

One of the great things about Ottawa is there are no shortage of outdoor art events. WestFest, Art in The Park, and Artists & Authors in the Park (in Stittsville) to name a few. These are great opportunities to not only peruse and buy local work but meet the artist and discuss their work.  You may also want to have a look at the City of Ottawa Cultural events calendar or visit Cube Gallery on Wellington St., which has a  lot to offer in the way on artist talks and great social events.  Join ARTENGINE.ca for almost a daily list of upcoming unique events that you may never had known about otherwise. Keep your eyes peeled while walking around popular Ottawa sites. You might even run into a certain someone painting “en plein air” at the arboretum or ornamental gardens . . . if you do, be sure to stop by and say hello.

Wow! Crystal also paints a beautiful picture of Ottawa’s art scene! And a special thanks to Tracey Mosley for putting this Q&A together.

More on “It is what it is” at the National Gallery of Canada

Chris Millar Bejeweled Double Festooned Plus Skull for Girls. Purchased 2010. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: John Dean

Melodie Cardin is the Special Events and Communications Coordinator for the ByWard Market Business Improvement Area.

I had sort of middling expectations of It Is What It Is: Recent Acquisitions of New Canadian Art, since the National Gallery of Canada show opened in Ottawa with very little fanfare, especially compared to the summer’s Pop Life exhibit.

Surprise, surprise! As I walked from piece to piece in this exhibit, I kept thinking, “This is my favourite! No, wait a minute, this is my favourite. Nope, this is!”

After a few days of reflection and thinking about what has really stuck in my head, here are my top three:

“The Holes” by David Altmejd: A massive, jungle-like garden with crystals made of mirrors and huge brightly coloured flowers intertwines with intricate vein structures and overstated organs strewn helter-skelter. Feet, heart, liver and veins of a very human-like werewolf lie in a crystal garden. This sculpture, which took up an entire room, just fascinated me.

“Bejeweled Double Festooned Plus Skull for Girls” by Chris Millar: This sculpture sort of reminded me of Never Never Land crossed with a dollhouse. It’s a dream-like vacation resort rich with details which comment on the roles of materialism and advertising in our lives, particularly for girls.

“Tacet” by Antonia Hirsch: This piece is made up of three silent videos. In each video, a person is filmed silently reading music. The three pieces of music are the national anthems of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. From just the facial expressions of the three readers, you can tell which is which.

There were many more fantastic pieces, so go discover them yourself. The show runs until April 24, 2011.

What is your favourite part of the National Gallery of Canada?

Art underground: Ottawa’s Basement Artists

Works by local artist Noah Moses

A young public servant, Mike Cullen is also a regular contributor to (Cult)ure Magazine as a music editorialist. His passions include music, coffee, writing, travel and comic books.

Ottawa’s Basement Artists are a local group of visual and audio artists who hold one of the best underground arts events in Ottawa. Basement Artists deserve a huge shout-out because this group is not only noteworthy, but also an event that is must see.

Basement Artists is held at different restaurant or bar around downtown Ottawa each month, and caters to both lowbrow and highbrow art crowds. The events are usually $10.00, and tickets can be purchased either at the door, or in advance from one of the artists. The whole point of this collective is to get the word out on fantastic local visual artists, usually with a local musical artist providing the entertainment.

Local visual artist Yve and her work on display

The most recent venture to a Basement Artists show, my third, on December 1^st yielded an excellent musical performance by local singer-songwriter Courtney Thorman, and with about a dozen visual artists with a wide-spectrum of tastes and influences, the event saw a good size crowd pack the Velvet Room in the ByWard Market.

This is the type of event I always seem to enjoy; a group of artists coming together in a grassroots movement to promote not only their work, but the idea that Ottawa has a thriving arts community (even if the three levels of government don’t seem to want to put any serious money into the arts in the National Capital Region). It is up to the community to create, promote and celebrate events like this: Basement Artists get it right on all levels. Last night, I walked away from a great event, an article in hand, a fantastic print of a Spider-Man sketch by local artist Noah Moses, and a sense that not only have I supported the underground arts community in Ottawa, but that I get to endorse it as well.

Spider-Man sketch by local artist Noah Moses

The next Basement Artists event is going to be held on Sunday, December 12^th from 7:00 to 11:30 p.m. at Mercury Lounge. Tickets are $10 at the door, and proceeds will go to the Max Keeping Foundation.

Did you have some fun at an event in Ottawa that you want to tell LTOttawa about? Send us a note!