Exhibitions 2005

May 8 – September 4 "The Summer of Painting"

Galleries 1 & 2

Lawren Harris: From Landscape into Abstraction

In honour of the 85th anniversary of the first exhibition of the  Group of Seven at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the AGO is loaning many works from its collection of the Group of Seven to the public galleries of Ontario throughout 2005. Gallery Stratford is a participant in the project and will exhibit nine paintings by Lawren Harris throughout the summer of 2005. While Harris’ name is well-known, he continues to be associated with his stark and cool paintings of mountains and lakes. Few people are aware of his later work that progressed into abstraction. With four monumental landscape paintings and five abstract paintings, the works on display follow a historical movement in Canadian painting.

Lawren S. Harris
Lake and Mountains 1928

Oil on Canvas

130.8 x 160.7 cm

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

Gift from the Fund of the T. Eaton Co. Ltd.

for Canadian Works of Art, 1948

Simple Bliss: The Paintings and Prints of Mary Pratt

Gallery 3 & 4

The eleven oil paintings and 21 prints in this exhibition reflect a ten-year period between 1993 through 2003 when the Canadian painter collaborated with master print maker Masato Arikushi from Vancouver. Mary Pratt’s work continues to celebrate, challenge and re-contextualize her environment with intensity, passion and maturity. She continues to live and work in St. John’s Newfoundland. Curated by Patricia Deadman; Circulated by the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Mary Pratt
Raspberries Reflecting Summer, 2000

oil on canvas
61.0 x 91.4 cm

Collection of the Stonefields

September 11 – November 13

Vimy and After: an exhibition of Drawings by Walter Seymour Allward

Gallery 1 + 2

Curated by Tony Urquhart

Walter Seymour Allward was the sculptor and architect of the renowned Canadian War Memorial at Vimy Ridge in France. He completed only two other World War I memorial sculptures, and these can be seen in Peterborough and in Stratford. Vimy and After will offer evidence of the extraordinary imagination both for three-dimensional sculpture and allegory, of one of Canada’s greatest artists.

This tour initiated by Gallery Stratford, will begin at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston in May and show at Gallery Stratford in the summer of 2005. The tour continues to  the Art Gallery of Peterborough and Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa. The exhibition features one hundred and twenty two drawings from the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Queen’s University Archives and the collections of Allward’s grandson and great grandson.

Ontario Itinerary for "Vimy and After"

Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston May 1 to June 26, 2005

Gallery Stratford, Stratford Sept. 11 to Nov. 13, 2005

Carleton University Art Gallery. Ottawa Nov. 28, 2005 to Jan. 29,2006

Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough April 7 to May 14, 2006

Vimy Memorial, Pas-de-Calais

September 11 – November 13

War: a contemporary look

Gallery 3

Curated by Jennifer Rudder

War: A Contemporary Look will feature striking artworks by two contemporary artists whose work revolves solely around the issues of war and Canada’s role as peacekeepers in the world. Their work will function in relation to the ideas of monument, memorials and sacrifice presented in the Allward drawings, as rapportage in the case of Allan MacKay, and as woman’s mourning for the lost or damaged bodies of young men suffered in wars.

Allan Harding MacKay is an official war artist for the Canadian Department of Defense. His dark and sombre mixed media works are portraits of the Canadian presence in the wars in Afghanistan and Somalia. The nine works selected serve as documents, portraying Canadian military presence in the world as neither noble nor heroic. The gritty surfaces depict shadowy figures in wax, oil pastel and sand, and evoke the uncertainty of seeing or understanding the wartorn areas he visited.

Newfoundland-based artist Barbara Hunt will exhibit three of her recent textile works. Fifty of Hunt’s of pink, hand-knitted landmines from Antipersonnel, will be shown in museum display cases along with her most recent camouflage works. The installation Fodder, is composed of hundreds of deconstructed army fatigues that hang lifelessly on the gallery walls like empty, savaged vessels. Incarnate, is one camouflage suit, outlined by bright pink chainstitch embroidery and suspended from the gallery ceiling. Hunt’s works perform a lamentation. In the context in which they will be shown, with Allward’s heroic drawings in the next galleries, the works by MacKay and Hunt serve as jarring reminders of the continuation of extreme violence and war in the 21^st century.

November 19 – December 19

Reading Without Books: Narrative in Art – Chapter Four

Galleries 1+ 2

Continuing on the theme of 2004’s "chapter" this exhibition will explore contemporary Canadian artworks where text and the notion of reading is central to the artwork.

With works by Sylvia Ptak, Allastair McGee and the late Reid Diamond.

Lawson Killer Perth Huron Exhibition

Gallery 3

A juried exhibition featuring works by artists from the Perth and Huron Counties.

Jurors: to be confirmed

Sponsored by Lawson Killer Insurance.

Recent Exhibitions 2005

January 9 – February 27

Selections from the Permanent Collection

Galleries 1, 2 + 3

Kim Adams

Beaver Casino, 1998

lithograph, Ink on paper

Collection of Gallery Stratford

Gift of Mr. Kenneth Ogaki

Robert Bozak

Firstness, 1981

Collection of Gallery Stratford

Gift of Dawn Johnston

Les Levine

Untitled (and He Asked Me. . .), n.d.

silkscreen

Collection of Gallery Stratford

Gift of Mr. Aaron Milrad

Sponsored by the Elizabeth L. Gordon Programme of the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation.

Gallery Stratford has a permanent collection of approximately 2,000 works, which have been purchased or donated for the benefit of the people of Stratford. The permanent collection has not been shown widely  for over 6 years. It is the intention of the Executive Director to "empty the vaults" during the months of January and February 2005 and hang as much of the collection as possible. This will serve the purpose of educating the the public of Stratford, the staff and Board of Trustees.

It is the intention of Gallery Stratford to display as much of the collection as possible and to involve the public in a public discussion on the value, both literally and figuratively of a public art collection. The majority of works in the collection are by Canadian and local artists.  There are works on paper, that is drawings and prints and some paintings and sculpture.

As is the case in many public galleries in Canada, the collection is stored in cramped and environmentally unsatisfactory conditions.

On Thursday, February 17th Gallery Stratford will host a public meeting, to discuss the collection and the challenges that it poses for the gallery, such as the lack of adequate storage space, mounting insurance costs and the issue of de-accessioning, or selling works from the collection. After the public has had 6 weeks to view the works, we would like to invite two appraisers and one conservator to speak on the collection: its value, significance and relevance.

Local donors and the women of the former Volunteer Committee of the former Rothman’s Gallery (now Gallery Stratford,) will be invited to the meeting to discuss the provenance and the history of purchased artworks.

March 13 - April 24

Louise Noguchi: the wild, wild west

MARCH 20TH 1-4 P.M. ARTIST TALK

All welcome!!

Gallery 1, 2 + 3

Louise Noguchi’s body of work from the last five years will occupy all three galleries exclusively to create a continuous and in-depth experience. Curated by Jennifer Rudder, the solo exhibition will include videos, photographs and sculptural work that derives from Noguchi’s fascination with the mythology of the Wild West. The five artworks Crack, Study/sketch, document, luvgunrung, Broncos and Bucking Bulls all incorporate a variety of activities associated with the wild west, such as bullwhipping and knife throwing, the reenactment of "shootouts" in historic towns, the melodrama of country music and the creative names given to rodeo riders and their bulls.

Louise Noguchi
Crack, 2000 (video still)
continuous DVD projection with sound
Courtesy of Louise Noguchi and Robert Birch Gallery

Gallery Stratford 2005 hours:

Hours change seasonally.

January to March: Tuesday to Sunday, 1 pm to 4 pm, Saturday 10 am to 4 pm

March to April : Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm    Closed Good Friday

May to September: Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm

September to November : Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm

November to December : Tuesday to Sunday, 1 pm to 4 pm,

December to January, 2006: Closed during Christmas and New Year's

Admission during Winter, Spring, Fall, 2005: Adults $5, Seniors/Students $4, Groups $4,
children under 12 and Gallery Stratford Members are free.

Admission prices may change by exhibition. Call Gallery Stratford for details.

Gallery Stratford gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the City of Stratford, the Ontario Arts Council, the Ministry of Culture for the Province of Ontario, Canada Council for the Arts, PACART, Amazing Clayworks and our many individual members and corporate sponsors.