Untitled is a publication of the Union Gallery and is published each April, August, and December. Direct inquiries and contributions can be made to Union Gallery 613-533-3171 or ugallery@queensu.ca

April 2012 Newsletter
A Word From the Director, Jocelyn Purdie

Exhibition Reviews
A Colourful Kind of Imagination, Sierra Megas
In the Grain: A Review, Molly Kubes

Open Forum
Public Art: Plinth Commission, Kathryn Poy
Colette Urban's Visit to Queen's, Julie Hollenbach

Announcements
Thank You to Gallery Attendants
Cézanne’s Closet
Call for Submissions

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A Word From the Director
Jocelyn Purdie

As we head into spring it is important to take a look back and highlight a few of our key events over the year. In addition to the many excellent exhibitions and artist talks throughout the year, we had some new programming in the winter that included several co-presentations and collaborations with other groups such as cultural studies, corridor culture collective, and the fine art programme. We worked with Masters student Erin Sutherland to present two performances by aboriginal artists Terrance Houle and Adrian Stimson, which resulted in record audience numbers. As well Koerner visiting artist David Urban and Newfoundland artist Colette Urban were invited to be guest responders at student art talks in February and March. We also facilitated an event with Barbara Meneley for Winnipeg artist Leah Decter, which included a participatory quilt-making workshop in the sculpture court area outside the gallery during which passers were invited to participate for an afternoon. We also launched our new website this past fall so please feel free to drop us a line with any comments.

In January Christine Dewancker was hired to coordinate a project-based off site project and mentorship titled “Transit Pass” for student artists. This is a 6-month program during which time students will work with mentor and practising artist Julie Fiala to develop their work that will culminate in several site-related projects throughout the city in late September.

I want to once again thank all our Cézanne’s Closet donors and ticket buyers because your support is so important to us. And, don’t forget our online giving link on our website for those who want to keep on giving.
And, guess what? The Union Gallery is fast approaching its 20th anniversary in the fall of 2014. We are in the process of making plans for events and celebrations so if you have any suggestions, please send to ugallery@queensu.ca

Finally, thank you to our current Board of Directors and welcome to the new Board members. Members leaving this year include Laura Palma (communications) who will be replaced by Peter Green, Nicole Schembre (secretary) who will be replaced by Allison Vrbana, Ainsley Johnston (development) who will be replaced by Amanda Thackway and Maggie Zeng (Treasurer) who will be replaced by Chumeng Weng. I would like to specifically acknowledge Kaisa Moran who stepped up to fill in as President two years ago. Her enthusiasm and positive attitude were a welcome addition to the Board and most appreciated.

___Reviews

A Colourful Kind of Imagination, Sierra Megas

Phoebe Cohoe’s brightly coloured pieces, along with the work of Kaisa Moran, were on display at the Union Gallery as part of the Main Space exhibit during February and March. The exhibit, titled From the Tablet of My Memory, explores how personal and collective memory function to reconstitute one’s relationship to the past. On a foggy Friday in March Phoebe and I discuss the techniques and thoughts that went into her work.

In the best kind of careless manner, a number of circles, some overlapping, seem to float on the gallery wall. Cohoe says she has come to enjoy circles as a compositional solution. “I started cutting things into circles last year,” Cohoe explains, “I would have drawings that I didn’t really like, so I would cut out parts of them that were working.” In some circles, Cohoe has hand stitched the outlines of young girls playing. One girl leans back, arms outstretched, with windswept hair, while another sits, her gaze cast downwards, as if contemplating something on the ground. The hand stitching was time consuming with each girl taking about two hours to complete. Cohoe’s work is also infused with a range of colours. “I like the way colours interact. It feels like they have conversations,” she tells me.

The idea for the pieces evolved out of Cohoe’s previous work. “I started noticing a theme of creativity and imagination, and a very child-like kind of play in the pieces I was making,” Cohoe says of kind of work she produced last year. This exhibit solidified those themes into something more substantial. Cohoe is interested in how, in childhood, there is a willingness to be creative without the fear of barriers. “In these pieces memory is working to try to revive some of the ideas that existed in childhood,” Cohoe explains. Her work asks its viewer to reconsider his or her relationship to imagination, to push the boundaries of our thoughts, and lift like a kite dance.

Sierra Megas is a fourth year English Major and Film & Media Studies Minor.

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In the Grain: A Review, Molly Kubes

Fourth year Queen’s Fine Art student Anya Mielniczeck recently presented a unique exhbition, titled In the Grain at the Union Gallery. For the exhibit, the artist hand crafted thirty longboard decks; objects similar to skateboard decks but elongated. Longboard culture was originally developed in Hawaii as a form of urban surfing. In fact, due to its cruising nature longboarding was first called “sidewalk surfing”. Longboard decks are typically made out of plywood with trucks and wheels slightly bigger than a skateboard meant for downhill skating. This type of activity is especially popular with students because of the easy ride, and the convenience when it comes to arriving to class on time.

The artist came up with the work for this exhibition because she wanted to incorporate ideas about the environment and sustainable living into her artistic practice. She does this by being aware the materials she uses, by recycling all her cut off wood and grip tape, and by using water-based varnish. Longboards are beneficial for the environment because they are a vehicle of transportation that uses manpower versus oil. These ideas reflect on our society today and the consumer culture that we are surrounded by in our everyday lives.

Mielniczeck tackles the idea of low art versus high art by creating something artistic that is also functional. Each set of boards has a unique design and each set is different. She uses pencil for illustration of distorted faces and endangered species, abstract painting designs, and a wood-burning tool to create symbols from pop culture. She states, “their meaning only changes in the way in which the piece itself can be consumed.”

The artist’s plans for the future are to keep producing art, exploring wood as a surface and keeping conscious/green art as a part of her practice. Her work creatively relates to the youth of our culture and by doing so brings light to important issues such as caring for our environment and sustainable living. Be sure to check out this exhbition which has been re mounted at the Artel from March 22nd to April 8th 2012!

Molly Kubes is a third year Art History Major and Advertising Chair of Cezanne’s Closet.

__Open Forum

Public Art: Plinth Commission, Kathryn Poy

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset’s Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 was recently unveiled on the fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. The 4.1 meter high golden bronze sculpture is of a young boy on a rocking horse. He leans backwards with his arm in the air; just how a young boy would pretend he is a cowboy on a merry-go-round. This reinvention of an equestrian monument for political propaganda wants to be controversial in Trafalgar Square, which was dedicated to honouring Lord Nelson and the victory of the Battle of Trafalgar. Harkening back to the Roman Empire, viewers are reminded of the bronze statues of orators on horseback in the middle of a palazzo, glorifying the ideal form of man and animal.

Since 1841, the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square remained empty due to a lack of funding for a permanent equestrian statue. In 1998, the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) commissioned three contemporary artists to temporarily display contemporary sculpture on the plinth. Because of its success and demand from the government, the Mayor of London decided to back the “Fourth Plinth Programme” to continue this promotion of contemporary sculpture. Artists are commissioned to make a piece of work to be on display for eighteen months. These site-specific commissions have changed how the public interacts with Trafalgar Square and how contemporary artists interpret the political and historical significance of the square.

Public art is always controversial, and the public either loves it or hates it. To put temporary sculptures in a major landmark was a risk the city of London took, but it proves to be successful each time. This program is so successful that The Art Fund, a national charity, is raising money for the recent sculpture, Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare, so it can be on display outside the National Maritime Museum. This national love for this artwork shows the growing acceptance for public, contemporary art.
Elmgreen and Dragset’s simplistic rendering of the classic children’s rocking horse brings back nostalgia of life before the digital age, and of what the plinth was supposed to host: an equestrian statue. At first glance, the young boy reminded me of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan: innocent, carefree and forever young. Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 is playful and cheeky, and I love it. It will catch the eyes and hearts of the old and the young, and everyone else in between.

Kathryn Poy is a recent graduate of the BFA program and is currently studying a MA in Art Business in London, England.

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Colette Urban's Visit to Queen's (February 7-9, 2012), Julie Hollenbach

Newfoundland artist Colette Urban’s visit could not have come at a more appropriate time than in the depths of dreary February. I was feeling the emotional exhaustion of post-Christmas burn out and mid-semester wear and tear more acutely than years previous. The artist brought with her freshness and optimism. I felt heartened after her three day visit, during which time she spoke at the Ban Righ Centre about the creative centre Full Tilt in McIvers Newfoundland, gave an artist talk in the Dunning Auditorium, participated in a panel discussion for the Cultural Studies Speaks Sessions, and performed Hoot at the screening of Pretend Not to See Me (a film which documented the evolution of Colette’s performance art).

A common thread throughout the events was the idea of sustainability. In the literal sense, the necessity of having an organic farm as an aspect of Full Tilt in a place like Newfoundland where conditions for farming are harsh, and fresh produce reaches ‘The Rock’ via long boat journeys from faraway places (rendering ‘fresh’ produce no longer fresh). And in a more abstract sense, how artists, who practice in a competitive market faced with complex pressures, can fuel and sustain artistic practices and remain connected to authentic forms of community.

Many of Urban’s past performance pieces that were revisited during her stay comment on how we actively live in our world, participate in our communities, embody our experiences, and create our culture. It’s inspiring to see someone honestly say “This is my dream!” and succeed in manifesting it. Full Tilt is still developing, the organic farm and the WWOOF-ing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) community attached to it is still growing bigger and bigger, and the artist residency program is picking up speed. But seeing pictures and hearing the artist talk about the journey of making it happen, the act of creating this alternative creative space seems like a performance in itself. You often hear it said about artists that their art is their life; perhaps what I’ll take away most from Colette’s visit is how much her life is her art.

Julie Hollenbach is a second year MA in Art History student at Queen’s.

__Announcements


A Special Thanks to all of the Gallery Attendants
this term who volunteered their time each week.
Chumeng Weng . Allison Vrbanac . Alayna Jay . Tina Maio . Kayla Glasser . Harrison Ritz . Christine P’ng . Sarah McGall . Molly Kubes . Marie Gerencser . Amanda Thackway . Michelle Bouchard . Jo Minhinneti . Camilo Guevara . Laura Hashimoto

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Thank you to all artists, ticket buyers, volunteers, and sponsors who helped make our annual fundraiser Cézanne’s Closet another success!

___Call for Submissions

The Union Gallery provides a venue for the presentation of contemporary art, encouraging original, collaborative and experimental ideas.

MAIN GALLERY The deadlines for submissions are March 15th and Nov 15th of each year. Proposals from student artists, graduates and professionals will be accepted throughout the year and reviewed after each deadline.

PROJECT ROOM The project room is a 16’x10’x16’ self-contained space located inside the main gallery. It is a venue for use by students and professional artists to present primarily installation, new media and time and sound-based works though other proposals will be considered.

Proposals will be accepted anytime and reviewed after each deadline.

Exhibitions will be programmed at least 3 months in advance and deadlines for submissions will be Sept 15th, Nov 15th, March 15th and July 15th.