CRAFT ONTARIO '19: BIENNIAL JURIED MEMBER EXHIBITION: September 5 - October 12, 2019

September 5 - October 12, 2019 
Reception: September 5, 2019 from 6-9pm 
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen St West, Toronto

Craft Ontario ’19 surveys the work of members across the province, and presents the very best of contemporary craft.

The exhibition includes work from each of the core regions of the province, with four exhibitors selected by the jury to be recognized with awards for Best in the North, East, Southwest, and Central Ontario.

Award Recipients:
Best in Central Ontario - Amanda Rataj
Best in Northern Ontario - Judy Martin
Best in Eastern Ontario -  Lindsay MacDonald
Best in South-Western Ontario - Tammy McClennan

Craft Ontario ’19 jurors: Annie Tung, David Kaye, and Susan Jefferies.

See the Exhibition Catalogue

Image credit: Tidal Pendant by Lindsay MacDonald

THE BODY HAS REASONS WHICH REASON KNOWS NOT OF: April 11 – May 12, 2019

April 11 - May 12, 2019
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen St West, Toronto

Working with clay actively engages the body. The artists in this exhibition trust that their lived experiences, stories, and skills are indwelled in the muscles used to make their work.

Each of the artists in this exhibition took part in the Muscle Memory International Ceramic Symposium & Residency, which was programmed and founded by Mimi Kokai in collaboration with the International Ceramic Studio (ICS) in Kecskemet, Hungary and took place in both 2017 and 2018.

Experiences of injury and recuperation informed the theme to the Muscle Memory symposium. One of the purposes of the residency is to demonstrate the power and the skill of artists with disabilities.

During each of the residencies the artists became a strongly knit community. Many of the artists have noted the mentorship, and guidance they received from their fellow participants. It is remarkable to imagine the strength and trust that was built and cultivated not just within their own bodies as they worked with clay, but also with each other.

All of the works explore various themes surrounding tacit knowledge, and the body’s ability to bounce back, grow, resist, and remember.

ARTISTS:

ANDREA PILLER
ANEELA DIAS-D'SOUSA
ANNIKA HOEFS
BERNADETTE PRATT
CATHERINE JONES
GRACIA ISABEL GÓMEZ CANTOYA
HEIDI MCKENZIE
LESLEY MCINALLY
LISA WALTER
MARY MCKENZIE
MIMI KOKAI
SUSAN LOW-BEER

*The title of this exhibition was inspired by the title of Mari Sorri’s seminal article The Body Has Reasons: Tacit Knowing in Thinking and Making, which was inspired by Blaise Pascal who wrote “the heart has reasons which reason knows not of”.

Mari Sorri, The Body Has Reasons: Tacit Knowing in Thinking and Making
Journal of Aesthetic Education
Vol. 28, No. 2 (Summer, 1994), pp. 15-26 (12 pages)
Published by: University of Illinois Press

Image credit: Float by Annika Hoefs

Housewarming: January 19 - March 2, 2019

January 19 - March 2, 2019 
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen St West, Toronto

Juried by: Suzanne Morrisette, Susan Fohr, and Sajdeep Soomal

Housewarming explores the idea of home through objects that make references to habitational spaces, activated through the routines of day-to-day life.

Works in this exhibition range from functional to representational forms, and many share a relationship to the body through suggestions of sustenance and care. Other works may problematize the idea of the home, gesturing instead towards a subversion of stereotypical images, questioning whether or not these are always welcoming spaces.

All of the work in the exhibition shows a skillful deployment of materials in ways that speak to varied and complex relationships with the idea of home.

ARTISTS:

AMANDA MCCAVOUR
ANDREAS KRÄTSCHMER
CHIHO TOKITA
ELYCIA SFA
HOLLY FEDIDA & CHRISTOPHER MENDOZA
NICHOLAS HAMILTON HOLMES
JUDY MARTIN
LAURA PITKANEN
MATTHEW MCINTYRE
MICAH ADAMS
QUEENIE XU
RACHAEL WONG
WANXING WANG
VANESSA DION FLETCHER

 Image credit: Rug by Micah Adams