ArtGallery: 2009-14

Artword Gallery
2014 update: Artword Gallery is no longer in operation. The former exhibition spaces are now a private studio, not open to the public. We continue to display work from our own art collection in Artword Artbar.

2009 statement: “Artword Gallery exhibits curated solo or two-person shows of artists in Hamilton and region. The focus is on fully realized work carried out with commitment and passion, and a strong point of view. The exhibitions run for about a calendar month. On the second Friday of the month, the artists are present from 7 to 10 pm for the James North Art Crawl.”

Exhibitions:

Dave_Gould_Poster_680Dave_Gould_antlerposter1_cFriday October 10, 2014, James North Art Crawl. Musician/sculptor/zany guy Dave Gould, with an installation of his instruments made of bones. And in the bar, Dave will demonstrate and perform on the instruments. The show is called “TO THE BONE” – from Dave Gould’s Audiotorium Collection. Dave explains: “I am inspired to re-purpose objects in unique ways whether it is with my electro-acoustic sculptures/instruments or visual art. It is my hope that people will be inspired to perceive their environments in new ways and find art in everyday life. I am also intrigued by the blurring of lines between what is visual and what is musical which prompts the question, “Is that a musical instrument or a sculpture?” The installation will remain on view for the month of October.

Ellen_Irving_Field_Studies_0012May and June, 2014. New paintings in acrylic on canvas, “Field Studies”, by Ellen Irving. During the summer of 2013 and the winter of 2014, Ellen traveled through the farming communities of southern Ontario and the Gaspe Bay. Fascinated with the patch-work appearance of farm fields, Ellen took pictures and did small sketches. With these as a starting point, she was able to capture on canvas her excitement with the patterns in the various fields.

October 2013, the 3rd Vormittag Biennial Invitational, organized by the artist Irena Vormittag, a founding member of Arcadia Gallery in Toronto and Hamilton Artists Inc. in Hamilton Ontario. These exhibits feature mid-career artists who had been working consistently in the Golden Horseshoe region, artists with a rich history of art making, organizing shows, operating galleries, and being active in the art community. The 2013 participants are Andrew Glinski, Cynthia Hill, Bryce Kanbara, James Latrobe, Samuel Robinson, Irena Vormittag, Julita Wolanska and Robert Yates. Artists present on Art Crawl, Friday October 11, from 7 to 10 pm.

Olivia_Rozema_img4Alicia_Giansante_img22September 12-22, 2013. “Flux”, a group exhibition by Alicia Giansante, Olivia Rozema and Jenn Shamo, all currently completing a degree in Studio Art at McMaster University. The artists will be present during Friday Sept 13 Art Crawl and Saturday Sept 14 Supercrawl. The exhibition includes work by each artist that emphasizes a continued flow, an essential continuance or cycle. Though they use various materials, each artist is concerned with determining the essence of their subject and making it resonate beyond its physical form.
Jenn_Shamo_img9Alicia Giansante, in a series of sculptural mixed media and found art, examines escapism and a suspended moment in time. She draws upon a never-ending stream of consciousness manifested in an iconic falling figure. Olivia Rozema is a sculpture artist who uses found items of both natural and manmade origins; manipulating their forms to reference the womb and the regenerative qualities of the natural world. She seeks to give the human body spiritual agency in the context of the Earth’s natural cycles. Jenn Shamo uses drawing mediums and collage combined three-dimensionally to explore diaristic concepts with improvisational and spontaneous processes. Her organic lines and forms defy special boundaries, recalling continuous and swelling growth.

reed-l_en.jpgcotton-l.jpgMay 2013, The Blues in Black and White, an exhibition of archival photographs by Robert Allison from the glory days of Albert’s Hall, the premier venue in the late 80s for blues musicians passing through Toronto.
Robert wrote in 1989: “I began photographing each act that came to the bar. On Monday I’d shoot, and by Friday I’d have prints to be signed. butterfield-l_en.jpgIt gave me a goal, it gave me a purpose for shooting, but most of all it gave me satisfaction – something that I was interested in and something that I could feel. The management gave me a private gallery, and the bar gave me a captive audience. Thematically I was capturing history in the making. That’s what this collection is. It’s a history of a bar that I’ve worked in for five years, and it’s a history of the musicians that have played there.” (photo top left James Cotton, left lower Paul Butterfield, right Jimmy Reed).

Alicia_Giansante_Falling.jpgEmma_Hale_August24th.jpgApril 2013, a group exhibition of paintings, sculptures, prints and installation work by Alicia GiansanteEmma Hale, Nikkie To and Ianitza Vassileva. These four emerging artists are currently all completing a degree in Studio Art at McMaster University. The exhibition concept revolves around notions of self-perception, alternate realities, ethereality and femininity. The Nikkie_To.jpgartists will Ianitza_Vassileva_Guise_Series.jpgpresent four unique bodies of work that express similar ideas, transforming the space to create an intimate and tranquil atmosphere through the use of lighting and sound. Artists present Friday April 12 Art Crawl, 7 to 10:30 pm.

 

Nicole_Babjak_IMG_0132_650.jpgMarch 2013:Nicole_Babjak_IMG_0125_en650.jpg Nicole Babjak, an emerging artist from Burlington showcases her open-air sketches from around the world. “Windows to the World” is a collection of miniature watercolour and pen & ink drawings featuring locations as Alaska, China, Italy and Croatia that Nicole has travelled to in the past 10 years. Nicole will be present Friday March 8 from 7 to 10pm for the James St. North Art Crawl.

David_Nemeth_SomethingFishyGoingOn.jpgDavid_Nemeth_BrokenE-stringBreakdown.jpgJanuary and February 2013, a two-part drawing show by David Nemeth.The artist will be present for both January 11 and February 8 Art Crawl evenings. David Nemeth recently made his home in Hamilton, the city that inspired him to create his latest series, “Between the Hammer and a Hard Place”, an evocative study of Hamilton’s architecture and the people who reside there, as seen through the eyes of the artist.

November-December 2012: Canadian landscapes from the Artword private collection.

Months of September and October 2012, LindaJoyceOtt_valueofalife.jpgLindaJoyceOtt_LIFEMUTATES.jpg Linda Joyce Ott, new paintings and mixed media works: Dancing Around the Void.
In these intriguing works, Linda explores those moments of luminosity that hover between life and death, being and non-being, meaning and ambiguity. Show held over through October.
Artist present Friday September 14 and Friday October 12 for Art Crawl.

Miranda_Black_II.jpgMay 2012, paintings by Miranda Black, with prints by Meiko Ando.  Miranda Black (image left) writes “As a visionary artist my goal is to use the light of creativity and imagination to envision our world as a planet of health and spiritual wealth.”

Leah Boyd_016_enc650.jpgApril 2012, Leah Boyd exhibits sculpture, drawings, prints and collage. The exhibit is a collection of Leah’s work from her last two years as a student until now. Leah meticulously pieces together fragments of sculpture, drawing, printmaking, textile and found objects in order to replicate her own personal feelings of tension and anxiety. Leah is a recent graduate of McMaster Fine Arts and Art History program.

Kamocki-Allaby image12.jpgBigda_Artbar_650.jpgMarch 2012, “Hybrids & Counterparts“, an exhibition of ceramic sculptures by three McMaster art students: Jessica Bigda, Morgan Kamocki Allaby, and Paige Woodhouse. The sculptures have in common an exploration, through the physicality of clay, of hybrid anatomies that are part human, part animal.

Ellen_Irving_0014c_650.jpgFebruary 2012, Martin_Peckham_0004c_650.JPGEllen Irving has incorporated childhood loves of maps, hardware , painting and wood to her most recent works. Taking the scale bar from maps used to measure distance, she is using sculpture, drawings and paintings to explore the distance she has travelled in her personal life…
Martin Peckham will be showing his illuminated glass sculptures in the installation room. Having spent years collecting beach glass from the shores of Lake Erie he has now found a brilliant way to display them.

Hamilton_Toy_Museum_THTM.jpgStudioBabette_Pierrot.jpgDecember 2011.  A display of published illustration pieces from comics, toys and children’s books from the Hamilton Toy Museum, coordinated by Chris and Shannon Weston. http://www.thtm.ca/StudioBabette_countrygirl.jpg
In the installation gallery, a display of marionettes and puppets from the collection of Marie Franek and Studio Babette (examples right), in conjunction with Studio Babette’s performances of their puppet play Pulcinella, il Cameriere (Pulcinella, the Waiter).

October 2011: Three-person show, “Reality is not what it seems”: Paintings by Ratticus, Sallow Crow and Steven Adrian Jeffrey.

parsons189_mapPlanB_650.jpgparsons179_adc.jpgSeptember: Bruce Parsons and his PLAN B [PARADISE HOMES]. Bruce will be present Friday Sept 9 for James North Art Crawl from 7 to 10 pm and Sunday Sept 18 for Open Streets Festival for the afternoon.
#1: An installation, WORKING PLAN B FOR PALESTINE / ISRAEL with large painted floor and wall maps and panoptic shield constructions.
#2: in the large studio, LABYRINTH MAP PAINTINGS on canvas and bamboo constructions. The images are from satellite cameras. These city planner designs of gated communities are exclusive developments in Ontario and Palestine/ Israel , Vaughan and Ma’ale Adumim.

July and August 2011: Art from Mozambique, curated by Filimone Mabjaia, including batik wall hangings and fine wood handicrafts.

Yates_easteden_en.jpgMay 4 to 29, 2011:  The 2nd “Vormittag Biennial Invitational”, a group show of Toronto and Hamilton artists, at Arcadia Gallery in Toronto in April and at Artword Gallery in May. The concept of the Vormittag Biennial Invitational began in 2009 as a group show organized by the artist Irena Vormittag, a founding member of Arcadia Gallery in Toronto and Hamilton Artists Inc. in Hamilton Ontario. The artists for the 2011 show are: Fran Freeman, Andrew Glinski, Cynthia Hill, Bryce Kanbara, Ratticus, Samuel Robinson, Irena Vormittag, Bob Yates. Artists present for James North Art Crawl Friday May 13 from 7 – 11 pm

ExplodingFurniture_EllenIrving_2517_enc_650.jpgExplodingFurniture_EllenIrving_2515_enc650.jpgApril 1 to 30, 2011: Ellen Irving “Exploding Furniture”, new drawings and an installation by the inventive and delightfully unpredictable Hamilton artist. Left: “When the table stopped taking anti-depressants”. Right: “This is the chair starting back on anti-depressants”.
Artist present for James North Art Crawl Friday April 8 from 7 to 10 pm.

March 3 to 27, 2011:
Janice Peshke, handmade jewelry exhibition by the lith2_1_en.jpgwell-known Hamilton jewelry maker and instructor, in the installation gallery.
Judith Sandiford, three selections from her large-scale paintings and drawings based on physics and cosmology, from her decade as a visual artist before she became a theatre designer. On exhibit two multi-panel paintings in acrylic on canvas, “Ring Nebula” and “Omega”, and “Fluctuations Triptych #2”, a large drawing.

Through February 2011, a two part exhibition and installation:
Andrea_Liss_dress1_650.jpgAndrea_Liss_dress2_650en.jpgAndrea Liss *The Art of the Dress* is a vintage clothing installation of high fashion and department store party dresses from the 1950s to 1980s, curated by collector Andrea Liss,  inspired by the smoky romance of the femme fatale. Curator present: Fri Feb 11 (James North Art Crawl) 7 to 10 pm, Sat Feb 12 from 2 to 6 pm.
Mark_Korczysnki_1_800.jpgMark Korczysnki
creates everyday objects and ornamental items out of  forged metal. He is an artist blacksmith trained in the traditional method working out of his Sherman Street North studio, “metalmorphosis”. His exhibit features 10 art pieces — photographs with hand forged frames and hand cut mats.

RogerFerreira_LockeStreet.jpgRoger and Kareem Ferreira, a two-part exhibition
December 1-12, 2010, PART ONE
January 14-30, 2011: PART TWO
Roger Ferreira, paintings of Hamilton, and Kareem Ferreira, paintings and sculpture of steel-drum players. Kareem Ferreira is RogerFerreira_SabawoonMarket.jpga 4th year student at McMaster in the Fine Art Department. He was born and grew up in Canada but his explorations and subject matter have usually come from the Caribbean, while his father Roger, who grew up in Trinidad, has been exploring Hamilton.  Website icanandiwill.ca

Ellen_Irving_3074_Bare_Bear.jpgNovember 4-28: Ellen Irving, a Hamilton-based artist, with a new series of paintings “Homonyms”, based on words with the same sound and different meanings. Also on view, her “Canoe” series of paintings.
Artist present for Art Crawl Friday November 12 from 7-10 pm.

Glinski_3wrappedfirs.jpgOctober 2-31: Andrew Glinski, “Covered”, paintings and drawings
of “cocooned” landscaping in an industrial environment.
Reception Sat Oct 2 from 4-7 pm.

MeikoAndo_SpiritoftheLake_15x20cm_600.jpgSept 1-30, 2010: Meiko Ando, “The Odradek Prints”, block prints, created as a collaboration with Odradek, a trio of multi-instrumentalists. Meiko Ando will be present during Art Crawl Friday September 10, and will perform improvised dance with Odradek trio as a post-crawl performance.

morgand.gifAugust 5 to 29, 2010: Doug Carter, drawings and paintings, in conjunction with the launch of his memoir Cool Fool: Blues rockin’ in the Hammer. Artist present for Friday Aug 13 Art Crawl 7-10 pm, and
Saturday August 14, 7:30 pm, book launch and performance.

 Holly_Briesmaster_Green_City_800.jpgJanice_Jackson_Landsweep_2620a_650.jpgJuly 2 to August 1, 2010: “Arcangles”, Holly Briesmaster and Janice Jackson a two-person collaborative exhibition of fans and constructions that explores the arc form.
Friday July 9, artists present 7-10 pm for Art Crawl
Sunday July 18, 2 to 5 pm, reception and poetry reading, artists present.

LindaJoyceOtt_Autoparts14.jpgD_P6260409_650.jpgJune 3-27, 2010: Main Gallery, Linda Joyce Ott “Auto Parts: Photo Art Portfolio and Exhibition” Celebrating a pedestrian€™s vision of the abstract beauty of vintage cars.
Small Gallery: “Nautical Nursery Rhymes”, an installation by Karijn deJong (photo right)
Opening reception with the artists Friday June 11 from 7 to 10 pm

John_Williams_Springhill_Rays2_600.jpgMay 6-30: John Williams, “Stuff They Don’t Tell You”,
political cartoons with a labour and social justice viewpoint
by Toronto cartoonist and artist John Williams
from his ongoing history series “From Out of Our Past: Stuff They Don’t Tell You”.
Opening with the artist Friday May 14 from 7 to 10 pm.
Also cartoons by Hamilton’s iconic political cartoonist the late Roy Carless.

Gilda_Mekler_watercolour_800.jpgApril 1 – May 2: Gilda Mekler: “Meditations and Landscapes”
an exhibition of paintings on paper
in watercolour, ink, and gouache by the late Gilda Mekler,
curated by James Deahl and Judith Sandiford
Opening with the curators Sunday April 11 from 2-5 pm

Mar 4-28: Tadek Sobierajski,Tadek_Sobierajski_08634_640.jpg
new paintings and drawings
Sat Mar 6, 2-5 pm: opening with the artist
Fri Mar 12, 7-10 pm: James North Art Crawl, artist present
Sat Mar 20, 3 pm: artist talk in the gallery

KristianNesbitt_Untitled53_700.jpgJan 21-Feb 28: Kristian Nesbitt,
“Starting Over” an exhibition of layered monoprints,
Sat Jan 23,  2 -5 pm: opening with the artist
Fri Feb 12, 7-10 pm: James North Art Crawl, artist present
Sat Feb 20, 3 pm: artist talk in the gallery

EllenIrving_Howtostartafireintherain.jpg2009: Dec 5-31: Ellen Irving,
“Travelling with Research Consultants” paintings (Part 1)
opening with the artist Sat Dec 5 from 2 to 5 pm
2010: Jan 8-17: Ellen Irving (Part 2)

Paxton_HOME_MOVIES.jpgNov 5-30: Maureen Paxton,
paintings of the figure
opening with the artist, Nov 6 from 5 to 7 pm

day_20of_20the_20living_600.jpg2009: Oct 3-31: Steven McCabe, paintings,
“The Sandinista Series”
paintings and mixed media

 

Artword Gallery in Hamilton:

Artword1edited__DavidStephanieRomanello_700.jpgSeptember 8, 2009: Curator Judith Sandiford is pleased to announce that Artword Gallery, formerly active in Toronto from 1993 to 2006, has resurfaced in Hamilton after a three-year hiatus. She and partner Ronald Weihs have recently purchased a neighbourhood bar in the James North arts district of Hamilton, at 15 Colbourne Street. They are reconfiguring the space into an arts hub, with live music and performance, art on the walls and a gallery in the lower level.
[photo Sept 11 Arts Crawl: Stephanie and David Romanello view Sandiford painting]

History of Artword Gallery

From 1993 to 2006, Judith Sandiford and Ronald Weihs operated an exhibition space for visual art in conjunction with their theatre facility, Artword Theatre, in downtown Toronto. During this period Artword Gallery mounted over 50 exhibitions of noted Canadian artists, including Andrew Glinski, Bruce Parsons, Claude Breeze (C. Herbert), Tim Noonan, Katja Jacobs, Eric Ladelpha, Debbie O’Rourke, Peter Harris and Judith Sandiford, as well as a number of group shows. Artword also presented six major exhibits of paintings and drawings by distinguished painter and author Barbara Caruso.

The previous incarnation of Artword Gallery (in Toronto): http://www.artword.net/website/Gallery/artword_gallery.htm

From 1989 to 1993 Sandiford and Weihs edited and published Artword Artist’s Forum, a quarterly magazine by and for artists, and also wrote a regular column “Gallery Walkabout”, mini-reviews of the current art shows in Toronto.