Lecture Series: Art & Ideas
Artist Talk with Susan Dobson
July 8th, 2021 at 7:00PM
Hosted Virtually via Zoom | Registration Required
The exhibition Focus Finder features photographs of Lake Huron that are visually interrupted by the viewfinders of cameras. Artist Susan Dobson discusses how her work aims to operate not just as transcription, but also as metaphor and poetry, framed within the anxiety of the present moment.
Susan Dobson has been photographing urban and rural landscapes for more than twenty years, and in recent years has expressly become interested in the ontological, technological, and material aspects of the photographic medium. Dobson’s photographs have been exhibited internationally at galleries and festivals, including CONTACT (Toronto, Canada), Fotoseptiembre (Mexico City, Mexico), Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal (Montreal, Canada), Images Festival (Vevey, Switzerland), Bitume/Bitumen (Brussels, Belgium), and Fotonoviembre (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain). Dobson’s photographs can be found in numerous collections across the world, including in Canada (National Gallery of Canada, Oakville Galleries, Toronto Archives, Art Gallery of Windsor); Switzerland (Musée suisse de l'appareil photographique); Spain (Tenerife
Espacio de las Artes); and the United States (Portland Art Museum). Susan Dobson lives in Guelph, Ontario, where she is a professor at the University of Guelph.
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Artist Talk with Lee Henderson
July 15th, 2021 at 7:00 PM
Hosted Virtually via Zoom | Registration Required
An Abridged Sonic History of Global Conflict questions the intentions behind (and subsequent effects of) band names that use war-related themes and vocabulary. Join artist Lee Henderson for an in depth conversation about the exhibition and where his art practice is heading.
Lee Henderson is a contemporary artist whose practice includes video, photography, installation, sculpture, performance, and text. His work moves in constant contemplation of death, in senses grand and minute, somewhere between the persistence of collective histories and the brevity of individual lives. Henderson has studied art in Canada and Germany, holding a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design (2003) and an MFA from the University of Regina (2005). Recent and upcoming projects include the CONTACT Feature Exhibition To Step From Shadow Into the Warmth of the Sun at Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography (Toronto, 2018); A Hand That Points Aligns the Air at Open Studio (Toronto, 2017); and solo exhibitions at The Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery (Sarnia, 2020), Gallery 101 (Ottawa, 2018), and Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture (Edmonton, 2016). Henderson represented Canada as the 2017 Glenfiddich Artist in Residence, and is a winner of the Gattuso Prize for his 2016 CONTACT exhibition Never Letting Us Take Breath. He teaches photography and new media at two Toronto universities, OCAD and Ryerson.
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Enter Astral Island for Imaginary Wednesdays
July 28th 2021 at 7:00 PM
Hosted Virtually via Zoom | Registration Required
On Wednesday, July 28 @ 7PM the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery will celebrate the release of the exhibition publication To the Unseen Future*. Join us online for a live discussion between artist James Kirkpatrick (Thesis Sahib) and rap legend Jesse Dangerously as the duo discuss Kirkpatrick’s artistic career. This evening will feature a musical performance and be simulcast on Twitch.
To the Unseen Future was an exhibition of James Kirkpatrick’s art work that opened at the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery in 2018 and travelled to the Robert McLaughlin Gallery.
About James Kirkpatrick:
Emerging from London, Ontario, a city whose cultural scene has long been informed by regionalism, Kirkpatrick naturally reflected on what was directly in front of him in terms of subject matter and materials.
Well known for his participation in the early Canadian graffiti movement and as avant-garde hip hop artist Thesis Sahib, Kirkpatrick works in a variety of media including, drawing, painting, sound sculptures, murals, zines, comics, and mask-making. His paintings and sculptures incorporate, kinetic and auditory elements, as he combines his 2D aesthetic with altered electronic toys. Likewise, compositions written on modified Gameboys and circuit-bent sounds have become part of his music and on-stage performances as Thesis Sahib and the European/Canadian band AWARDS.
A graduate of the Nova Scotia college of Art and Design, Kirkpatrick’s music and visual art pursuits have taken him across North America, Europe, Asia and beyond. He joins a long tradition of artists whose art making is entwined with an exploration of everyday life and a search to understand our place in the world.
About Jesse Dangerously:
Jesse McDonald, better known by his stage name Jesse Dangerously, or The Halifax Rap Legend, is an alternative hip hop artist from Halifax, Nova Scotia and operating out of Ottawa, Ontario. Dangerously has released solo projects, provided guest vocals for other local artists, hosted a weekly radio show, written a weekly column, and produced beats for other musicians. He is a member of the Backburner crew.
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Publication available for purchase on July 28th. Free shipping within Ontario, some exclusions may apply
Back in Judy's Jungle
August 5th, 2021 at 7:00PM
Hosted Virtually via Zoom | Registration Required
Tune in for a live broadcast, where Lee Henderson will spin a chronology of military-themed punk, metal, and glam rock in conjunction with his exhibition An Abridged Sonic History of Global Conflict.
Lee Henderson is a contemporary artist whose practice includes video, photography, installation, sculpture, performance, and text. His work moves in constant contemplation of death, in senses grand and minute, somewhere between the persistence of collective histories and the brevity of individual lives. Henderson has studied art in Canada and Germany, holding a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design (2003) and an MFA from the University of Regina (2005). Recent and upcoming projects include the CONTACT Feature Exhibition To Step From Shadow Into the Warmth of the Sun at Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography (Toronto, 2018); A Hand That Points Aligns the Air at Open Studio (Toronto, 2017); and solo exhibitions at The Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery (Sarnia, 2020), Gallery 101 (Ottawa, 2018), and Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture (Edmonton, 2016). Henderson represented Canada as the 2017 Glenfiddich Artist in Residence, and is a winner of the Gattuso Prize for his 2016 CONTACT exhibition Never Letting Us Take Breath. He teaches photography and new media at two Toronto universities, OCAD and Ryerson.