You’re invited to attend the opening of City Decoding.

This exhibition features the work of Raymond Aubin, Manon Francoeur, and Raymond Savard.

City Decoding offers three unique perspectives on the meaning and the mystery of the city.

To see the images, click here.

On Thursday, September 9th, from 6:00 to 8:00PM, please join us for the opening of this illuminating exhibition.

An Exposure Gallery Vernissage is an evening of fine art, fine people, and fine conversation. Carrie, Sheila, and I hope to see you there!

Déjà Vu: A Discussion!
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010.
7:00 – 7:45PM.

Karina’s exhibition is beautiful and thought-provoking. We’d love to hear what you think of it.
What does her work mean to you? How does it make you feel? Why do you love it? We want to know!

On Tuesday, August 31st, Carrie and I will lead a casual and friendly discussion about the exhibition. Karina will also be there to take part and answer your questions.

Seating is very limited. If you would like to attend, RSVPs are essential.

Please RSVP by email or by phone at 613-608-3096.

And if you haven’t seen the work yet, you’re missing out.

To view the work on-line, click here.

Don Monet, Curator of Cube Gallery, writes, “Kraenzle is producing thoughtful, complicated but always compelling art. Karina somehow manages to break down the beauty industry by producing eerily beautiful works from their detritus.”

Below is one of Kraenzle’s beautiful works. It captured a lot of attention during August’s “1st Thursdays” Art Walk.

Click the image to make it larger.

For me, there’s an air of mystery in this photo.

Who is this beautiful woman? Is she peering in on someone or is she peaking out of a hiding spot? Is she emerging from the shadows or retreating into them ? Is she some kind of spirit materializing before our very eyes? Or is she disappearing?

When you look at this stunning picture, how does it make you feel? What do you see? In what way does it make you “see again”? And like any other déjà vu, is the new vision real or unreal?

I’d love to read what you think! Please comment below.

This Thursday, August 5th is a great opportunity to see this beautiful and thoughtful exhibition.

It’s Wellington West’s 1st Thursday Art Walk!

Inspired by “1st Thursdays” in New York and across the globe, Ottawaʼs finest Wellington West art galleries, including Exposure Gallery, stay open to 9PM on the first Thursday of every month.

Because the galleries are within a few blocks of each other, Ottawa art lovers can easily stroll from gallery to gallery and enjoy the world-class art work on display.

Carrie and I will be in the gallery from 5PM – 9PM. Drop by!

Karina (left) and Carrie (right) chat before the opening

“Karina’s work is dramatic and visually seductive, even as it asks us to turn a critical eye to images of beauty in advertising,” says Carrie, our curator. “It’s compelling and rewarding work.”

Barbara Brockmann, who attended Thursday’s opening, writes in our gallery book: “The pieces are so thought provoking and clever! I really enjoyed the show. Congratulations!”

The exhibition consists of two distinct but related series of photographs, both of which examine print advertising and its pervasive use of the female image.

On the night, we sold two works from “Beauty Marks”, a series in progress which employs cuts and marks to refocus the viewer’s gaze on the relentless use of the female image in advertising.

To increase their size, click the images.

I expect these beautiful and thought-provoking limited editions to sell out very quickly.

From the “Déjà Vu” series, which exists at the crossroads of photography and sculpture, two works garnered a lot of attention.

To increase their size, click the images.

The striking images from this series are printed on the back of acrylic sheets and bolted to wooden boards. Only three will ever be made! You’ll be proud to have this unique and beautiful work in your home and to discuss it for years to come.

Fine art, fine people, fine conversation.

Were you able to attend the opening? Please let us know what you think of the work in the comments section below!

I’m often compelled by art that mixes beauty with a slightly disturbing darkness—which is precisely why Karina Kraenzle has long been one of my local favorites. Her manipulated photos are a deliberate re-casting of the inherent beauty in an image, a re-casting that is at once freeing, deepening, and a little bit freaky.

To read the full article, click here.

Kraenzle’s ultimate goal is “to refocus the gaze on the undeniable relentlessness—and more questionable banality—of the ‘female’ image in advertising.” The “slightly disturbing darkness” of her work emerges, I think, precisely because she subverts an image of ‘female’ so commonly associated with beauty.

What is your impression of the ‘female’ image in advertising? Does Kraenzle’s work refocus your gaze on this image? To what effect?

I’d love to hear what you think in the comments section below.

Kraenzle’s exhibition, Déjà Vu, opens Thursday at 6PM. I hope to see you there!

To learn more about the opening, click here.

Consider these three powerful photographs from The SPAO Motto Exhibition:

About them, Laurence Butet Roch, the artist, writes:

These photographs are part of the series “The Last Mine”. It documents the daily realities and concerns of the workers of the last operating Canadian asbestos mine, the Black Lake Operation, located in Thetford Mines, Quebec. It also explores how the asbestos mining industry has shaped the town, its natural landscape, and the mentalities of its residents.

A visit to Thetford Mines leaves one baffled. One can hardly ever get used to the sight of the lunar tailings,  the abandoned mining installations spread all over the town, or the scale of the asbestos mining operation at Black Lake, without thinking of the consequences of this industry on health. However, many of the residents, especially those working for the asbestos industry, speak of this unorthodox landscape with fondness. After all, they are the visual traces of a long history — one that is responsible for the livelihoods of many generations.

Despite asbestos bad reputation here and abroad, it is difficult to remain indifferent to the human aspect of this controversy. The current miners at the Black Lake Operation fear the repercussions that a closure would have on their financial situation and emotional state. Gilles, who has been working in the industry for the past 33 years worries: “the repercussions [of the closure of the Black Lake Operation] would not only be financial. The people that have built this industry, they built it with their hearts and their souls. A little bit of that would be lost too.”

Suddenly, the debate surrounding the asbestos industry becomes more complex and part of a larger discussion: how can we support Canadian workers while maintaining an ethical commercial policy?

Roch’s work is powerful, striking, and beautiful.

Does it compel you to reconsider your position on the asbestos industry?

Do you think it’s appropriate to consider an ethical question from an aesthetic perspective?

Please let me know what you think in the comments section below!

You’re invited to attend the opening of Karina Kraenzle’s Déjà Vu.

This beautiful and thought-provoking exhibition incorporates two distinct but related series of photographs, both of which examine print advertising and its pervasive use of the female image.

The Déjà Vu series exists at the crossroads of photography and sculpture and asks the viewer “to see again” the carefully constructed image of female in print advertising.

Beauty Marks, a series in progress, employs cuts and marks to refocus the viewer’s gaze on the relentless and banal use of the female image in advertising.

Click here to be the first to see and comment on these incredible images.

On Thursday, July 29th, from 6:00 to 8:00PM, please join us for the opening of this beautiful and thought-provoking exhibition.

An Exposure Gallery Vernissage is an evening of fine art, fine people, and fine conversation. Carrie, Sheila, and I hope to see you there!

On the night we opened The SPAO MOTTO Exhibition, the photo that seemed to most easily capture the attention of those in attendance was Gregory’s Zenha’s “Running / Returning” .

Whenever I’m in the gallery, I always spend a moment or two lost in this incredible Saskatchewan sunset (Click the image to enlarge it).

About his photo, Gregory writes this:

I took this photo in the badlands of Saskatchewan near Montana.

We were driving back from a Western thrift shoppe that we stumbled upon near the US border. All the roads were dirt and there was nothing around us. Needless to say, we were lost. I found myself asking why anyone would want to live out here… what is appealing about this bareness? It was my first time in Saskatchewan. I was rather naive. When the sun started to set, however, I at once became aware of my surroundings. I had never before seen the sky explode as it did that evening.

We all had something we’d left behind. We didn’t know where we were going to be the next day, and we didn’t want to know. None of us feared what was to come; we were all just scared of what it was going to be like going back home.

I understand that this explanation is rather flowery, but fuck it! It was a flowery time.

What do you think of Greg’s work? Perhaps, you have once seen a Saskatchewan sky like it. Does it spark any memories? Or is it a window to a wholly foreign and unimagined world?

Please let me know in the comment section below!

SPAO is student-focused in a way that few — if any — educational institutions are today. At SPAO, each student receives a fine art photography education that is individually tailored to nurture his or her unique skill-set and artistic vision.

The value of SPAO’s student-focused approach to fine art photography education is evident in the high-caliber of work its students consistently create.

Click here to browse The SPAO Motto Exhibition. Our exhibition incorporates the full range of styles of work created by SPAO’s students and graduates.

Show your support for the school and its students, by purchasing the incredible work.

The roundtable discussion was well-attended and, I think, informative and useful.

Michael Tardioli, the school’s co-founder and co-director, began the discussion with a few remarks explaining how the school was established. Then, Jeremie Roy, an artist in the exhibit, shared the story of how he came to be a student at SPAO.

In the course of our hour long discussion, we touched on a variety of topics, including Michael’s vision for the future of the school and the pro and cons of accreditation.

Thanks very much to everyone who attended.

If you have any reflections on the evening, please write them in the comments section below!