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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

"Together" featuring Jamie Jardine of London & Vera Vicente of Montreal




The exhibition "Together" brings together two artists working in different media. Jamie with paint and Vera with clay have both created evocative and sensual abstract works. Their creations demand of us contemplation for their full enjoyment. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines “Voluptuous” as full of delight or pleasure to the senses: conducive to or arising from sensuous or sensual gratification’. The exhibition “Together” could also be described as voluptuous.

In “Together” Jamie’s paintings become the visual expression of the sensual delight of caressing one of Vera’s sculptures while Vera’s sculptures become the visceral manifestation of the visual experience of Jamie’s paintings.

“Together” it is an experience......and so reads the info panel on the invitation that will be going in the post on Saturday morning. As simple as the title 'Together' may be it didn't present itself quite so simply. Choosing a name for an exhibition is never really that easy. I wanted a title that was evocative and in the middle of the night it all came together. Pairing artists working in different media is the perfect opportunity for people to see art in the way it may be presented in their own homes. Ceramic art injects a three dimensional element that makes a room more exciting. 

In November the gallery hosted "Abstracts in the Home II" featuring the abstract expressionist paintings of the founder of Painters Eleven's William Ronald. Walter Dexter, Canada's abstract expressionist of clay, was the artist featured with Ronald. Thanks to London's Kingsmill's department store we had the added benefit of quality furnishings to even more creatively showcase the pairing of Ronald's & Dexter's art. Visitors to the exhibition remarked on how well the paintings worked with the ceramics. It was almost as if the artists had collaborated the pieces went together so well. The additional element to the exhibition was Jamie's display of abstract paintings in the iconic island window of Kingsmill's department store at 130 Dundas St. in down town London. 
Jamie Jardine 2012 image size 4' x 3' (122cm x  91.5cm)

Jamie Jardine has been exhibiting with the gallery since 2000. During that time he has had a minimum of one solo exhibition a year. The themes of the all the exhibitions up until now have been representational and primarily landscape inspired (France, Italy, England, Nunavut, Northern Canada, Saskatchewan) with the occasional cityscapes. Jamie's work 

Jamie has also painted abstracts and other than the fortunate few who own them not many are aware of this fact. This year’s exhibition is a presentation of his latest abstract work.While to paint a landscape is to paint what is there, to paint an abstract is often to paint an emotion. In 2000 after a successful sold out show Jamie was having difficulty getting back to painting. His success was, in a way, stifling him. To prĂ©cis a long conversation I essentially told him to go for it; experiment, take chances, paint what you want not what you think is expected. In this exhibition he does that; he challenges us to see and gives us something we are not expecting. This body of work is a depiction of the visualization of emotion.

Vera Vicente, of Montreal, Quebec,  has been exhibiting with the gallery since 2001 when she participated in the first Matter of Clay exhibition. Since that exhibition Vera has participated in numerous group shows in the gallery and her work has developed a core following. Collectors are attracted to her strongly sensual sculptures.
Vera’s sculpture’s, deceptively simple in form, are the culmination of a time consuming coil-built technique. From conception to completion months can transpire. The final touch, the stopper, can also take months before even the right shape is decided upon. While Vera’s vessels are not functional her stoppers offer to the interior a beautifully sculpted surface, honouring the original purpose of a vessel: that of containment. This surface is only seen by the viewer when physically removed from the vessel. Essentially the beholder can not experience fully the beauty of the pot without physically engaging it, to come together with it through handling.