The Art World: What's showing in Ottawa galleries

Pandemic art can be a salve in troubled times

By Peter Simpson

The Outsiders (mixed media, 2009) by Ron Noganosh, from Shelter in Place at the Ottawa Art Gallery.

What strange things the pandemic makes us do. Even the simple act of looking ahead to exhibitions in local galleries becomes tricky, as, at time of writing, it’s not even certain that galleries will be open to the public when the intended opening dates arrive. In other cases, the precise dates were still to be set.

So, with the unpredictability of recent months in mind, please be sure to check with galleries before visiting — but do visit, as there’s much to see.

First up, Shelter in Place, at the Ottawa Art Gallery. By this point it may seem art about the pandemic is the last thing one would care to see, but perhaps it’s a tonic.

Early last spring, when we all first started to self-isolate, I read Emily St. John Mandel’s novel, Station Eleven, about a deadly flu that quickly wipes out most of the human population (no spoilers here, that all happens in the first few pages). Yet even in that terrible story there was goodness to be found, much basic human decency and reading about it was somehow calming, perhaps even cathartic. Such is the power of art done well. It shows us that others, caught in the same trap, are coping with the enormous stress and strain, from fears of infection to the slow grind of quarantines.

Shelter in Place is a group exhibition with the subtitle “Portraits of self, family and community,” which are three things to which a lot of us have gotten a lot closer in the past year.

“At this time of social-distancing and isolation, we look inward at ourselves and outward towards our immediate community or family bubbles,” say the exhibition notes. “From installation to film, this group exhibition focuses on self-portraits and works by artists who create portraits of their close community.”

Artists include Chantal Dahan, Max Dean, Christopher Lea Dunning, Robert Hyndman, Martha Kyak, Patrice James, Faisa Omer, Jessie Oonark, Kosisochukwu Nnebe, Ron Noganosh and Annie Pootoogook.

From Containment: Knit Your .- -.art (mixed media, 2020) by Greta Grip, at the Diefenbunker in Carp.

Everyday Life (coloured pencil and ink on paper, 2003) by Annie Pootoogook, at the Ottawa Art Gallery.

Autumn in France, by Emily Carr (oil on paperboard, 1911) from Canada and Impressionism: New Horizons, 1880-1930 at the National Gallery.

Old Houses, Baie-Saint-Paul, by Clarence Gagnon (oil on canvas, c. 1912) at the National Gallery.

Pootoogook’s work seems ideally suited to the theme of sheltering in the places we call home. The late Inuk artist’s pencil-and-ink drawings of interiors are studies of family interaction, of the forbetter-or-worse balance between family peace and family turmoil.

The exhibition is scheduled to be open Jan. 30 to Aug. 15. oaggao.ca.

Knitting art in the Diefenbunker

Nothing says “shelter in place” quite like a nuclear bomb shelter. The Diefenbunker — named for the Canadian prime minister who ordered it built in Carp outside Ottawa in 1958 — has temporarily been made softer. At least, in parts.

Ottawa artist Greta Grip has been knitting art for years, so it’s no surprise that her turn as the Diefenbunker’s artist in residence for 2020 would arrive with knitting needles in hand.

Knitting may seem incongruous in a decommissioned Cold War bunker, but Grip says the craft is “something individuals do to contribute to wartime efforts and social causes, or to build community in difficult times. Both the bunker and the knitted items provide protection and comfort.” Further, she says, knitting and the bunker “use code to create, embed, decipher, and communicate covert messages. Like the dots and dashes of Morse code and the 0s and 1s that symbolize binary code used in digital computers, knitting relies on two basic states: knit stitch and purl stitch.”

Her exhibition, titled Containment: Knit Your .- - .art (“knit your own part”) has been open since October and is only up until Jan. 31. 3929 Carp Rd., diefenbunker.ca

Impressionism at the National Gallery

There’s a much different perspective to be considered at the National Gallery of Canada, where introspective interiors (such as Florence Carlyle’s The Studio) share space with expansive exteriors (such as Maurice Cullen’s The Ice Harvest). The exhibition is Canada and Impressionism: New Horizons, 1880-1930.

The show, which has already completed a tour of Germany, Switzerland and France, includes work by Canadian artists from the 19th and 20th Centuries. Curated by Katerina Atanassova, it “explores how two generations of artists contributed to the worldwide phenomenon of impressionism and to the advent of modernity in their homeland,” say the exhibition notes.

After so much time spent cooped

Great Bear Rainforest (photograph) by Michelle Valberg at Wall Space Gallery.

Emergency Broadcast (photograph, 2017), by Pixie Cram at Ottawa City Hall art galleries.

Homenatge a Prats (original lithograph, 1971) by Joan Miró, at JeanClaude Bergeron Gallery.

Halocine Parastic Jaeger 2 (mixed media, 2020) by Lisa Creskey at L.A. Pai Gallery.

Man Elm by Sara Angelucci, at the School of Photographic Arts Ottawa. Bow Echo (photograph) by Ava Margueritte at Wall Space Gallery in Ottawa.

Studio Sixty Six the Glebe has an exhibit featuring works by painting and print-making artist Claudia Gutierrez and also shows work of Marisa Gallemit (centre) and Guillermo Trejo (right.)

up indoors, much of it will come as a figurative breath of fresh air. One can look at Helen McNicoll’s 1913 oil-oncanvas Sunny September and almost feel the refreshing breeze that so impressionistically moves through the green and golden leaves and grass. Likewise in Emily Carr’s 1911 painting Autumn in France — one of the exhibition’s examples of Canadian artists working outside their home country. [Editor's note: Unfortunately, at press time, the gallery announced New Horizons would be postponed until January 2022. See gallery. ca for details.]

Also showing. . .

Jean-Claude Bergeron Gallery: Made in France VII is a quintessential group show at the ByWard Market commercial gallery. It features works by some of the world’s and Canada’s best-known artists, including Pierre Alechinsky, Hiroshi Asada, Mario Avati, Julius Baltazar, Christian Bozon, Antoni Clavé, James Coignard, Corneille, Olivier Debré, Sonia Delaunay, Joan Miró, Jacques Muron, Pablo Picasso, John Paul Riopelle, Antoni Tapiès, Pierre-Yves Trémois, Bram van Velde, Mikio Watanabe and Zao Wou-Ki. Showing February and March at 150 St. Patrick St. Call the gallery at (613) 562-7836 to confirm dates. galeriejeanclaudebergeron.ca

Canadian War Museum: Anne Frank — A History for Today features personal photographs, stories and diary entries, brought together to illuminate the tragic, heroic story of the Jewish girl and her family, who hid from Nazi persecution, but ultimately died in the Holocaust. Organized by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Showing Feb. 25 to April at 1 Vimy Place. www.warmuseum.ca

City Hall Art Gallery: Hindsight: 2020 Additions to the City of Ottawa Art Collection is the second part of the annual new additions exhibition (the first part closed Jan. 10 in City Hall’s Karsh-Masson Gallery). This part is sure to be widely satisfying. As the only common thread between the dozens of pieces is that they were recently acquired, it’s always an eclectic show, with works of many styles, themes and materials. It shows until Feb. 7. Search for City Hall Art Gallery at ottawa.ca.

Studio Sixty Six: Double Flame by Claudia Gutierrez shows Feb. 19 to March 28 at 858 Bank St. Gutierrez is a Latin-Canadian artist whose study of painting and printmaking now informs “her exploration of textile work.” studiosixtysix.ca

Wall Space Gallery: With work from Joanna Baxter, Marianne Burlew and Ava Margueritte, this year’s look at International Women’s Day will also reflect on “the anniversary of a year with COVID-19 in our global lives.” Baxter’s photograph Man Down, with a prostrate figure shown face down in the foreground, before a magnificent valley, may sum up how a lot of people feel at this point. Check with gallery for the March opening date. wallspacegallery.ca

School of Photographic Arts (SPAO) Gallery: Sara Angelucci — Undergrowth features Angelucci’s photo-based work and asks “how an artist can respond to this critical time of ecological emergency.” It takes place until March 5 at 77 Pamilla St. spao.ca

Sivarulrasa Gallery: Sarah Anderson — New Works takes place from March 31 to May 7 at Sivarulrasa Gallery, 34 Mill St., Almonte. sivarulrasa.com

L.A. Pai Gallery: Lisa Creskey’s sculptural works look like they grew out of the northern landscape, and the materials they’re made with often did just that. Check with the gallery for precise opening dates. lapaigallery.com.

Galerie St-Laurent + Hill: Drew Klassen’s Flower Piece (in a Somewhat Dutch Mode) takes place in March and April, at 293 Dalhousie St. Check with the gallery for dates. galeriestlaurentplushill.com

AXENEO7: This artist-run centre features works by Andréanne Godin, curated by Marie-Ève Charron in a show titled Si Bleu Qu’est Notre Temps. It takes place March 10 to April 24 at 80 Rue Hanson in Gatineau. See axeneo7.com for more.

Contact Email Peter Simpson at pete@petersimpson.ca with details of your upcoming art exhibitions.