• Gardenship and State: Thinking with creativity

    By Busra Copuroglu, December 18, 2023

    How can artistic projects disseminate knowledge about complex socio-cultural and environmental issues? Conceived at the intersection of environmental critique, decolonial theory, and artistic practice, GardenShip and State engages this question to examine environmental catastrophe and its impact on the lives of colonized peoples by bringing together artists and scholars to mobilize knowledge through interdisciplinary work.

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  • Are (Sommes Sonnes) 12-HOUR EVENT | Organized by Christof Migone

    December 05, 2023

    Fourth in a series of 12 annual events taking place on December 12 from noon to midnight. Each year the event focuses on a word of the 12-word phrase ‘You And I Are Water Earth Fire Air Of Life And Death’ and activates it in myriad ways. This year the focus is on plurals: multiplicities leading to infinities, polymorphs and polyglots, surrounded sounds, layers upon layers, etceteras upon etceteras. It started with ‘You’ in 2020, then ‘And’ came to connect you to anything and everything. Last year that point of connection was ‘I’. This year with ‘Are’ action enters the fray. What are you and I to do? What are we up to? Well, let’s begin with being, simply being; however contentious that might be, and however tenuous we may be. Curated by Myriam Lambert, Christof Migone, and Alexandre St-Onge

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  • Participants Needed: Research in Examining Apprenticeship in Tattooing in Ontario

    December 05, 2023

    PhD candidate Ana Moyer and professor Dr. Cody Barteet, researchers at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, are seeking participants for a study titled Apprenticeship in Canadian Tattooing. The purpose of this study is to document the experience of Ontario 2SLGBTQIA+ and/or disabled tattoo artists during their apprenticeship or other methods to learn tattooing. We are recording oral history interviews, concentrating our work in the Greater Toronto Area, London, and Guelph district.

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  • Exploring Modern and Craft Art in London’s Cathedral’s | Cohen Commons

    December 03, 2023

    "Exploring Modern and Craft Art in London’s Cathedral’s" is on view in the Cohen Commons Gallery until December 7, 2023. In our exhibit “Exploring Modern and Craft Art in London’s Cathedral’s” we consider the art and purpose of two chapels within our community. The chapels, Our Lady and St. Aidan’s, are small sites of worship that are part of the larger Catholic and Anglican cathedrals of St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s, respectively. Contrasting the larger Gothic and Romanesque inspired century-old cathedrals, the mid to late twentieth-century chapels adopt more modern aesthetics in their design and adornment.

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  • "We, the Self" Group Exhibition | The Next Contemporary

    November 14, 2023

    The Next Contemporary gallery is pleased to present "We, the Self" featuring works by Kim Neudorf (MFA '12), Jay Krakower, Natalie King, Laurence Philomène, and Sasha Cousins, the show explores queer notions of self-portraiture and what collective ideas of self might look like.

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  • GardenShip and State: A Book is a World | Museum London & Words Fest

    November 02, 2023

    Museum London and the Words Festival are pleased to host a visit with the artists and curators of GardenShip & State for a launch of their exhibition catalogue. This gathering of curators, artists, designer/editors and writers will address the ways art projects can lead to the production of catalogues and books as archives of cultural materials that act as references and touchstones for ongoing work towards positive change and transformation. Attend in-person or online. Registration required,

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  • Prof. Christof Migone performs at Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival

    October 20, 2023

    Christof Migone was in performance with Alexandre St-Onge of Snow Storm, seize me by the horns, and l’étranglement at the Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival (LUFF) in Switzerland on Saturday, October 21, 2023.

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  • Soheila Esfahani: The Tool That Could Part Tangled Things | Red Head Gallery

    October 04, 2023

    Soheila Esfahani is pleased to present her recent work in a solo exhibition titled The Tool That Could Part Tangled Things at the Red Head Gallery. The exhibition runs October 4 - 28th, 2023. Prof. Esfahani will be in attendance at the gallery on October 28th, from 12-5pm.

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  • Sarah Bassnett co-authors new book 'Photography in Canada, 1839-1989'

    September 22, 2023

    Sarah Bassnett and co-author Sarah Parsons (York University) have released a new book, Photography in Canada, 1839-1989: An Illustrated History. Published by Art Canada Institute, it is available now open access online, and it will be published in print in the coming months. This is the first comprehensive book on the history of photography in Canada.

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  • Kirsty Robertson wins Creation and Research in the Visual Arts Prize

    September 15, 2023

    Professor Kirsty Robertson has been awarded The Grantham Foundation: Creation and Research in the Visual Arts prize which includes $5000 and a one-month residency at the Foundation in the coming year. Prof. Robertson’s project “Plastic Atmospheres: Of Textiles, Microfibers, Art, and Air” takes one of the most common manufactured items in the world – a synthetic textile – and uses its disintegration to read the world.

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  • “The Creation of a ‘Transcendental Experience’: Stained Glass by Christopher Wallis for St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Ontario,” by C. Cody Barteet and Katie Oates

    September 06, 2023

    Professor Cody Barteet and Katie Oates recently published “The Creation of a ‘Transcendental Experience’: Stained Glass by Christopher Wallis for St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Ontario,” in The Journal of Stained Glass: British Society of Master Glass Painters.

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  • “Timed Space: De Stijl’s Framing of Four-Dimensional Space/Time in Two Dimensions” by John Hatch

    September 04, 2023

    John Hatch’s article “Timed Space: De Stijl’s Framing of Four-Dimensional Space/Time in Two Dimensions” has just been published in the volume Perspective: Selected Essays on Space in Art and Design edited by Sarina Miller as part of the Vernon Press’ Series in Art

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  • Doors Open: London’s Heritage Through Cuisine

    Museum London, August 17, 2023

    Join artist Ron Benner at Museum London on Saturday, September 16, 2023 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm for the annual outdoor corn roast. Enjoy corn on the cob with butter, salt, chili powder, and lime juice freshly roasted from Benner's Maiz Barbacoa — part corn roaster and part sculpture. Live acoustic music by Frank Ridsdale accompanies this feast. On Sunday from 12:00 pm to 12:40 pm, the London Symphonia presents an informal cushion concert for ages 3+ with music from around the globe and will be followed by a Q&A with the musicians.

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  • Embassy Cultural House: Celebrating 40 Years of Cultural History | Satellite Project Space

    June 14, 2023

    Embassy Cultural House: Celebrating 40 Years of Cultural History is an exhibition that charts the past and present programs of the Embassy Cultural House. Beginning with the Embassy Hotel in 1983, the exhibition acknowledges the efforts made by a network of artists and activists in London, Ontario and internationally, including the current, re-invigorated community collective initiated in 2020. The exhibition has been coordinated by Ron Benner, Jamelie Hassan, Wyn Geleynse and Olivia Mossuto. A closing event will take place at Satellite Project Space on Saturday, June 24 from 2-5PM.

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  • Kim Neudorf: the signs appear as in aspic | Thames Art Gallery

    May 19, 2023

    Congratulations to Kim Neudorf whose solo exhibition "in the signs appear as in aspic" opens at Thames Art Gallery in Chatham on June 16 and runs through August 13. Join Kim Neudorf for an artist talk on June 23 from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm in Studio One, Cultural Centre and a painting workshop on June 24 (registration required).

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  • Art show addresses issues of race, gender, sexuality, and diaspora

    By Megan Stacey, Western News, May 19, 2023

    Faculty, staff and artists gathered at Western's artLAB for the opening reception of its newest exhibition, "of many worlds in this world," including the chance to walk across a recreation of the Deshkan Ziibiing, or the Thames River, a work by Sheri Osden Nault.

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  • Congratulations to Professor Patrick Mahon on his Upcoming Retirement

    May 15, 2023

    On Thursday, May 11, the Department of Visual Arts hosted a reception to celebrate Prof. Patrick Mahon's many accomplishments throughout his 28 years at Western University. Current and previous students, friends, and colleagues from Western and the wider artistic community were present to honour his legacy. As many speeches underlined, Patrick's impact was vast, the initiatives he took were abundant, and he has inspired and guided many in their academic and artistic journey. Patrick, you will be missed—our best wishes for a happy retirement.

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  • Patrick Mahon: Thresholder Early & Recent Works (1989–2023) | Cohen Commons

    May 04, 2023

    Thresholder: Early & Recent Works by Professor Patrick Mahon is on view now in the Cohen Commons until June 8, 2023. Mahon notes "The works in this exhibition, some of which were made 35 years ago and others completed last month, may nonetheless suggest that I have continually been attuned to flux and uncertainty. As an artist I have indeed been preoccupied with things in states of suspension or passage ––threshold moments."

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  • of many worlds in this world | artLAB Gallery

    May 04, 2023

    "of many worlds in this world" curated by Ashar Mobeen, PhD candidate, features the work of new studio art faculty members, Soheila Esfahani, Jessica Karuhanga and Sheri Osden Nault. Mobeen writes: “of many worlds in this world showcases a selection of works by Soheila Esfahani, Jessica Karuhanga, and Sheri Nault that address issues of race, gender, sexuality, and diaspora whilst pushing the limits of what art is and can be. The established and dynamic poetics of the show encourages viewers to respond and/or attend to their local surroundings, personal or national histories, and, most crucially, other people. Given the discursive nature of the subjects, this exhibition does not claim to be comprehensive, but rather acts as a platform for the emergence of a revisionary moment where the audience can engage in intergenerational dialogue and come together to displace the imagined histories that shape our world.”

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  • Soheila Esfahani: Cultured Pallets | Aga Khan Museum

    May 02, 2023

    Professor Sohelia Esfahani's latest large scale site-specific installation Cultured Pallets: Aga Khan Museum at the Aga Khan Museum's Collections Gallery curated by Bita Pourvash is on view from May 2 to October 15, 2023.  This installation is inspired by the geometric design of a 15th-century wooden door from the Aga Khan Museum's collections.

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  • Into the Garden: Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner in Oaxaca, Mexico | Weldon Library

    April 03, 2023

    PhD candidate Iraboty Kazi and Dr. Cody Barteet are proud to present Into the Garden: Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner in Oaxaca, Mexico on view in D.B. Weldon Library, main floor glass cases. We explore ideas of place through botanical representations from the 2012 watercolour series, The World is a Garden. The series was created by London, Ontario-based artists, Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner during their residency in the Jardin Etnobotánico de Oaxaca (Ethnobotanical Garden of Oaxaca), a space with a fascinating history and local connections.

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  • Prof. Sarah Bassnett and Blessy Augustine present at the Association for Art History Conference

    April 03, 2023

    Professor Sarah Bassnett and PhD candidate Blessy Augustine are chairing a session on Photography and 21st-century migration at the Association for Art History conference hosted by University College London, UK on April 12, 2023.

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  • "Fractured Fifties: The Cinematic Periodization and Evolution of a Decade" by Dr. Christine Sprengler

    March 23, 2023

    Dr. Christine Sprengler has published a new book with Oxford University Press titled "Fractured Fifties: The Cinematic Periodization and Evolution of a Decade". This text presents a two-pronged argument— that cinema helped define the 1950s by contributing in considerable and meaningful ways to the process of periodization and subsequently a common conception of the decade, and that cinema itself has fractured our understanding of the 1950s.

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  • Jessica Karuhanga: Blue as the insides | KWAG

    March 03, 2023

    The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Ugandan-Canadian artist Jessica Karuhanga. Blue as the insides is a survey of Karuhanga’s performance, video and sound installations over the last decade.

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  • "A Group Show in London Traces Artists’ Spiritual Connection With Nature" | Frieze Magazine

    March 02, 2023

    Aliya Say of Frieze Magazine reviewed Prof. Sky Glasbush's work 'Night Dance,' which is on view in the group exhibition, 'The Moth and the Thunderclap,' until March 18 at Modern Art London. The full review is available online.

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  • Sky Glabush Joins Stephen Friedman Gallery

    February 27, 2023

    Stephen Friedman Gallery in London UK is delighted to announce representation of Sky Glabush. His first UK solo exhibition will open at Stephen Friedman Gallery in April 2023. Sky Glabush is also represented by Philip Martin Gallery in Los Angeles.

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  • 'Portraits of Home' | Grimsby Public Art Gallery

    February 21, 2023

    Prof. Soheila Esfahani is featured in the group exhibition 'Portraits of Home' at Grimsby Public Art Gallery from February 21 through April 22. Her installation features 115 porcelain birds, a combination of collected souvenir-like objects alongside handmade birds painted with culturally specific designs. Together, the birds evoke a representation of the movement of culture from place to place by immigrants and tourists, challenging viewers to consider the dissemination of culture and their inherent complexities.

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  • Suggested Reading | Christie Contemporary

    February 17, 2023

    Professor emeritus David Merritt's work is featured in the current group exhibition "Suggested Reading" on display at Christie Contemporary until March 11, 2023

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  • Confluences a Community Gathering & Symposium

    February 13, 2023

    Mark your calendars! You are invited to join GardenShip and State at Museum London’s Centre at the Forks to discuss how art communicates the interconnections between culture, politics, and ecology. The event is open to all, including a reception to cap off the events on Friday and a welcome tea with treats at midday on Saturday.

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  • Preserving Art History for the Ages

    CTV News London, February 08, 2023

    Professor Cody Barteet speaks with CTV London's Marek Sutherland about his new online gallery of local stained-glass artwork.

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  • Epistolarity and Decolonial Aesthetics in Carola Grahn's Look Who's Talking by Dr. Christine Sprengler

    February 02, 2023

    Dr. Christine Sprengler recently published an essay, "Epistolarity and Decolonial Aesthetics in Carola Grahn's Look Who's Talking" in the new book "Epistolary Entanglements in Film, Media and the Visual Arts" edited by Teri Higgins, Catherine Fowler.

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  • Ornamental Gestures | Doris McCarthy Gallery

    January 20, 2023

    Prof. Soheila Esfahani will exhibit one of her installations in her Cultured Pallets series in the upcoming group exhibition: Ornamental Gestures curated by Sandy Saad-Smith at Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto Scarborough, January 21- April 1, 2023. Image: Soheila Esfahani, My Place is Placeless, detail, laser-etched wooden pallets, 2013

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  • Reflecting on Religious Imagery Through Documentation and Quotidian Objects | Cohen Commons

    January 11, 2023

    Reflecting on Religious Imagery Through Documentation and Quotidian Objects: Cody Barteet, Katie Oates, and Tanner Layton is on view in the Cohen Commons from January 12 - 26, 2023 with an opening reception on Thursday, January 12 from 5-7PM. "This exhibition reframes our experience of religious sites in Southwestern Ontario. We capture not the sacred, but rather the ordinary. Through these visions of decay, graffiti, and quotidian objects and images, we reimagine and reconsider how religious imagery is encountered. Our documentation explores the doorway between inclusion and exclusion, enchantment and disenchantment, and that which is concealed behind locked doors."

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  • The Moth and The Thunderclap | Modern Art, London, England

    January 04, 2023

    Professor Sky Glabush's work will be featured in an upcoming group exhibition featuring over 40 artists at Modern Art in London, England. Curated by Simon Grant, The Moth and The Thunderclap features an eclectic global mix of artists from modernism to the present day. Taking its title from a painting by the celebrated American artist Charles Burchfield, The Moth and The Thunderclap aims to show how artists have been compelled to reflect an indeterminate psychological space where nature and culture collide, often filtered through their experience of landscape. Image: Charles Burchfield, Winter Sunburst (detail), 1960

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  • Panel Discussion with Prof. John Hatch at RMG

    January 03, 2023

    Professor John Hatch and fellow panelists Louise Noguchi (artist), Bryce Kanbara (artist and recent Governor General Award recipient) will lead for a conversation about the lasting impact and legacy of artist Kazuo Nakamura at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery on February 4, 2023 at 2:00 pm. This event compliments the current exhibition at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Kazuo Nakamura: Universal Pattern, on view until March 5th.

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  • Public Artist Talk and Performance by Jessica Karuhanga | Queer City Cinema

    December 16, 2022

    Please join professor Jessica Karuhanga for a public artist talk and performance in the Digital Creativity Lab or via Zoom on Friday, January 13th at 7pm. Presented by Queer City Cinema this talk and performance is featured as part of "QALEIDOSCOPE Queer Film & Performance on Tour 2023" which features QTBIPOC films and performance that explore, question and play with identity to propose and investigate diverse ways of looking at sexuality, gender and race.

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  • Video Walkthrough of "BODYLAND" | Galerie Max Hetzler

    December 16, 2022

    Galerie Max Hetzler recently posted a video walkthrough on YouTube of an exhibition Professor Sky Glabush is currently featured in at Galerie Max Hetzler in Berlin called “BODYLAND” curated by Lauren Taschen. The show includes work by Isabelle Albuquerque, Vanessa Beecroft, Ana Benaroya, Madeleine Bialke, Brian Calvin, Ann Craven, Sarah Cunningham, Karon Davis, Sky Glabush, Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Ulala Imai, February James, Rae Klein, Kat Lyons, Laurie Nye, Ariana Papademetropoulos, Ilana Savdie, Eleanor Swordy, Emma Webster, Alina Zamanova.

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  • Soheila Esfahani: Been T[here] | Cambridge Art Galleries

    December 16, 2022

    Prof. Soheila Esfahani's solo exhibition Been T[here] at the Cambridge Art Galleries (Preston Gallery) along with a new installation in her Cultured Pallet series at Queen's Square library runs December 17, 2022- March 5, 2023. Please join Prof. Soheila Esfahani at the gallery January 21, 12-3 pm.

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  • "Exploring our relationships with food through art"

    By Keri Ferguson, Western News, December 15, 2022

    In postdoc Amanda White’s visual arts course, students adopt artistic approach to agriculture through interdisciplinary, experiential learning

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  • -I a 12-hour Event | Christof Migone

    December 09, 2022

    Organized by Christof Migone, "-I" is the third in a series of twelve annual events taking place on December 12 from noon to midnight (EST). Each year the event moves through each word of the 12-word phrase ‘you and I are water earth fire air of life and death’ and activates the word of the year in myriad ways. This year the word is ‘I’, consequently the focus is on selfless selves, linked Is, and not-Is. The first year it started with ‘you’, last year ‘and’ came to connect you to anything and everything, this year that point of connection is ‘I’—the porous one, the solo collective.

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  • Kirsty Robertson | Vie des Arts 268

    December 09, 2022

    Professor Kirsty Robertson published an article titled “Les climats intérieurs et extérieurs: faire face à l’urgence climatique dans les musées,” in the fall 2022 Vie des Arts 268. Available online in french and english.

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  • Collection of Dreams | Agnes Etherington Art Centre

    December 08, 2022

    Professor Kirsty Robertson recently curated "Collection of Dreams" part of Collection Count and Care, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, October 25-November 6, 2022, featuring Eleanor Bond and Kim Ondaatje.

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  • Lost 18th century painting recovered by Western prof returns, restored, to Guadalajara

    By Keri Ferguson, Western News, December 07, 2022

    "During her sabbatical in 2015, Alena Robin was intent on tracking down a painting by Antonio Enríquez, an 18th century Mexican painter. With dogged determination ─ and on the last day of her stay in Guadalajara – she found it in a corner of a storage room, forgotten by specialists and unknown to the public."

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  • "More activists are gluing themselves to art. Their tactics aren’t new."

    By Kelsey Ables, Washington Post, November 29, 2022

    Professor Kirsty Robertson was recently interviewed and quoted this Washington Post article. Click to read the full article online. Image: Eben Lazarus and Hannah Hunt are glued to “The Hay Wain” area at London's National Gallery in July. (Richard Feldgate)

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  • Curating Waste | Cohen Commons Gallery

    November 25, 2022

    Curating Waste / Ist das Kunst oder kann das weg? is collaborative exhibition by Friederike Landau-Donnelly and Prof. Kirsty Robertson. This trans-Atlantic encounter between two researchers represents an ongoing conversation about the boundaries between art and waste, a conversation that has seeped into various forms: collections, texts, poems, sound, films, and materials recycled from previous exhibitions. Funding provided by the Western-Radboud Collaboration Fund and the Centre for Sustainable Curating.

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  • Prof. John Hatch Presents at RMG Gallery

    November 24, 2022

    Prof. John Hatch presented a talk at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery about the work of the Japanese Canadian artist Kazuo Nakamura on November 24, on the occasion of the exhibition “Kazuo Nakamura: Universal Pattern” on display until March 5, 2023.

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  • Prof. Alena Robin | Museo Regional de Guadalajara

    November 14, 2022

    Prof. Alena Robin recently co-curated an exhibition in Guadalajara (Mexico) on Antonio Enriquez, a 18th century painter. While researching his life and cataloguing his work, Robin “rediscovered” a painting by Enriquez. The painting has been restored and was recently unveiled as part of the 104th anniversary of the Museo Regional de Guadalajara.

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  • CSC Speakers' Series Presents Robert Hengeveld

    November 10, 2022

    The Centre for Sustainable Curating Fall Speakers' Series presents Robert Hengeveld, Lost at Sea. Robert Hengeveld (he/him) lives and works in Elmastukwek, Ktaqmkuk (Corner Brook Newfoundland). He is an artist, teacher, and backyard chicken farmer. His creative work has been shared across Canada and internationally. His artist talk, Lost at Sea, journeys through the reshaping of creative practice amidst a deepening climate crisis. Registration required.

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  • BodyLand | Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin

    November 07, 2022

    Professor Sky Glabush's work is included in "BodyLand", a group exhibition curated by Lauren Taschen at Galerie Max Hetzler in Berlin, Germany. The show unites a new generation of artists, who respond to the present moment by capturing the potential of Land and Body, as both real and imagined constructs, from a predominantly female perspective.

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  • Prof. Kirsty Robertson Presents at Summit Art |Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

    November 06, 2022

    Professor Kirsty Robertson presented “Reflections in the Fake Lake: Echoes of a 1976 Art Protest at the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto” at Summit Art: Art and Political Events Since the 1970s at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin on October 16, 2022.

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  • Prof. Sarah Bassnett: "Photography in Canada: The First 150 Years as a Pedagogical Resource” | UAAC

    October 27, 2022

    Prof. Sarah Bassnett presented a paper with Prof. Sarah Parsons (York University) titled "Photography in Canada: The First 150 Years as a Pedagogical Resource” at the UAAC conference in Toronto on October 27, 2022. The paper is based on our co-authored forthcoming open-source book Photography in Canada: The First 150 Years, 1839-1989, Art Canada Institute, April 2023.

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  • Prof. Sheri Osden Nault | Ethics and Responsibility in Research-Creation Practices

    October 18, 2022

    Professor Sheri Osden Nault will present at this year's UAAC conference on the panel on Ethics and Responsibility in Research-Creation Practices, Part 1. Taking place on Thursday, October 27.

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  • Marla Hlady + Christof Migone: Swan Song | Christie Contemporary

    October 18, 2022

    Marla Hlady and Prof. Christof Migone's exhibition "Swan Song" returns, October 21 - November 19 to Christie Contemporary in Toronto. Join the artists for the opening reception Friday, October 6-8pm.

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  • Monuments and Their Futures in North America | UAAC

    October 18, 2022

    Prof. Cody Barteet will chair a panel at UAAC (Toronto): Monuments and Their Futures in North America. PhD candidates Calla Elia and Ashar Mobeen will both be presenting papers as part of this panel.

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  • "Yvonne Williams: Life and Work of an Influential Stained Glass Artist" by Cody Barteet and Iraboty Kazi

    October 13, 2022

    Dr. Cody Barteet and PhD candiate Iraboty Kazi published "Yvonne Williams: Life and Work of an Influential Stained Glass Artist" through ArcGIS StoryMaps technology.

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  • Professor Sarah Bassnett Presents at the Photography Network Symposium

    October 12, 2022

    Professor Sarah Bassnett presented a paper on Griselda San Martin’s series, The Wall, 2015-16 at the Photography Network symposium in Washington, DC, on Oct. 14-15. Image: Griselda San Martin, José Marquez poses for a photograph, The Wall, 2015-16

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  • Sheri Osden-Nault: maachi kashkihtow

    October 06, 2022

    Indigiqueer and Two-Spirit Cinema in partnership with the Toronto Queer Film Festival are hosting an online screening of 8 shorts films created by Indigenous, Queer and Two-Spirit filmmakers including Professor Sheri Osden-Nault's short-film "maachi kashkihtow".

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  • Christine Sprengler: The Art of Cinematic Memory

    Rotman Institute and Department of Philosophy, September 30, 2022

    Join the Rotman Institute and Department of Philosophy for their annual public lecture series, co-sponsored with the London Public Library, on Thursdays in October. In the 3rd talk, Professor Christine Sprengler will look at how visual artists have become increasingly invested in how cinema helps create, shape, and challenge our memories, both personal & cultural. She'll explore how contemporary art has engaged with the complex relationship between memory and film.

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  • Immune Nations The Art and Science of Global Vaccination

    University of Alberta Press & McMaster Museum of Art, September 23, 2022

    Just Released! Featuring a 20-page section on the project, “Design for a Dissemunization Station,” an installation by Prof. Patrick Mahon and Annemarie Hou, with Tegan Moore (MFA'14). This catalogue documents a multi-year art-science project called Immune Nations, produced on the occasion of its exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

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  • Prof. John Hatch presents “Postcards from a Cosmic Traveller: Thomas Ruff’s Images of Space”

    September 22, 2022

    Prof. John Hatch presented a paper titled “Postcards from a Cosmic Traveller: Thomas Ruff’s Images of Space” at the conference Cosmic Explorations: at the Intersection of Science, Space, Art, and Culture, held at CalTech, Pasadena, California on September 20-23, 2022.

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  • Prof. Sarah Bassnett presents at Photographies Conference in San Antonio, TX

    September 22, 2022

    Professor Sarah Bassnett presented a paper on work by American artist Trevor Paglen at the Photographies conference on Boundaries and Borders in San Antonio, Texas. Image: Trevor Paglen, Near Nogales, Maximally Stable Extremal Regions; Good Features to Track, 2017.

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  • Night Painting | Philip Martin Gallery

    Philip Martin Gallery, September 22, 2022

    Philip Martin Gallery presents, “Night Painting," an exhibition of works by 12 artists that investigate night as both idea and motif. Prof's Sky Glabush's paintings are among works in the exhibition by Izzy Barber, Tomory Dodge, Kristy Luck, Aaron Morse, James Morse, Laurie Nye, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Muzae Sesay, Lisa Sanditz, Sophie Treppendahl, Sung Jik Yang. Image: Night Flower (Study), 2022, Sky Glabush (detail)

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  • Sky Glabush at The Armory Show

    Philip Martin Gallery, September 09, 2022

    For the 2022 edition of The Armory Show in New York, NY, Philip Martin Gallery presents an installation of large scale, oil-and-sand-on-canvas paintings by Sky Glabush.

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  • Migration Stories Whispered in My Ear / Me Susurran Al Oído Historias de Migrantes Moysés Zuñiga Santiago | McIntosh Gallery

    August 04, 2022

    The exhibition "Migration Stories Whispered in My Ear / Me Susurran Al Oído Historias de Migrantes Moysés Zuñiga Santiago" is on view at the McIntosh Gallery from August 11 - September 10, 2022. The exhibition is based on SSHRC-funded research by Professor Sarah Bassnett and curated by PhD candidate Anahí González. Join us at the closing reception on Friday, September 9, 5 - 7pm.

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  • Prof. Christine Sprengler Interviewed by BBC Culture for Article on Hitchcock

    By Mark Allison, BBC Culture, July 14, 2022

    Professor Christine Sprengler was interviewed by the BBC Culture for the article "Frenzy at 50: The most violent film Hitchcock ever made".

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  • Prof. Christine Sprengler Presents a Paper at the Screen Studies Conference

    Screen Studies Conference, July 13, 2022

    Professor Christine Sprengler presented a paper, “Epistolarity and Decolonial Aesthetics in Carola Grahn’s Look Who’s Talking” at the Screen Studies Conference in Glasgow, Scotland (online), July 1-3, 2022.

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  • The Department of Visual Arts welcomes three full-time tenure-track faculty members

    July 01, 2022

    The Department of Visual Arts is pleased to announce that three full-time, tenure-track professors have joined the department as of July 1st, 2022. Please join us in welcoming Professor Jessica Karahunga (BFA '10 alum), Sheri Nault and Sohelia Esfahani (MFA'10 alum) whose 2-year limited-term contract has been converted to a tenure-track position.

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  • "Plastic Heart" Receives Honourable Mention for the Outstanding Achievement: Exhibitions Award | Canadian Museums Association

    CMA, July 01, 2022

    The exhibition "Plastic Heart" received an Honourable Mention for the Outstanding Achievement: Exhibitions Award from The Canadian Museums Association. "Plastic Heart" was curated by Professor Kirsty Robertson, Professor Kelly Wood, and alum Tegan Moore (MFA '14) of the Synthetic Collective and included artwork by Christina Battle (Ph.D. '20)

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  • Professor Cody Barteet and Co-Applicant Courtney Waugh Successful in Round 3 of the Strategic Priorities Fund

    June 24, 2022

    Congratulations to Professor Cody Barteet and co-applicant Courtney Waugh, Research and Scholarly Communication Librarian, on the success of their project proposal "Documenting & Teaching the Art of Stained Glass through Digital Technology" in round 3 of the Western University Strategic Priorities Fund.

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  • Prof. Alena Robin speaks with Silvia Véjar from Radio Voces Latinas

    CHHA 1610 AM - Radio Voces Latina, June 13, 2022

    Professor Alena Robin joined Silvia Véjar from CHHA 1610 AM (Toronto) Radio Voces Latinas for an interview regarding the recently published book that she co-editd, "Latin America Made in Canada."

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  • Online Lecture by Prof. John Hatch at Tongji University

    May 31, 2022

    John Hatch presented virtually “If It Ain’t Baroque, then Fix It!: Some 20th-Century Art and Architecture and the New Baroque” to students and faculty of Tongji University, Shanghai, China, on May 24, 2022

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  • Prof. Christine Sprengler presents "Machinations of Memory: Art and Artificial Intelligence"

    Istinye University, May 26, 2022

    Prof. Christine Sprengler delivered an online keynote lecture, "Machinations of Memory: Art and Artificial Intelligence" at the 2nd International Media and Society Symposium hosted by Istinye University in Istanbul, Turkey on May 26, 2022.

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  • Christof Migone Receives Graham Gale Wright Distinguished Scholar Award

    Faculty of Arts and Humanities, May 17, 2022

    Please join the Department of Visual Arts in congratulating Chirstof Migone as the recipient of the Graham Gale Wright Distinguished Scholar Award for the academic year 2022-23. The award is given by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in recognition of the wide-ranging contribution to his field of research.

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  • “Passion in Motion: The Way of the Cross as Performance in New Spain” by Alena Robin

    By Alena Robin, University of Toronto Press, May 17, 2022

    "The Ibero-American Baroque" was recently published by University of Toronto Press which includes a chapter by Professor Alena Robin titled, “Passion in Motion: The Way of the Cross as Performance in New Spain”. "The Ibero-American Baroque" illuminates its dissemination, dynamism, and transformation during the early modern period on both sides of the Atlantic.

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  • Burn Up/Burn Out: Curating for the Future | CSC

    By Kirsty Robertson, Centre for Sustainable Curating, May 16, 2022

    What does it mean to be an arts worker in a time of crisis? Join us for Burn Up/Burn Out: Curating for the Future, part of the Centre for Sustainable Curating’s Waste/Care/Carbon/Labour Speakers’ Series. For this event we have invited four early career curators and arts administrators with innovative practices to share and think about their projects in terms of the Synthetic Collective’s approach of “enough.” What does “enough” look like when confronted with the pressures of granting cycles, job insecurity, and growing wealth disparity? Are there ways to nurture our practices collaboratively, slowly, or in a dispersed manner? Teresa Carlesimo, Lillian O’Brien Davis, Juliane Foronda, and Maya Wilson Sanchez will share short presentations on their work, followed by an in-depth discussion.

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  • Closing Reception: From Remote Stars | Museum London

    Museum London, May 13, 2022

    Join us at Museum London for a reception celebrating the close of From Remote Stars, curated by Kirsty Robertson and Sarah E.K. Smith, and 20 Works, curated by Brian Meehan. This party is a chance to meet the curators and take a final look at both exhibitions. This event is co-sponsored by the Faculty of Information and Media Studies and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Western University. Registration required.

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  • Exhibition Review: "Continuing Accountability"

    By Madeline Lennon, Centred.ca, May 13, 2022

    Department of Visual Arts, professor emerita, Madeline Lennon has written and published an exhibition review of Indigenous Artist-in-Residence, Kelly Green's exhibition, "Continuing Accountability" on view now at the Artlab Gallery. Read the full article.

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  • The Art of Living: On Immigration, Community and the Migration of Symbols | Canadian Cultural Centre Paris

    Centre Culturel Canadien, May 12, 2022

    Congratulations to Professor Soheila Esfahani whose work is alongside artists Jude Abu Zaineh and Xiaojing Yan in the exhibition "The Art of Living: On Immigration, Community and the Migration of Symbols" curated by Catherine Bédard at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris.

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  • Alena Robin presents at "Construire l'histoire de l'art ibéro-américain à l'UdeM. Une aventure intellectuelle et humaine" | l’Université de Montréal

    May 11, 2022

    Friday May 13, 2022, Professor Alena Robin presents "Art brésilien au Canada: Collections méconnues" during "Construire l'histoire de l'art ibéro-américain à l'UdeM. Une aventure intellectuelle et humaine" at the l’Université de Montréal. The conference will be hosted on Zoom.

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  • Expert Insight: Contemporary Muslim artists challenging ideas about fixed culture

    Western News, April 29, 2022

    Visual Arts professor Soheila Esfahani explains how ornamentation in Islamic art shows the movement and transformation of culture. Image: Cultured Pallets: SAIB”, acrylic on wooden shipping pallets (Courtesy Soheila Kolahdouz Esfahani)

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  • Exhibition Video: GardenShip & State | Museum London

    Museum London, April 26, 2022

    GardenShip & State curators Professor Patrick Mahon and Jeff Thomas tour through their exhibition "GardenShip and State" (Museum London, 2021). See twenty contemporary artists [including several Department of Visual Arts students and alumni] explore how to restore the planet through respecting differences, repairing divisions, and addressing injustices brought about by colonialism.

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  • Unnatural Nature: Post-Pop Landscapes | Acquavella Galleries

    Acquavella Galleries, April 21, 2022

    Professor Sky Glabush's work is included in a group exhibition "Unnatural Nature: Post-Pop Landscapes" Curated by Todd Bradway on view now at Acquavella Galleries in New York City, NY. This exhibition features works by 28 contemporary artists including Sky Glabush, David Hockney, Lois Dodd and Adrian Berg.

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  • Wyn Geleynse and Kim Moodie | SATELLiTE Project Space

    April 20, 2022

    Wyn Geleynse and Kim Moodie will be sharing new work in an upcoming, two-person exhibition titled "Ink, on paper, on the walls with accoutrements" at SATELLiTE Gallery in London, Ontario

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  • Western honours this year’s most outstanding educators

    By Keri Ferguson, Western News, April 07, 2022

    Please join the Department of Visual Arts in congratulating Professor Tricia Johnson as she accepts the the Vice-Provost Award of Excellence in Online Teaching and Learning.

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  • "Art and History in Woman in Gold (2015), The Monuments Men (2014), and Francofonia (2015)" by Christine Sprengler

    Amsterdam University Press, April 01, 2022

    Christine Sprengler's article, "Art and History in Woman in Gold (2015), The Monuments Men (2014), and Francofonia (2015)" is now published in Temenuga Trifonova's "Screening the Art World" (available through Amsterdam University Press, Spring 2021).

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  • Western's Truckers Convoy Panel on "Identity, Culture, and Politics,"

    March 28, 2022

    Cody Barteet and Patrick Mahon from Visual Arts presented brief commentaries and participated in discussion at Western's Truckers Convoy Panel on "Identity, Culture, and Politics," on Friday, March 25. Cody and Patrick send thanks to the many from the Department who were in attendance. Their papers are attached here.

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  • Lost Utopias/Islands of Abandonment: Jade Doskow and Cal Flyn | Museum London

    Centre for Sustainable Curating , March 28, 2022

    From the crumbling remains of the lost utopias of world's fairs to the uncanny landscape of regrowth in a former landfill, and touching on ghost towns, exclusion zones, no man’s lands, and post-industrial hinterlands, this discussion between New York-based artist Jade Doskow and Scottish author Cal Flyn considers broken landscapes (partially) reclaimed by nature. Presented in partnership between the Department of Visual Arts' Centre for Sustainable Curating and Museum London, this event builds from Jade Doskow's Lost Utopias photographic series, on view now at Museum London in the exhibition "From Remote Stars: Buckminster Fuller, London, Speculative Futures" (March 5-May 15; curated by Kirsty Robertson and Sarah E. K. Smith).

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  • Kirsty Robertson named a Faculty Scholar for 2022-2024

    By Debora Van Brenk, Western News, March 17, 2022

    Congratulations to Professor Kirtsy Robertson as she was named Faculty Scholars for 2022-2024. This is a tremendous honour and recognition of her outstanding contributions to Arts and Humanities

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  • Art Now! Speakers' Series: Amanda Myers

    March 17, 2022

    Join us for a curator-led tour of the exhibition "From Remote Stars: Buckminster Fuller, London, and Speculative Futures" by Sarah Smith and an artist talk by Amanda Myers on Thursday, March 17 at 7PM at Museum London. This Art Now talk is presented in partnership with Museum London.

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  • Soheila Esfahani: Been T[here] | Red Head Gallery

    March 16, 2022

    Professor Soheila Esfahani's presents new work in a solo exhibition titled "Been T[here]" at the Red Head Gallery, in Toronto. The exhibition runs March 16- April 2, 2022. Prof. Esfahani will be in attendance at the gallery April 2, 12-5 pm. Image: Soheila Esfahani, Study for There, Digital file, 2022

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  • Prof. Cody Barteet | Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies Conference

    March 12, 2022

    On March 12, 2022 Prof. Cody Barteet joined the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies Conference in Charlotte, NC via Zoom to present his paper "The Cult of St. Anthony of Padua in Colonial Yucatán: The Intersection of Assimilation to Appropriation".

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  • Futurist’s 1960s vision inspires Western-curated exhibition

    By Debora Van Brenk, Western News, March 03, 2022

    Western professors and co-curators Kirsty Robertson and Sarah Smith are revisiting the ideas of Fuller’s conversations in "From Remote Stars: Buckminster Fuller, London, and Speculative Futures", a major exhibition opening at Museum London on March 5 and running until May 15.

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  • Arts | Special Issue Race and Architecture in the Iberian World, c. 1500-1800s

    February 18, 2022

    Contributors are invited to submit their research in English for consideration to be included in Arts | Special Issue Race and Architecture in the Iberian World, c. 1500-1800s, guest-edited by Department of Visual Arts Prof. Dr. Cody Barteet and Dr. Luis Gordo Peláez, Department of Art and Design, California State University.

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  • CSC Launches a New Guide: Using The Resources at Hand

    Centre for Sustainable Curating, January 26, 2022

    Have you ever wondered about how you can reduce the environmental footprint of your art-making or exhibition installations? The Centre for Sustainable Curating's new guide Using The Resources at Hand can help. We've gathered together tips and tricks for making sustainable exhibitions, and we've also assembled a list of businesses and groups in London who can provide environmentally-friendly materials and resources. Feel free to circulate Using The Resources at Hand to anyone who might find it useful. The guide is a living document, so if there is anything missing or if you'd like to get involved in the Centre for Sustainable Curating, drop us a line at sustainable.curating@uwo.ca.

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  • Leicester Gallery Open Talks | GardenShip and State: Curating and Commmunity Engagement in Time of Crisis

    January 20, 2022

    A recording of the Leicester Gallery Open Talk with hosted by GardenShip and State exhibition Co-curators, Jeff Thomas and Prof. Patrick Mahon, and one of the participating artists Mark Kasumovic (PhD '18) is now online. Twenty new works and activist projects responding to GardenShip and State’s overarching preoccupation with the environmental crisis and decolonization was highlighted in this discussion. With these artistic initiatives in mind, Jeff and Patrick facilitated a discussion with participants, focusing on the question, “How can artistic curating and intervention act as means for promoting and facilitating community engagement?”. The discussion was chaired by Professor Lala Meredith-Vula at De Montfort University in Leicester UK.

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  • Launch of From Remote Stars Podcast

    December 12, 2021

    From Remote Stars is a podcast exploring a recently uncovered recording that artist Greg Curnoe made of futurist and architect R. Buckminster Fuller speaking in London, Ontario in 1968. Hosted by artist Christina Battle, the series takes shape as three episodes, accompanied by in depth interviews with novelist Kerri Sakamoto and art historian Eva Díaz. Each episode builds from Fuller’s visit to London to discuss mythmaking, land, belonging, travel, decolonization, and climate crisis, and includes interviews with artists, curators, and scholars. This podcast accompanies the exhibition From Remote Stars: Buckminster Fuller, London, and Speculative Futures, curated by Kirsty Robertson and Sarah E.K. Smith, forthcoming at Museum London February 19 to May 15, 2022.

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  • Sky Glabush in conversation with Phillip Martin Gallery

    Phillip Martin Gallery, December 12, 2021

    Professor Sky Glabush joined Phillip Martin in conversation to discuss his exhibition with the gallery, "Weight of Light," which features new oil and sand on canvas works. A recording of this interview is available on YouTube.

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  • David Merritt: all things equal | Christie Contemporary

    December 01, 2021

    Congratulations to Professor Emeritus David Merritt whose solo exhibition "all things equal" is on view at Christie Contemporary until December 4, 2021.

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  • Special Issue "Latin American Art, Visual and Material Culture in the Long Eighteenth Century"

    Arts, November 30, 2021

    Special Issue "Latin American Art, Visual and Material Culture in the Long Eighteenth Century" co-edited by Dr. Alena Robin and featuring the article "The Retablos of Teabo and Mani: The Evolution of Renaissance Altars in Colonial Yucatán" by Dr. Cody Barteet has now been published and is available on MDPI.

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  • Exhibition Catalog: Symphony of Lights: An Exploration of the Stained Glass Windows in St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, London, Ontario

    November 29, 2021

    Prof. Cody Barteet and PhD students Ira Kazi and Anahí González have produced an exhibition catalogue for Symphony of Lights: An Exploration of the Stained Glass Windows in St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, London, Ontario. which is now available for viewing online.

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  • Water is Life: A Visit with GardenShip & State | WordsFest

    November 17, 2021

    Museum London and Words are pleased to present an evening visit with GardenShip & State, an exhibition of artists and curators who are investigating the role of water as a life-giving force as we face the Anthropocene. Water is Life: A Visit with GardenShip & State Hosts: Patrick Mahon and Jeff Thomas Featuring Lori Blondeau, Tom Cull, Michael Farnan, Amelia Fay, Joan Greer, Mark Kasumovic, Mary Mattingly, Adrian Stimson, Andres Villar, and Michelle Wilson

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  • Dazzling and Luminous An interview with Sky Glabush

    By Fay Nicolson, SALOME SALMACIS, November 16, 2021

    Professor Sky Glabush spoke with Fay Nicolson from Salome Salmacis in an interview in which they discuss Sky's relationship to image making, the landscape and modernism ahead of his forthcoming solo show at Philip Martin Gallery, LA. In ‘Dazzling and Luminous’, Sky explores aspects of his unique visual language in a compelling discussion about his artistic journey and the forces that have shaped his practice.

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  • Prof. Sky Glabush: Lecture and critique at SAIC

    November 14, 2021

    Professor Sky Glabush was invited to lecture and host a series of critiques for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Painting and Drawing Department via zoom on November 16, 2021.

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  • Weight of Light: Sky Glabush | Philip Martin Gallery

    November 03, 2021

    Philip Martin Gallery is proud to present, "Weight of Light” an exhibition featuring new large-scale landscape paintings by Sky Glabush. These works, comprised of layers of oil and sand on canvas, imply a deep and meaningful relationship between the viewer and nature, fuelling a sense of wonder in front of awe-inspiring phenomenon.

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  • “The Sounds and Sights of Vertigo’s Afterlife in Art: Chamber Made Opera’s Phobia (2003) and Jean Curran’s The Vertigo Project (2018)” by Christine Sprengler

    Indiana University Press, November 03, 2021

    Christine Sprengler's essay, “The Sounds and Sights of Vertigo’s Afterlife in Art: Chamber Made Opera’s Phobia (2003) and Jean Curran’s The Vertigo Project (2018),” now published in Sidney Gottlieb and Donal Martin's Haunted by Vertigo (available through Indiana University Press, October 2021).

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  • Patrick Mahon: Immune Nations Panel Discussion | McMaster Museum of Art

    November 01, 2021

    As part of the <Immune Nations> exhibition at McMaster Museum of Art, a series of online panel discussions will take place throughout the fall. Professor Partick Mahon will be joining a panel investigating the role of research-creation in tackling pressing social and global problems titled, "Research-Creation and Global Crisis: Interdisciplinarity, Creativity, and Collaboration". This panel will be hosted on Zoom, and include an audience Q&A. All panels are FREE and open to the public. Pre-registration for these events is required.

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  • "AI, Memory and Failure," and "Artificial Intelligence: Creativity, Authorship, and Ethics" | Christine Sprengler

    October 31, 2021

    Christine Sprengler delivered two presentations, "AI, Memory and Failure," and "Artificial Intelligence: Creativity, Authorship, and Ethics" at the A-Site/Workman Arts workshop on Artificial Intelligence on October 31, 2021.

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  • Dialogue # 4: Sustainable Museums | Art Museum University of Toronto

    October 25, 2021

    Dialogue # 4: Sustainable Museums is the last of the Plastic Heart: Surface All the Way Through public dialogue series at the Art Museum University of Toronto. Speakers Suzanne Carte, Maya Ishizawa, Sarah Sutton, and moderator Kirsty Robertson will explore the complexities of creating a low-carbon exhibition throughout all stages of its making. Registration Required.

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  • Save the date for -AND-, a 12-hour online event | Christof Migone

    October 25, 2021

    -AND- follows on last year’s inaugural event YOU-, also on December 12. Each year of this 12-year long project the event moves through the following 12-word phrase one word at a time: ‘you and I are water earth fire air of life and death’ and activates the word of the year in myriad ways. With Po-Hao Chi, Béchard Hudon, Erika DeFreitas & Adrian Piper, Different From The One You Are In Now (Mary Walling Blackburn, Allison Cameron, Barbara Campbell, Budhaditya Chattopadhyay, Darren Copeland, Renato Grieco, Michaela Grill, Sarah Hennies, Marla Hlady, Seth Kim-Cohen, Francisco Meirino, Salomé Voegelin), Anna Friz & Jeff Kolar, James Greer & Neil Luck, Byungjun Kwon, Renée Lear, LoVid, Ellen Moffat & Eeva Siivonen, Merlin Nova, Milo Thesiger-Meacham, They are all of them themselves and they repeat it and I hear it (Anna Barham & Irene Revell), undo (Christof Migone & Alexandre St-Onge). Organized by Christof Migone. Presented by Alt Space Loop, Arraymusic, Avatar, CRiSAP, Errant Bodies Press, Fado, Radius, Resonance Extra, squint.press, Wave Farm, Western University, Zone Sound Creative.

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  • A Brief Survey of Some Absurd but Critical Moments in Modern Art | Prof. John Hatch

    October 17, 2021

    Professor John Hatch will present an online lecture titled: "A Brief Survey of Some Absurd but Critical Moments in Modern Art" at The College of Arts and Media at Tongji University (Shanghai) on Friday, October 29, 2021.

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  • GardenShip and State | Museum London

    Museum London, October 07, 2021

    GardenShip and State is now open at Museum London! The exhibition features works produced over a two-year period – the results of conversations between the artists and writers, oftentimes with members of their local communities. GardenShip and State was curated by Jeff Thomas and Visual Arts Professor Patrick Mahon and features several Department of Visual Arts students and alumni.

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  • Immune Nations | McMaster Museum of Art

    September 14, 2021

    Patrick Mahon and Annemarie Hou's collaborative work "Design for a Dissemunization Station (D4DS)" is on view now as part of the Immune Nations exhibition at McMaster Museum of Art.

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  • Plastic Heart: Surface All the Way Through

    September 08, 2021

    "Plastic Heart: Surface All the Way Through" is on view now at The Art Museum at the University of Toronto. Curated by the Synthetic Collective which includes Department of Visual Arts Professors Kirsty Robertson and Kelly Wood and MFA Alum Tegan Moore.

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  • Prof. John Hatch featured in CBC Arts

    By John Hatch, CBC Arts, July 14, 2021

    In the article, "How Kazuo Nakamura helped pioneer abstract art in Canada after surviving B.C. internment camps" published in CBC Arts, John Hatch discusses his new book "Kazuo Nakamura: Life & Work".

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  • “Witnessing the Trauma of Undocumented Migrants in Mexico,” by Sarah Bassnett

    Leuven University Press, June 21, 2021

    Sarah Bassnett chapter “Witnessing the Trauma of Undocumented Migrants in Mexico,” is now published in the new book, Contact Zones: Photography, Migration, and Cultural Encounters in the United States, edited by Justin Carville and Sigrid Lien. Open Access URI

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  • "Kazuo Nakamura: Life & Work" by John G. Hatch

    Art Canada Institute, June 17, 2021

    The Art Canada Institute (ACI) is pleased to announce the release of Kazuo Nakamura: Life & Work by Professor and Chair of the Department of Visual Arts, John G. Hatch. Kazuo Nakamura: Life & Work is the first biography to tell the story of Nakamura’s intriguing life and storied career, from his childhood in Vancouver and his experiences as a wartime internee to his role in Painters Eleven and the culmination of his career in the number series paintings. An iconic Canadian painter who blended Western and Eastern influences, Nakamura was profoundly inspired by mathematics, science, and philosophy as well as art history. His achievements reflect the pivotal diversification of Canadian art in the twentieth century. Kazuo Nakamura: Life & Work is an open-source online art book— available free of charge, in both English and French.

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  • "Midcentury Metamodern: Returning Home in the Twenty-First-Century Nostalgia Film" by Christine Sprengler

    SUNY Press, June 17, 2021

    Professor Christine Sprengler's publishes a chapter titled "Midcentury Metamodern: Returning Home in the Twenty-First-Century Nostalgia Film" in the new book "Was It Yesterday? Nostalgia in Contemporary Film and Television", edited by Matthew Leggatt⠀

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  • "Scumbling and Scraping" by Sky Glabush

    Tate Etc., June 17, 2021

    Sky Glabush publishes an article about the painter John Constable in the summer issue of Tate Etc., the art magazine of the Tate.

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  • Centre for Sustainable Curating launches at Western

    By Keri Ferguson, Western News, May 27, 2021

    Western’s new Centre for Sustainable Curating looks to shed light on ecological issues and share them through stories grounded in environmental awareness. "Together We Average as Zero", curated by Dr. Kirsty Robertson's MCS4605E Museum and Curatorial Practicum class. Photo by Dickson Bou

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  • Launch of the Centre for Sustainable Curating

    May 14, 2021

    Please join us on May 27 for the virtual launch of the Centre for Sustainable Curating. The Centre for Sustainable Curating is located in the Department of Visual Arts at Western University. The CSC encourages research into waste, pollution, and climate crisis, and the development of exhibitions and artworks with low carbon footprints. At this event, we will present work from postdocs, host a panel on Radical Pedagogy and Curation, and launch the Synthetic Collective’s catalogue Plastic Heart: A DIY Fieldguide for Reducing the Environmental Impact of Art Exhibitions. Registration required.

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  • "The New Politics of the Handmade: Craft, Art and Design" edited by alum Anthea Black (MFA'12) and Nicole Burisch

    April 30, 2021

    The New Politics of the Handmade: Craft, Art and Design is a publication on contemporary craft politics edited by alum Anthea Black (MFA' 12) and Nicole Burisch. This volume features twenty-three authors, including Professor Kirsty Robertson's essay titled Secret Stash: Textiles, Hoarding, Collecting, Accumulation and Craft.

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  • Stop Extinction! Restore the Earth | ECH and Gardenship and State

    April 30, 2021

    The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) and GardenShip and State are pleased to present a virtual group exhibition Stop Extinction! Restore the Earth to celebrate Earth Day, April 22, 2021. Work in the exhibit features several artists from the Department of Visual Arts, within the ECH community and Gardenship and State participating artists. Artworks in the exhibit address the broad issues related to the climate crisis, and other threats to our ecology. Works also address the intersection of sustainable living and the respect for Indigenous land rights. Registration Required.

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  • Anna Madelska Wins Western Teaching Award

    April 16, 2021

    Congratulations to the Department of Visual Arts part-time faculty member, Anna Madelska for winning the Angela Armitt Award For Excellence In Teaching By Part-Time Faculty!

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  • UPwithART

    UPwithART, April 09, 2021

    We’re proud to support #UPwithART ! This annual fundraiser for Unity Project for Relief of Homelessness and Museum London is taking place online this year from April 18 to 24. Join us for an online art auction with 60+ pieces of local art, many created by current and past members of the Department of Visual Arts including: Quinn Smallboy (MFA), Ruth Strebe (BFA), Matthew Trueman (MFA), Gabriella Solti (MFA), Sharmistha Kar (MFA), Prof. Soheila Esfahani, Mike Pszczonak (MFA), Kim Neudorf (MFA), Kelly Greene (BFA), Prof. Tricia Johnson, George Kubresli (MFA), Prof. Patrick Mahon. View the art and register for free at UPwithART.ca . Make sure to register before April 20 to be entered to win a lithograph by Peter Max valued at $2,500.

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  • "The Retablos of Teabo and Mani: The Evolution of Renaissance Altars in Colonial Yucatán" by Dr. Cody Barteet

    Arts, Volume 10, Issue 2, April 09, 2021

    Cody Barteet's article "The Retablos of Teabo and Mani: The Evolution of Renaissance Altars in Colonial Yucatán" published and available now on MDPI.

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  • Soheila Esfahani: Facing Time | Surrey Art Gallery

    March 18, 2021

    Congratulations to Professor Soheila Esfahani whose work is included in the group exhibition "Facing Time" currently on view at the Surrey Art Gallery in British Columbia. "The artworks in this exhibition, while mostly created before the pandemic, speak to the current moment of facial interfaces and increased digital activity."

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  • Sheila Butler: Other Circumstances | Satellite Project Space

    March 18, 2021

    Satellite Project Space is honoured to present a focused retrospective by the important artist, educator, and mentor, Sheila Butler. Curated by Pamela Edmonds and Patrick Mahon, the exhibition brings together 20 paintings and works on paper spanning 35 years of artistic production. Presented by Museum London and Arts & Humanities, Western University.

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  • Written on Earth | McIntosh Gallery

    March 04, 2021

    The McIntosh Gallery will be re-opening the gallery by appointment with "Written on Earth" a group exhibition curated by Helen Gregory and project managed by Patrick Mahon, presented in collaboration with the Northern Tornadoes project at Western Engineering. The exhibition features work by Hannah Claus, Joel Ong, and several members of the Department of Visual Arts including, Prof. Patrick Mahon, Ph.D. candidates Ellen Moffat & Eeva Siivonen, and MFA Alum Matthew Trueman.

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  • 息抜き / ikinuki: to relax, to take a breather | Artlab Vitrine

    March 03, 2021

    Currently installed in the Artlab Vitrine: 息抜き / ikinuki: to relax, to take a breather by Holly Granken. Curated and organized by Artlab’s intern, Sam Wagter.

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  • "Paratextual Encounters of Four Kinds: Blade Runner and Cinematic Memory" by Christine Sprengler

    Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, February 16, 2021

    Christine Sprengler's article "Paratextual Encounters of Four Kinds: Blade Runner and Cinematic Memory" now published in the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies.

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  • Sky Glabush | Philip Martin Gallery

    February 16, 2021

    Join Sky Glabush for a 30-minute conversation as he provides a virtual walk through of his current solo-exhibition with the Philip Martin Gallery, "The Caged Lark," Today at 1pm ET on Zoom. Registration required.

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  • Christof Migone: Press Record | OBORO

    OBORO, February 10, 2021

    The works in the exhibition Press Record comment through a sonic filter on micro-gestures and furtive strategies, plastic waste and manufacturing processes, sited scatterings and dispersal systems. Here, sound is present as both potential and material, reference and inference. The exhibition features three distinct bodies of work: Micro (2014), 4 feet and 33 inches (2014-2017), and Record Release (2012-2020). Image: Christof Migone, Tokyo (video still), 2017

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  • Artist Panel Discussion with Patrick Mahon | Dunlop Art Gallery

    Dunlop Art Gallery, February 10, 2021

    Patrick Mahon joins Rachelle Viader Knowles and Sean Caufield of the VacZineNations! project to discuss the role of art as practice-led research in exploring complex geographic and social perspectives on vaccinations.

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  • Symphony of Lights | Artlab Gallery

    Artlab Gallery, February 04, 2021

    Upcoming at the Artlab is Symphony of Lights: An Exploration of Stained-Glass Windows in St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, London, ON. In this exciting collaboration, artist Anahí González, curator Iraboty Kazi, and Dr. C. Cody Barteet explore the visual and aural sensations of being inside St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in London, Ontario. Videos and photographs taken by González during visits to the church inspire explorations of the stained-glass windows in relation to art and local history. This exhibition is a part of Dr. Barteet’s research program, "Preserving the Cultural and Artistic Heritage of St. John the Evangelist, London, Ontario as a Model for the Anglican Diocese of Huron," a project funded by the University of Western Ontario.

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  • Art, up-close and from a distance

    By Debora Van Brenk, Western News, February 04, 2021

    Gallery Manager Ruth Skinner discusses the recent exhibition 'Distance makes the heart grow weak" with Western News. Learn more about how the pandemic promoted a show of 'seperate togtherness'.

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  • The Caged Lark: Sky Glabush | Philip Martin Gallery

    Philip Martin Gallery, January 27, 2021

    Philip Martin Gallery is proud to present Sky Glabush's first exhibition at the gallery. Entitled "The Caged Lark," after a sonnet written by Gerard Manley Hopkins in 1877, Sky Glabush's exhibition features large-scale oil-on-canvas paintings completed by the London, Ontario-based artist over the course of the past year.

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  • Walker Cultural Leaders Series features artists Jamelie Hassan & Ron Benner

    January 21, 2021

    The Department of Visual Arts at Brock University presents, The Walker Cultural Leader Series featuring an engaging talk from artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner on Monday, Jan. 18. View the recorded presentation on the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts YouTube channel.

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  • Prof. Kirsty Robertson receives SSHRB grant

    January 20, 2021

    Congratulations to Prof. Kirsty Roberston for her success in the most recent SSHRB competition for a project titled, "Imagining Change: Three Events for the Centre for Sustainable Curating".

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  • Patrick Mahon's artwork featured on cover of RSC report

    Renewing the Social Contract: Economic Recovery in Canada from COVID-19, January 20, 2021

    Patrick Mahon, FRSC, Messagers’ Series: Satellite II (2018-19) was featured on the cover of the RSC report titled, Renewing the Social Contract: Economic Recovery in Canada from COVID-19. Patrick Mahon’s series entitled Messagers, of which Satellite II is one element, is a set of approximately 15 handmade, wall-mounted constructions made of wood veneer strips, painted silver and grey.

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  • Distance makes the heart grow weak | Artlab Gallery

    By Ruth Skinner, Artlab Gallery, January 13, 2021

    Every few years, the Artlab Gallery at Western University hosts a Faculty and Staff exhibition. These exhibitions are important opportunities for fostering a sense of community in the Visual Arts Department: students are able to see their instructors and mentors at work, and colleagues have a chance to share in each other's research. 2020 was a year like no other, and so the Artlab is leaning into the present with a collective address to this moment of separate togetherness. "Distance makes the heart grow weak" invites faculty, staff and graduate students to speak to how they've been experiencing the last year.

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  • You- | Organized by Christof Migone

    December 08, 2020

    December 12 from noon to midnight GMT (7-7 EST, 5-5 CST, 4-4 PST) on Resonance Extra, Wave Farm, and YouTube Live. A radio-but-not-really-radio event where you and you and you momentarily, tentatively, expectantly share the same nonplace.

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  • Radical Creativity: Trends and Bends in Modern Art and Architecture | Prof. John Hatch

    December 07, 2020

    John Hatch will be delivering a virtual talk to the Fine Arts College of Shanghai University Monday, December 14, titled “Radical Creativity: Trends and Bends in Modern Art and Architecture.”

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  • Distant Practices: Dr. Kirsty Robertson | Forest City Gallery

    November 30, 2020

    Join Forest City Gallery and Prof. Kirsty Robertson on Instagram Live as she discusses art in isolation with local artists. December 3rd, 2020, 7 pm ET on Instagram @forestcitygallery

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  • A Brief Survey of Some Absurd but Critical Moments in Modern Art | Prof. John Hatch

    November 24, 2020

    Professor John Hatch will present a lecture titled: "A Brief Survey of Some Absurd but Critical Moments in Modern Art" at The College of Arts and Media at Tongji University (Shanghai) online, Friday, November 27, 2020.

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  • "Undocumented Migration and Political Community in Susan Meiselas’s Crossings Photographs" by Sarah Bassnett

    By Sarah Bassnett, Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American, November 23, 2020

    Professor Sarah Bassnett has recently published “Undocumented Migration and Political Community in Susan Meiselas’s Crossings Photographs,” Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art 6, no. 2 (Fall 2020), available to all through the open-access, online journal.

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  • The Left Space: Brendan Fernandes | The Art Gallery of Ontario

    By Art Gallery of Ontario, November 02, 2020

    "The Left Space" is a new digital commission by internationally renowned artist and Western University alumnus Brendan Fernandes, created specifically for this moment in time and for the AGO, that considers how we, the global left, have found ourselves in this predicament. Developed and choreographed for webcam and the grid formation of Zoom, custom backdrops by graphic designer Jerome Harris and on-and-off camera sequences will intervene and aesthetically connect a team of dancers from Hit and Run Productions performing from their homes around the world, with a score by DJ Karsten Sollors.

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  • Art Canada Institute announces new book by Chair John G. Hatch

    By John G. Hatch, Art Canada Institute, October 05, 2020

    “Kazuo Nakamura: Life & Work” by John G. Hatch will be released in June 2021 by the Art Canada Institute. Painters Eleven co-founder Kazuo Nakamura (1926–2002) was one of the great Canadian artists of the twentieth century, famous for his muted landscapes and his abstract compositions.

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  • Art Now! Fall 2020 Speakers' Series Announced

    By Department of Visual Arts, September 15, 2020

    The Department of Visual Arts is pleased to present the Fall 2020 Art Now Speakers' Series, which will be offered online, via Zoom Webinar. Links to attend the session and a full list of speakers can be found on the Department of Visual Arts Website. All lectures are free and open to the public!

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  • Messagers' Forum | Thames Art Gallery, Chatham

    Thames Art Gallery, September 01, 2020

    Patrick Mahon's newest exhibition extends from his longstanding practice with print media, sculpture, and art projects that engage themes of environment, and decolonization. With "Messagers' Forum", Mahon addresses a world filled with beauty, contradiction, and injustice to ask two essential questions, "Can we be "Messagers" that connect, build, hope, and dream - together? And if so, "How do we reach across?" Patrick Mahon will be at the gallery to give an overview of the exhibit: Friday, September 18, 2020 at 7:00PM Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 2:00PM Please register as spaces are limited: CKartgallery@chatham-kent.ca

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  • ‘Art whenever they want’ for remote-learning students

    By Jennifer O'Brien, Western News, September 01, 2020

    Visual Arts Pofessor Tricia Johnson discusses her transition to online learning with Western News. Learn more about her approach which includes a voice-thread on her class website asking students to contribute their work and works-in-progress and talk to one another about them.

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  • New Journal Article by Patrick Mahon

    By Patrick Mahon and Annemarie Hou, Imaginations, August 31, 2020

    "Reflecting on the Genesis and Realization of Design for a Dissemunization Station" by Western Visual Arts Faculty member Patrick Mahon and Annemarie Hou, has been published in the journal "Imaginations" as part of the the exhibition, “Immune Nations” exhibition.

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  • Sky Glabush in Conversation with Philip Martin Gallery

    Philip Martin Gallery, July 23, 2020

    Watch a recording of an artist talk by Studio Arts Faculty Sky Glabush hosted by Philip Martin Gallery where he discussed his studio practice, and what he's working on next.

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  • Professor Kirsty Robertson Awarded the 2020 Western University Green Award

    By Brandon Watson, Western News, July 17, 2020

    Congratulations to Professor Kirsty Robertson, recipient of the Western University Green Award for weaving sustainability principles into her course curriculum and focusing on collaboration in the face of an ecological crisis.

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  • "LIFE Magazine in Africa and the Ideology of Modernization" by Sarah Bassnett

    By Sarah Bassnett, photographies, May 20, 2020

    Sarah Bassnett has recently published “LIFE Magazine in Africa and the Ideology of Modernization.” photographies 13, no. 2 (2020): 273-293, DOI: 10.1080/17540763.2020.1734065, available by log-in via Western Libraries for Faculty, Students, and Staff.

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  • Kirsty Robertson awarded 2020 Melva J. Dwyer Award

    By ARLIS/NA, May 04, 2020

    Tear Gas Epiphanies: Protest, Culture, Museums by Kirsty Robertson, an original scholarly examination of the phenomenon of protest within and against Canadian museums, was presented with the 29th annual Melva J. Dwyer Award by the Art Libraries Society of North America’s (ARLIS/NA) Canada Chapter. The book was published in 2019 by McGill-Queen’s University Press (MQUP).

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  • Patrick Mahon awarded SSHRC Insight Grant

    By Paul Mayne, Western News, April 22, 2020

    SSHRC Insight Grants support research excellence by both emerging and established scholars for long-term initiatives. Visual Arts Faculty member Patrick Mahon, was awarded $201,890, for his project "GardenShip and State: Art and the Environment as a Commons".

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  • David Merritt: aweigh | empty gallery

    March 08, 2020

    David Merritt’s ‘aweigh’ opens Friday, March 13 @ 7 pm at 'empty gallery' in Victoria BC. The artist will be in attendance.

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  • Exhibition ‘zeros’ in on Fuller’s view of world | Western News

    By Deborah Van Brenk, Western News, March 02, 2020

    Visual Arts professor Kirsty Roberston, Director of Museum and Curatorial Studies, has led students in creating an exhibition reflecting on the vision of architect Buckminster Fuller. The nine students created individual projects and managed different aspects of the exhibition, including writing essays, graphic design, promotion, marketing and fundraising.

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  • Western University professor's prison sabbatical in Guyana an eye-opener | London Free Press

    By Heather Rivers, London Free Press, March 02, 2020

    On his latest break from the classroom, Western University Visual Arts professor Sky Glabush went to prisons in one of the poorest countries in South America, invited there to help inmates cope with the crushing desolation of prison through art. Not the sabbatical most academics would choose, Glabush said it was a “life-changing” experience. Read the full story via the London Free Press.

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  • Barriers, Borders, and Boundaries in the Early Modern World | Prof. Cody Barteet

    By Cody Barteet, CAA Annual Conference , March 01, 2020

    Professor Cody Barteet Presented a lecture titled: "Barriers, Borders, and Boundaries in the Early Modern World" at the The College Art Association (CAA) Annual Conference in Chicago in February, 2020.

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  • Together We Average As Zero / Take 1 | Artlab

    By Artlab Gallery, February 24, 2020

    Join us for the opening reception of an exhibition was curated by students in MCS4605E, our Museum and Curatorial Studies Practicum Class. Opening Reception: Thursday, February 27 from 5-7PM, at the Artlab Gallery. The exhibition continues February 27 - March 12, 2020

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  • Project opens doors of prisons to creativity

    By Sonia Preszcator, Western News, February 13, 2020

    Visual Arts professor Sky Glabush spent a week of his recent sabbatical in Georgetown, Guyana, helping to pilot a project to bring art to the inmates of Timehri and Lusignan Prisons earlier this month. Read the full story in Western News.

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  • Sky Glabush Paints the Story

    By Chris Hampton, National Gallery Magazine, January 31, 2020

    Sky Glabush, studio faculty member, discusses storytelling, spirituality, and his artistic process with National Gallery Magazine.

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  • Art Now! Presents: Jamelie Hassan & Ruth Skinner

    January 27, 2020

    Art Now! Presents: Jamelie Hassan & Ruth Skinner; Presented in partnership with SASAH. Thursday, January 30, 2020 in Conron Hall, UC 3110.

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  • Studio Faculty Sky Glabush, Visiting Artist Lecture at University of Victoria

    University of Victoria, January 15, 2020

    On January 15, Studio Faculty member Sky Glabush gave an artist lecture at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

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  • Facilities Renewal: The Digital Creativity Lab – Opening Spring 2020

    January 14, 2020

    In response to increased need for digital production and presentation space, The Department of Visual Arts will be undergoing a renovation in January-March 2020 to create a new “Digital Creativity Lab”. This new flex-space will facilitate student and faculty photo, video, audio, and digital production and presentation.

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