“Ask Euan" - Contributor Euan Tait presents a new monthly column on embassyculturalhouse.ca!3/17/2022 As the pandemic continues into a third year, in the midst of multiple global, political and social crises, the Embassy Cultural House recognizes the deep importance of mental health and wellness at this time. In collaboration with Euan Tait, a candidate in MA Counselling Psychology at Western University, our local international ECH community are encouraged to write to Euan for advice:
The advice offered in this column is intended for informational purposes only. Use of this column not intended to replace or substitute for any professional, financial, medical, legal, or other professional advice. If you have specific concerns or a situation in which you require professional, psychological or medical help, you should consult with an appropriately trained and qualified specialist. The opinions or views expressed in this column are not intended to treat or diagnose; nor are they meant to replace the treatment and care that you may be receiving from a licensed professional, physician or mental health professional. This column, its author, the newspaper and publisher are not responsible for the outcome or results of following any advice in any given situation. You, and only you, are completely responsible for your actions. If you require mental health and wellness support, Euan recommends the resources below:
Reach Out, 519-433-2023 or 1-866-933-2023, or web chat at http://reachout247.ca/ with a mental health and addictions professional who can provide information, resources and crisis support (London, Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin counties) Good 2 Talk (1.866.925.5454) Post-Secondary Student Helpline—free, professional and anonymous support for students in Ontario—24/7/365 For other areas in Ontario, use https://www.connexontario.ca/en-ca/ Or use https://togetherall.com/en-ca/ an Online Mental Health Peer Support Community
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The Embassy Cultural House team expresses our profound grief and anger, joining others in the arts and culture community, in condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression and war against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Putin's invasion and occupation are a denial of the legitimacy of Ukraine's existence as a sovereign state. Our hearts go out to the families of all, Ukrainians and Russians, who have already been killed, injured or displaced. The United Nations has estimated that approximately 2.5 million people have been uprooted from their homes and fled into neighbouring countries. The calls for a ceasefire and a stop to Putin's war are reverberating around the world. Larry Towell, an ECH contributor, recently reminded us in an email (received March 10, 2022) that, Florence Nightingale in 1854 travelled to Scutari Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, the base for the British military “due to the news reports of the suffering of wounded and sick soldiers who had no clean bandages, pain killers, nor sanitation… which started the Red Cross. The Crimean War was the first war ever reported on by independent journalism." We encourage our community to consider a contribution to the international humanitarian response by donating to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) or the Canadian Red Cross’ Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal. Canadians have already matched the Government of Canada $30 million pledge as of March 4, 2022. Please visit the following links for more information: Statement by CARFAC Art Canada Institute's recent focus on Canadian artists of Ukrainian background With Russia pressing on and Ukraine digging in, how will Putin's war actually end? “If They Are Crushed, It Will Be Temporary”: What One War Photographer Has Learned From Documenting the Conflict in Ukraine Holding Russia to Account for War Crimes in Ukraine Photo Credit: Larry Towell, Maidan Uprising, February 2014, Kiev, Ukraine
Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge named 2022 Governor General's Award Winners in Visual and Media Arts3/4/2022
The Embassy Cultural House extends our sincere congratulations to Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge, recipients of the 2022 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. Since 2020, Carole and Karl have generously contributed to the Embassy Cultural House's projects which have inspired discussions and continue to enrich our community. This 2022 GG Arts Award recognizes their decades of cultural work and activism, and is well-deserved as they continue to create provocative and collaborative work.
At the core of their artistic practice is a steadfast commitment to represent and give voice to a diversity of class, race, gender, community and labour perspectives. - Nominator Dot Tuer: writer, curator and professor, OCAD University
Carole’s Garden, 2021, Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge's contribution to ECH's Pandemic Gardens. The creation of this recent work is featured in the GG Arts Portrait Video.
The Embassy Cultural House is saddened to share the news of the passing of Tony Urquhart. We celebrate his life and work through a thoughtful contribution by ECH Advisory Member, Judith Rodger. One of the most memorable experiences of my career was a day in 1994 that I spent with Tony Urquhart. We met in his large studio overlooking a pond at his home in Wellesley, Ontario. Our goal was to choose works on paper that would be donated to Museum London. We went through his collection of thousands of drawings from every stage of his career. Urquhart’s practice included daily drawing. Some of these drawings were worked on over days or even years. They often incorporated other media such as watercolour, oil, and collage, but always began with pen and ink. When we chose the work from 1948, Stage Coach, Tony showed me a small book, Canada’s Past in Pictures, written and illustrated with ink drawings by C. W. Jefferys. This book, given to him as a child, was the source of his interest in drawing, he explained. Later works showed the influence of his extensive travels through foreign landscapes, but many of the drawings depicted imaginary places. Still others were working drawings for his inimitable box sculptures. For more information on his life and work, please visit these links to the websites of Museum London and The McIntosh Gallery.
The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) applauds and supports Zexi Li, a resident of Centretown, Ottawa, who has courageously brought a court injunction against the actions of the illegal occupiers of downtown Ottawa, over the “suffering and sound torture" caused by the use of truck horns blaring 24/7 and other disruptions and intimidation.
Zexi Li's courage has continued with a $306 million class-action lawsuit against the organizing participants in the “Freedom Convoy" who can only be described as transnational criminals in their illegal occupation of the city of Ottawa. Please watch this interview with Zexi Li on CBC: Ottawa resident says locals were 'suffering' under convoy occupation This ECH statement of support also acknowledges all of the other residents of Ottawa who organized blockades, on Cooper Street and at Bank St. and Riverside Drive, to stop more trucks and vehicles from entering the downtown area. There is a fund-raising campaign to support the class-action lawsuit: The Ottawa Fund. The ECH urges all those who are able to support Zexi Li and the people of Centretown, Ottawa. See articles in the Ottawa Citizen on the women organizing to “Stop the Occupation" of Ottawa and an article by Archana Rampuse on Feb. 14 on rabble.ca: From the frontlines: Ottawa community blocks trucks headed for downtown convoy. Also: ByWard Market, Sandy Hill residents join class-action suit and Meet the 21-year-old Ottawa woman behind the injunction that silenced the honking. Important statement from Ottawa Cultural Organizations: https://oaggao.ca/whats-on/news/ottawa-local-arts-organizations-united-statement-on-freedom-convoy/
The Embassy Cultural House is happy to share the news of a new Black Community Public Library that is set to open in London, Ontario. To learn more, please click the link below to read the recent CBC article by Isha Bhargava. A new Black Community Public Library is launching in London, Ont., at the end of January, featuring books of various genres written by Black authors from Canada and around the world. The Embassy Cultural House is happy to share this recent testimonial of Brown and Dickson Bookstore written by ECH Co-founder and Curatorial Advisor Jamelie Hassan. Brown and Dickson Bookstore is located in London, ON and has partnered with the ECH through the Cloud to Street program. In addition, both Vanessa Brown and Jason Dickson are also contributing members of the Embassy Cultural House. Check out their lovely bookstore online or in-person! Vanessa Brown and Jason Dickson, the owners of Brown & Dickson Bookstore, have nurtured a sustained relationship with the individuals that make up the communities of London, Ontario. In my independent artist capacity, I have enjoyed their friendship and been witness to their creative endeavours years before the opening of their bookstore. Photo credit: Ron Benner
The infill home at 8 Henry Street, South of Horton (SoHo), London, Ontario, celebrates urban renewal with a contemporary design in a distinctive, downtown neighbourhood. The house marks a collaboration between architect, Bradley Skinner and ceramic artist, Susan Day, whose mosaic installations are represented on murals throughout the city. The impulse to live closer to her downtown studio prompted the move. To view more work by Susan Day, please visit her instagram @susandayceramics.
The Embassy Cultural House presents, Pandemic Gardens: Resilience Through Nature, the first online exhibition of 2022.
Pandemic Gardens is an international and interdisciplinary group exhibition organized by Ron Benner and Rachel MacGillivray, with the assistance of JoAnna Weil, Jamelie Hassan, and Olivia Mossuto. The exhibition explores artworks, coping mechanisms, community engagements and the resilience of the human spirit during the pandemic, through the ways in which people have engaged with gardens and nature. An online zoom launch scheduled for February 5th at 1 PM EST will celebrate the work of Pandemic Gardens. More details will be announced soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this timely programming by clicking the poster or the link below. Dear Embassy Cultural House community,
Please be advised that the team at the Embassy Cultural House will be away for the winter holidays until January 12, 2022. We will return to our regularly scheduled cultural programming in the new year. We are happy to share this image of the 2021 winter solstice in London, Ontario by Judith Rodger long-time arts and culture advocate, writer, curator and member of ECH's advisory circle. Wishing everyone at home and abroad, a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season! The Team at Embassy Cultural House In partnership with Wordsfest is the fourth installment of Sleepwalking: Embassy Cultural House stands with Hong Kong. In-conversation is ECH members Bob Black and Yam Lau with esteemed guests Wu'er Kaixi and Scott Savitt on November 20, 2021 at 7PM. In addition, The Embassy Cultural House and the Words Festival is pleased to welcome acclaimed author Shani Mootoo, who will join artist Richard Fung to talk about her work and recent novel Polar Vortex. The conversation will take place on November 25, 2021 at 7PM on Zoom. To sign up for the talk, please hit the link below!
Queer Cinema for Palestine (QCP) will open its virtual and physical doors for a collectively-curated 10-day film festival celebrating global queer realities and standing in solidarity with Palestinians. QCP will run from 11-20 November and host more than a dozen events across five continents, both online and in person. QCP is a first-time global queer solidarity initiative that offers a vibrant space using art and culture to oppose the ongoing violence of Israeli apartheid. LAND/TRUST: |
The poster for the show acknowledges the great efforts of a few famous dissent-ers. The use of the sign is an homage to the Causeway Bay booksellers, who were arrested and disappeared for selling books. Thank you to all of the contributing artists and writers in this exhibition. A special thanks to angel investors Ron Benner, Jamelie Hassan and Franca Mossuto who have supported this curatorial initiative. |
Sowing Clay brings together communities to create a memorial to land and water defenders killed protecting the more-than-human. Paul Chartrand and Michelle Wilson lead this collaborative project, which calls on participants from across Turtle Island to create a monumental installation. When completed, this memorial will comprise a chain of over 700 open links formed from unfired, locally gathered clay. Each link in the chain will carry one etched name and native seeds mixed into the clay body. When joined together, the links resemble intertwined arms, harkening to non-violent resistance movements and protests.
Sowing Clay's organizers Paul and Michelle view gathering and making sessions as opportunities for critical cross-cultural conversations while honouring those who've given everything to defend the Land. Please sign up at the link below to join one of their workshops at Support Gallery between October 20th – November 6th. Groups will be small in order to ensure masking, social distancing, and vaccination regulations are complied with by all participants.
To sign-up: https://www.gardenship.ca/sowing-clay
ECH/Edna Press Virtual Table from October 18 - 26, 2021
Intercambio/Exchange recognizes the long history of cultural workers in London who, since the 1950's, have had connections with locations in Mexico. Some of the artworks presented conceptually relate to urgent issues of our time, including indigenous issues, the environment and the traditional cultures that are reflected in the arts and culture in both our countries.
Intercambio features artworks and texts by artists working in various formats, including painting, drawing, photography & artist multiples. Research in the communities in London and Mexico and in the ECH's own archives informs this project. Intercambio raises awareness of the international scope of connections made by artists in London, Ontario. In this case, the focus is Mexico, including locations such as Oaxaca, Mexico City, Merida, San Miguel de Allende, and Saltillo, which are important locations to many involved in this project.
Exhibiting artists include Ron Benner, Patricia Deadman, Duncan DeKergommeaux, Mireya Folch-Serra, Anahí González, Gildo Gonzalez, Jamelie Hassan, Carlos Lores, Kim Moodie, Oscar Ortiz, Jenna Rose Sands, and Jean Spence.
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Support is located at 260B Clarence Street in London, Ontario.
The exhibition is open 12 - 5 from Wednesday, September 22 to Saturday, September 25.
The exhibition is open by appointment only Monday, September 27 to Friday, October 17.
A closing event will take place October 18 - details to follow.
The Embassy Cultural House would also like to recognize the support of the London Arts Council in the programming of this project.
For her 40th anniversary, Lorraine will be performing in concert in Montreal, on October 5th at the Cabaret Lion d'Or. For those who are unable to see her concert in person, the event will also be live-streamed and accessible to all.
For virtual tickets, please visit this link: https://lepointdevente.com/tickets/clo211005002
In the generous spirit of Lorraine, the event will also feature nine other musicians on stage alongside her. These musicians include Musical Director Mongezi Ntaka, Assane Seck, Noel Mpiaza, Andre Whiteman, Medad Ernest, Rob Christian, Nadia Theobal, Carine Agboton, and Noam Guerrier brought together for this celebratory event.
ECH SUMMER BREAK
August 9 - September 8
Stay tuned for the fall season as we continue with our extensive programming! Here is a sneak peak of what is to come...
- Another installment of Sleepwalking: 7,000 steps in solidarity with Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor
- Intercambio launches new projects in October
- Partnership with Support Project Space to host in-person exhibitions from September - November
- Partnership with Edna Press for the Vancouver Art Book Fair
- Palestine + The Environment with TPFF (Toronto Palestine Film Festival)
In the meantime, best wishes from the Embassy Cultural House.
Enjoy the warm weather and stay safe!
Organized by Rachel A. MacGillivray and Ron Benner with the assistance of
Jamelie Hassan, Olivia Mossuto and JoAnna Weil
Deadline: Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Live: January 2022
When the world went into lockdown last March, so did my creative brain. I hit a wall in my studio practice that was so thick and heavy I couldn’t even pick up my materials, and nothing I had been making felt important anymore. The only place I came alive was in my garden. Planting gave me purpose, seeds shooting up gave me hope, pulling weeds and clearing land helped me step outside of my worries. We spent 5 months in isolation with our toddler son and most of that time was spent together, planning and tending our gardens – it’s how we survived the separation, anxiety, and pressure. It’s the thing that got us through and we’re not the only ones. Now, it’s time to share our gardens.
Whether your experience was painting fantasy gardens while in lockdown, visiting public green spaces, taking care of a beloved house plant, containers on your balcony, or working in your own garden - tending vegetables, flowers, or weeds - we want to share your experience. Let’s recognize and acknowledge these connections with the natural world.
- Rachel A. MacGillivray, July 28, 2021
I am reminded of an exhibition that Jamelie and I did in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2013 about the Ethnobotanical Garden of Oaxaca, titled The World is a Garden Whose Walls are the State. The title was inspired by a quote from Ibn Khaldun's The Muqaddimah (1377 AD) which was one of the first universal histories of the world…now, the world is a garden whose walls are the pandemic.
- Ron Benner, July 28, 2021
Please submit an image of your pandemic garden experience and include a short statement about the location, date, and your relationship/connection/experience to and with the “garden” during the pandemic.
Deadline for your contribution: September 7, 2021
Image size: 300 dpi, no smaller than 800 pixels on the shortest side.
An artist fee of $30.00 will be paid for each digital contribution.
For questions about the exhibition, email:
embassyculturalhouse@gmail.com
Photo Credit: Rachel A. MacGillivray, In the Garden, 2020
Holubizky has conceptualized this multi-layered project and has written that it " is a tribute to Robert McKaskell and his professional facets as art historian, curator and educator. Rather than memorialize what he did, it is better to channel the spirit and active intelligence, and embody how he thought. Marcel Duchamp is the armature for this exhibition-orchestration. Robert was a Duchampist, although he and I never spoke of Duchamp directly—and perhaps because one never knows who’s listening. In the mid-1980s he devised an “Homage to Marcel Duchamp on the occasion of the centennial of his birth,” mounted at the McIntosh, Forest City and (then) London Regional galleries."
Special thanks to Hugh Barrett, Kelowna Art Gallery, Museum London, and the Art Gallery of Windsor. We also thank all the artist-contributors. All works are courtesy and copyright of the artists, with exceptions and additional credits as noted.
- Lois Andison (Canadian)
- Dianne Bos (Canadian)
- Lynn Dreese Breslin (American)
- Hyang Cho (Canadian, b. Republic of Korea)
- Paul Collins (Canadian, French)
- Christos Dikeakos (Canadian, b. Greece)
- Aganetha Dyck (Canadian)
- Wyn Geleynse (Canadian, b. Netherlands)
- Dave Gordon (Canadian)
- Richard Grayson (British)
- Brad Isaacs (Mohawk and mixed heritage)
- Suzy Lake (Canadian, b. U.S.A.)
- David Merritt (Canadian)
- Ken Nicol (Canadian)
- Gary Pearson (Canadian)
- Alexander Pilis (Canadian, b. Brazil)
- Eric Robertson (Metis/Gitxsan)
- Michael Snow (Canadian)
- Gary Spearin (Canadian)
- Christine Walde (Canadian)
- Jinny Yu (Canadian, b. Republic of Korea)
Before he passed, Bob was living between Port Dover, Ontario and Oaxaca, Mexico. While in Oaxaca he decided to study Spanish and he had just initiated a program of curating exhibits of Oaxacan artists in his apartment located in the centro historico of Oaxaca. We have created a page that highlights the work Bob had begun in Oaxaca within our project called Intercambio/Exchange with Oaxacan artist Lissette Jiménez Díaz, and text written by Marnie Fleming.
Bob taught Contemporary Art History for many years at Western University. He was a huge supporter of both Canadian and international artists and had a commitment to challenging art practices which included conceptual art, performance works and independent artists' projects. While in London, he was involved in programming at the Embassy Cultural House, the Forest City Gallery, Museum London and the McIntosh Gallery. He also worked at the Art Gallery of Windsor, the Winnipeg Art Gallery and and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary where he built strong friendships and made contributions to the arts community across Canada. We have so many fond memories of Bob - especially close to our hearts is the survey exhibition he curated Embassy Cultural House - 1983 - 1990 at Museum London in 2012.
Conversation with Freda Guttman, artist & activist in support of Palestine: May 23, 2021 @ 16:00 EDT
5/18/2021
Freda Guttman, The Earth is Closing in on Us, 2005, this work was included in the March 8, 2021, ECH International Women's Day exhibit: Go; Rise and Strike. From her artist statement: This work fuses archival images of the Nakba with lines of text in red from the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, the great Palestinian poet (1941- 2008). The Nakba of 1948, (‘catastrophe’ in Arabic), created three quarters of a million Palestinian refugees who fled to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The haunting, iconic photographic images of the Nakba evoke the suffering they experienced and still do – imprinted forever are the forlorn lines of forsaken people moving over the horizon into the unknown, at the beginning of their long journey into dispossession and statelessness. Mahmoud Darwish himself shared that journey, having experienced imprisonment, statelessness and exile himself. | The ECH is appalled by the ongoing violence, rising tensions, and the devastating loss of life in Palestine and Israel. The toll —particularly on civilians, including women and children — has already been far too great. Please join us for a conversation with Freda Guttman, Montreal-based artist/activist and Professor Salah D. Hassan, Director of Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities, Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan on Sunday, May 23 at 4 pm EDT. Freda has been a constant voice of solidarity to Palestinian people over a lifetime of activism. She lives in Montreal and has worked as a printmaker, photographer and laterally, as an installation artist. She has been a longtime supporter of the Embassy Cultural House, participating in the 1984 International Women's Day exhibit, as well as our most recent online IWD exhibit: Go; Rise and Strike in March 2021. Her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States and internationally. Guttman has made her art practice and her political activism come together in a series of installations. Among her installations that focus on Palestine/Israel are Diminish Your Cup and Two Family Albums: Canada Park, from 1994 to 2004. Join us in solidarity with all those who support a just peace in the Middle East. We are calling for an immediate ceasefire. As an artist-run project, the ECH condemns the May 15th unjustified ransacking and raid by Israeli Defense Force soldiers on Dar Yusuf Nasri Jacir for Art & Research, an independent art centre in Bethlehem. The raid, which destroyed computers and other office equipment, follows the burning of their urban farm earlier in the week. Attacks against cultural centres and other civil society organizations, including the media, are against international law. |
ECH partner's with the Undergraduate Summer Research Internship Program at Western University
5/15/2021
The Embassy Cultural House welcomes two new contributors to our community: Matthew Dawkins and Mary Helen McMurran. Matthew Dawkins is an undergraduate studying English and Writing, with a double major in the interdisciplinary School for the Advanced Studies in the Arts & Humanities (SASAH) program at Western University. He is also the recipient of Western's Undergraduate Summer Research Internship (USRI). He has joined the ECH as a contributing editor. Mary Helen McMurran is the faculty supervisor for the internship and Associate Professor in Western's Department of English and Writing Studies. Their collaboration with ECH highlights the public humanities and its aim of connecting the university with the city of London as well as a national and international audiences. As part of the internship, Matthew is creating new projects on anti-Black racism for Embassy Cultural House. His George Floyd Project features local Black communities and artists in a commemoration of one-year since Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police. The occasion prompts reflection on the dramatic and far-reaching impact of the Black Lives Matter movement. The ECH is grateful for Western University's continued support. Established in 1983, the ECH was a community-driven gallery and hosted interdisciplinary programs. It closed its physical doors in 1990. In 2020, the ECH was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and community website. |
The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) and the Old East Village Business Improvement Area (OEV BIA) are pleased to announce a collaboration to support and promote local arts and culture in the historic Old East neighbourhood in London, Ontario. The ECH, an online community arts and cultural space, has physical roots and history in east London going back to its original founding as the Embassy Cultural House in 1983, formerly located in the old Embassy Hotel on Dundas St. The site of the hotel is currently being developed by Indwell as the future Embassy Commons, an affordable housing project, to open in the spring of 2022. The Old East Village BIA works to support businesses and cultural programming, alongside citizens of the area. Through the Old East Village Community Improvement Plan, they are a part of the continued development of a vibrant and much-loved part of London. These two organizations have ambitious plans for a community arts program that will both engage local artists as well as future residents of the Embassy Commons, adding to the cultural life of Old East Village. A number of exciting projects are in the planning stages: from storefront displays of art linked to QR codes (#cloudtostreet), to an online exhibition of the art murals of OEV on the ECH website. There are also discussions for a potential arts festival, linked to the reopening of Dundas St., in spring 2022. Stay tuned for updates. Please contact us for more information. |
The old Embassy Hotel was located at 732 Dundas Street East at the heart of the Old East Village. The Embassy Cultural House was established in 1983, as a community-driven gallery and hosted interdisciplinary programs. It closed its physical doors in 1990. In 2020 the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and community website.
On Oct 13, 2020, Susanna Heller wrote to ECH editor Tariq Hassan Gordon: | The Embassy Cultural House is deeply saddened to learn of the death of the remarkable painter Susanna Heller, who passed away on May 5, 2021. Many of Susanna’s paintings involved elaborate installations made up of assemblages of smaller paintings on paper and were based on her walks around the city. Her love of painting and her love of walking were intricately connected. Her sketch books were the notes that reflected her curiosity and intense observation of her surroundings, whether walking around the metropolis of NYC or the cities of Europe. ECH co-founder Jamelie Hassan first met Susanna in 1984 when they were both living at La Cité internationale des arts in Paris through the Canada Council for the Arts. Jamelie remembers her time with Susanna: "Over the months that we overlapped, we enjoyed many conversations about culture and numerous wanderings around the city, so conscious of the way the city and its abundant museums and galleries, parks and gardens, kept us outside walking, rather than working inside our respective studios. "Our group in Paris at the time included my young son Tariq, age 11, Ron Benner, Wyn Geleynse and his daughter Mara, age 11. The Paris Vision ECH tabloid issue from Sept./Oct./ Nov. 1984 records this unusal collection of creative people in dialogue with Susanna over that period. In 1986, Susanna came to London to present a solo exhibition of her recent works at the Embassy Cultural House. Her connections with the London community of artists, writers and curators deepened at that time. "Recently, in October 2020, she reconnected with us and the ECH, presenting one of her startling paintings, Eyes in a Bleak World, 2020 for the open call online exhibition Hiding in Plain Sight coordinated by Ron Benner. In her communications to us she expressed her pleasure to be involved with our reinvigorated collective. Susanna was an inspiring artist, a generous colleague, and a warm and supportive friend. Her death leaves an enormous gap in the arts community both in Canada and the United States, where she had made her home and studio in Brooklyn, NYC." Here is a revealing conversation from Feb. 6, 2020 with her longtime friend Medrie MacPhee that conveys the genuine spirit, humour, intelligence and beauty of our friend and artist Susanna. May she rest in peace. Her website is online here. |
Artist Statement for the work by Susanna Heller "Eyes in a Bleak World" for the ECH's inaugural online exhibit Hiding in Plain Sight launched on October 30, 2020: “Eyes in a Bleak World “ is a recent painting completed in 2020. The sky and earth in this oil painting are dominated by the intensity of two eyeballs wrenched from some creature and which soar comet-like through a scorched and haunted landscape. The power of sight in this painting is menacing and speaks to the destructive state of the world which we are witnessing.
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