Hiding in Plain Sight
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Embassy Cultural House Inaugural Virtual Exhibition
The Embassy Cultural House is pleased to present its inaugural virtual group exhibition: Hiding in Plain Sight organized by Ron Benner. The exhibition focuses on the themes in the book “Hiding in Plain Sight" published in 2020 by St. Louis-based journalist Sarah Kendzior. In her book she describes US President Trump's administration as “a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government." There are many other governments in the world at this time that also fit this description. They are all connected. Participating artists/contribtors include:
Over 75 people attended the virtual exhibition, which was launched on Friday, October 30, 2020 at 2:00 PM EST with Sarah Kendzior in attendance with the artists. 
Please see Sarah Kendzior's recent article in The Globe and Mail, Nov. 5, 2020.
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Shelley Niro, "Buffet", 2016
Launch photos by Fern Helfand:
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Opening Ceremonial Welcome and Acknowledgement of the Treaty Lands of “The Dish With One Spoon"
Dan and Mary Lou Smoke, at the Forest City London Music Awards, September 2020
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We want to begin by saying Welcome to our Relatives to this Launch of the “Hiding In Plain Sight" Arts Exhibit at the Embassy Cultural House, here in Deshkaan Ziibii, known as “Antler or Horn River." (Ojibway Language) We want to say “Beendiigaan" to everyone (“Welcome" in the Ojibway Language) who have joined us today. We begin by bringing our good minds and good intentions to give greetings and to give thanks for this beautiful “Waniise Riio," (“Good Day" in the Mohawk Language, pronounced “Waneese Lee-ohh"). We want to acknowledge the Water, the Earth, the Air and the Fire. These are the four sacred elements of life....From these, the four chemical elements of: nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen form all Creation....We want to acknowledge every form of life from the swimmers, to the plants & medicines, to the air, and to fire; for no form of life would exist without these four sacred elements following their sacred instructions in providing LIFE for all Creation. We also want to give thanks that each of these forms of life are following their sacred instructions. We Humans, have our own purpose and service to Creation, and we contribute that to Humanity and the World....We are all Spiritual Beings having a Human Experience and we strive to be the best Human Beings we can be by following the Seven Grandfather teachings of: Courage; Love; Respect; Honesty; Humility; Truth and Wisdom. We give thanks for the Treaty Lands of “The Dish With One Spoon."
In This Treaty convened in 1701, in Montreal, to cover the land from Montreal to Fort Erie and the Great Lakes watershed, we acknowledge the covenant between the Algonquin Language Family and the Haudenosaune Language Family. We would coexist with the principles of both the Ojibway and the Haudenosaunee. We would eat from the same dish, we would eat with the same spoon, and we would always make certain no one went hungry. (even to contemporary times.) It consists of three basic rules: 1) Take only what you need; 2) Leave some for everybody else; 3) Keep it clean..... This Treaty is the most significant Treaty of Indigenous People because it was made between Indigenous People... Other signatories included the Huron and the Wyandot. The Wampum Treaty Belt was made from wampum beads around 1650 by Seneca People. The dish represented the shared territory; while the spoon represented the wealth of the land. The absence of a knife within this Treaty spoke to the need to maintain peace for the benefit of all. Importantly, all participants in the agreement had the responsibility to ensure that the dish would never be empty by taking care of the land and of all of the living beings on it. The Creator and the laws were integral to the agreement. The Treaty was intended to last as long as the people lived on the earth. Today, is a testament that this Treaty has not been honoured. Indigenous People have not shared in the benefits of the land and have been colonized to the “Just-Us" System of Justice in this country and are seeking truth and reconciliation. Presently there is a land reclamation going on in Victoria Park, in Kitchener called the Land Back Lane campaign for equitable treatment under municipal laws. In Caledonia, there is the “1492 Land Back Lane" Reclamation of land taken under legal power of attorney and such. Both these Reclamations have their origin in “The Dish With One Spoon," not being honoured. Dan and Mary Lou Smoke, October 30, 2020 On Dec. 10, 2020, Dan and Mary Lou Smoke, radio hosts of Smoke Signals received the Atlhosa Peace Awards for their work in truth and reconcilation. |
Introduction
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“I will never settle. I want to settle the score." Sarah Kendzior
In the fall of 2004 I took my friend, the Lebanese film-maker, Jean Chamoun (1942-2017) to see Mark Lombardi's survey exhibition, Global Networks, which was being presented at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. As we walked through the exhibition we came to one of the largest drawings BCCI-ICCI & FAB, 1972 - 91 (Bank of Credit and Commerce International). From a distance of 3 metres, Jean pointed to the artwork, walked up to it and said to me : “Here he is, Rafic Hariri." At the time Hariri was the Prime Minister of Lebanon. Within a month he would resign and 3 months later, on Feb. 14, 2005, he would be assassinated by a truck bomb near the legendary St. George Hotel on the corniche of Beirut. Sometimes a name, a word or a sentence within an article leaps out at you. Such was the case with an article in the Globe and Mail written by Sarah Kendzior on Nov. 17, 2019, “Why the Trump Impeachment Hearings Need To Go Beyond Ukraine". The sentence was: “This is apparently a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government". Since coming across Kendzior's writing in one of Canada's mainstream national newspapers, it now seems that this journalist's writing is no longer featured in the Globe and Mail. Wanting to read more from this honest and courageous journalist, I ordered her two books, “The View from Flyover Country" (2018) and “Hiding in Plain Sight" (2020). In the latter book I found the above sentence was repeated but without the word “apparently", with respect to the Trump administration. As I read the book “Hiding In Plain Sight" the artwork of Mark Lombardi (1951-2000) continued to come to mind along with my fond memories of Jean Chamoun and our times together both in Canada and in Lebanon. As I finished reading Kendzior's book, a massive explosion in the port of Beirut destroyed a large part of the city. Russian oligarchs, black money, death ships, criminal negligence, the duality of ammonium nitrate, corrupt politicians - all incorporated as “a transnational crime syndicate" working in unison to once again destroy the beautiful city of Beirut. So many things interconnect during these COVID-19 global pandemic times. Secrecy, government negligence, insider trading, corporate exploitation, police violence...and then, people being kind to one another, people helping other people, healthcare workers, nurses, doctors, grocery store workers, agricultural workers...and artists, musicians, filmmakers, writers and journalists. The authors I have been reading, or reminded of, all seem to be swirling around me at the moment. Samir Amin, Edward Said, Antonio Gramsci, William Dalrymple, Lauren Wilkinson, Abir Mukerjee, Omar El Akkad, Sarah Kendzior... what can an artist do? Continue to make their art and organize. I thank Sarah Kendzior for her insightful analysis which prompted me to organize this inaugural exhibition for the Embassy Cultural House website after a hiatus of 30 years. This artist-run collective has entered the digital realm. In its earlier physical space, the ECH collective made connections and built relationships across the globe, creating challenging and highly critical “global networks" - programs that countered the insidious circulation of capital and its criminal elements that Sarah Kendzior's writing has consistently addressed. My thanks to Tariq Hassan Gordon who is responsible for starting this journey into the digital archiving of the Embassy Cultural House and my thanks to the contributing editors who have brought their skills and ideas to this archival and exhibition project: Andreas Buchwaldt, Charlotte Egan, Shelley Kopp, Olivia Mossuto, Mackenzie Smith and Jade Williamson, to make the ECH live again - no longer hiding in the boxes of the archive and storage vaults of the museum. I thank all of the artists who have responded at short notice and have supported this virtual project, especially Jamelie Hassan who has been an ally in art and politics for most of my working life. Some of the artists were worried that their work might not be viewed as relevant to the political thematic of this open-call exhibition. Not so. In the Argentina of the 1970's not even the 'love poets' were safe from the monsters of repression. Ron Benner October 16, 2020. Theme Music for October 30, 2020 Launch: “Cattle Call" by King Ganam and “I can see clearly now." Johnny Nash (1940-2020). Also recorded by his friend Bob Marley. |
The Exhibition
Jessie Amery
Jessie Amery, "Hiding in Plain Sight", 2020, chain & running stitch on printed cloth
Artist Statement: I think stitching is a form of story-telling. Each time I look at different forms of needlework, I am reminded of something from my past and, at the same time, I am inspired to experiment in learning something new. I am not limited by the traditional embroidery on fabrics and have expanded my art into embroidering on paper in different ways. Digital technology and the introduction of ink jet fabric allows me to create onto the images, using a variety of stitches to add texture and form to my work. Both traditional and contemporary needlework continue to inspire me to imagine my work in the future. My textile work Hiding in Plain Sight incorporates a computer-generated altered image on ink jet fabric with traditional embroidery stitches, including the chain and running stitch, using cotton threads. Thanks to my daughter Jamile, who has assisted me throughout the process of this exhibition.
Jessie Amery is an accomplished textile artist, based in London, Ontario, and was raised in the building which came to be the Embassy Hotel. She uses embroidery as a form of story-telling, incorporating both traditional stitching and contemporary elements. Amery has contributed widely and deeply to social justice and immigrant concerns in the London community.
Jessie Amery is an accomplished textile artist, based in London, Ontario, and was raised in the building which came to be the Embassy Hotel. She uses embroidery as a form of story-telling, incorporating both traditional stitching and contemporary elements. Amery has contributed widely and deeply to social justice and immigrant concerns in the London community.
Ron Benner
Ron Benner, "Trans/mission: November 17, 2019", 2020; Digital print & mixed media - Oaxacan cochineal & lime juice on watercolour paper
Artist Statement: November 17, 2019. I couldn't get it out of my head. “A transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government". It was a reverberating echo. It was there for months.
In 1992, I returned to Oaxaca, Mexico to research the natural colours of indigo, a translucent blue and cochineal, a deep red, that have been used by indigenous peoples of that region for thousands of years. At that time I began a series of works that continue to this day which also involved return trips to Oaxaca in 2012 and an exhibition at the Biblioteca Henestrosa in 2013. The exhibition included a presentation of related works from my research into native American economic plants and watercolours created in the Ethnobotanical Garden of Oaxaca.
October 8, 2020. I found the Mexican stencils I had used 28 years ago, ground up the cochineal insects, squeezed the limes and mixed them together. I went to work. It was no longer only in my head. It's in yours too.
Ron Benner is both the organizer of the Hiding in Plain Sight exhibition as well one of the co-founders of the Embassy Cultural House in 1983. He is an internationally recognized Canadian artist whose longstanding practice investigates the history and political economics of food cultures. He is also a gardener and writer who currently lives and works in London, Ontario, Canada.
In 1992, I returned to Oaxaca, Mexico to research the natural colours of indigo, a translucent blue and cochineal, a deep red, that have been used by indigenous peoples of that region for thousands of years. At that time I began a series of works that continue to this day which also involved return trips to Oaxaca in 2012 and an exhibition at the Biblioteca Henestrosa in 2013. The exhibition included a presentation of related works from my research into native American economic plants and watercolours created in the Ethnobotanical Garden of Oaxaca.
October 8, 2020. I found the Mexican stencils I had used 28 years ago, ground up the cochineal insects, squeezed the limes and mixed them together. I went to work. It was no longer only in my head. It's in yours too.
Ron Benner is both the organizer of the Hiding in Plain Sight exhibition as well one of the co-founders of the Embassy Cultural House in 1983. He is an internationally recognized Canadian artist whose longstanding practice investigates the history and political economics of food cultures. He is also a gardener and writer who currently lives and works in London, Ontario, Canada.
Andreas Buchwaldt
Andreas Buchwaldt, “Return of the Embassy Hotel", 2020; 360 Degree Photograph
Artist Statement: The Embassy Hotel, the building that housed the Embassy Cultural House (ECH), was demolished in 2009, just before Google Street View was able to document the site. If you go online all you’ll see is an overgrown empty lot with a 6ft surrounding metal fence. Andreas Buchwaldt's Return of the Embassy Hotel tells an alternate story by inserting an archival image of the building’s facade into its original location within the online panoramic mapping tool. To fight against government corruption that hides in plain sight community hubs need more than ever to be visible, be that in a physical space or a virtual one. The reinvigorated ECH project can be one of these hubs again, and we want to be seen.
Andreas Buchwaldt is a multimedia installation artist and freelance labour activist based in Toronto, currently completing his PhD in Visual Culture at The University of Western Ontario (UWO). A common theme running through Andreas’ practice is an interest in networks, exploring ways objects/sounds/people can interact within organized systems.
Andreas Buchwaldt is a multimedia installation artist and freelance labour activist based in Toronto, currently completing his PhD in Visual Culture at The University of Western Ontario (UWO). A common theme running through Andreas’ practice is an interest in networks, exploring ways objects/sounds/people can interact within organized systems.
Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge
Carole Condé + Karl Beveridge, “End Game", 2017; Digital photo
Artist Statement: End Game is a response to the rise of the extreme right across the globe in recent years. Anchored in a xenophobic nationalism, it's also a reaction to neo-liberal humiliation. A political debate, staged as a theatrical production, presents a right-wing candidate mock-shooting a refugee, a neo-liberal appealing to corporate power in the wings, and a social democrat reaching to help the refugee. The corporate figure ignores the neo-liberal politician, concentrating on his end-game: the positioning of an extreme right demagogue to avoid the possible demise of capitalism. The audience is made up of the various political constituencies: supporters of the far right, neo-liberal professionals, and left-wing social movement activists who are about to walk out of the scene onto the streets.
Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge live and work in Toronto. For more than 40 years, they have collaborated with various trade union and community organizations in the production of their staged photographic productions. Their work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally with both the trade union movement and in art galleries and museums.
Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge live and work in Toronto. For more than 40 years, they have collaborated with various trade union and community organizations in the production of their staged photographic productions. Their work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally with both the trade union movement and in art galleries and museums.
Stephen Cruise
Stephen Cruise, “Coat of Arms", 2020; Collage
Artist Statement: Since 2017 have produced a number of collage prints ‘under the influence’ of the 45th president of the US in large part, centered on his presence and the White House residence. Begun in May of this year, Coat of Arms, is a structured as a triptych, which combined a desire to include the facade of the White House book-ended by 2 panels - splashed pink Toronto monuments and the yellow signature of Black Lives Matter. Last elements fell as leaves - of greens and sand traps which have become an almost weekly recognition of his existence. The collage of Coat of Arms involves an accumulation, a moving away from an even page and becoming that of the assemblage of form rising from the array.
Stephen Cruise was born in Montréal, Québec He lives and works in Willowdale, Ontario Canada. He was a founding member of A Space Gallery, Toronto, one of Canada's earliest artist-runs centre. He has exhibited both locally, nationally and internationally and participated in the Biennale Barro de Amèrica in Caracas, Venezuela, 1992, 1995 and 1998. His works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto and The Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa. Stephen is well known as well for his numerous public art commissions in cities across Canada including: shaping Residency 2019, Kitchener, Ontario; Memorial address 2013, Fredericton N.B.; gathering of a same time 2011, Metro Place, Toronto; Familia 2011, H. E. Kennedy Park, Port Credit; indigena domain 2008, Civic Centre, Cambridge; Vessel 2002, Manulife Rec. Centre, Waterloo, ON; after/before 2002, Don Mills Station, Sheppard Subway, Toronto; bell Measure 1999, Odette Sculpture Park, Windsor; stoneWay 1999, Baycrest Centre, Toronto; one hundred links – one chain 1998, Gibson Park, Toronto; Places in a book (6 chapters) 1997, Spadina LRT, Pole Colonnade, Toronto, (Sussex to Wilcocks St.).
Stephen Cruise was born in Montréal, Québec He lives and works in Willowdale, Ontario Canada. He was a founding member of A Space Gallery, Toronto, one of Canada's earliest artist-runs centre. He has exhibited both locally, nationally and internationally and participated in the Biennale Barro de Amèrica in Caracas, Venezuela, 1992, 1995 and 1998. His works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto and The Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa. Stephen is well known as well for his numerous public art commissions in cities across Canada including: shaping Residency 2019, Kitchener, Ontario; Memorial address 2013, Fredericton N.B.; gathering of a same time 2011, Metro Place, Toronto; Familia 2011, H. E. Kennedy Park, Port Credit; indigena domain 2008, Civic Centre, Cambridge; Vessel 2002, Manulife Rec. Centre, Waterloo, ON; after/before 2002, Don Mills Station, Sheppard Subway, Toronto; bell Measure 1999, Odette Sculpture Park, Windsor; stoneWay 1999, Baycrest Centre, Toronto; one hundred links – one chain 1998, Gibson Park, Toronto; Places in a book (6 chapters) 1997, Spadina LRT, Pole Colonnade, Toronto, (Sussex to Wilcocks St.).
Stan Denniston
Stan Denniston, “New Colossus, 1883", 2005/07; Digital photo
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Stan Denniston, “Emancipation Proclamation, 1863", 2005/07, digital photo
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Stan Denniston, “Bill of Rights, 1979", 2005/07, digital photo
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Artist Statement: The saguaro cactus has long been synonymous with the deserts of the American west and a symbol of rugged endurance in a harsh environment. But I chose these cacti, their trunks and limbs cradled and braced, in contrast to that legendary toughness, to add poignancy to their potential as icons of degradation – in this case the degradation of two centuries of political and social achievement in the United States by the actions of the Bush administration. Provoked by my simmering anger, I sought affirmative moments in American history that were obviously, the antithesis of the policies of this disreputable bunch.
Subtly embedded in the skies of these barely coloured photographs are historical texts of social and political aspiration and idealism such as 1863's Emancipation Proclamation, 1872’s Yellowstone Act (creating the world’s first national park), or Lyndon Johnson’s The Great Society speech, 1964, or even The New Colossus, an 1883 poem by Emma Lazarus that graces the base of the Statue of Liberty (“give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…”).
Stan Denniston, artist and art restorer, lives and works in Toronto. Denniston has exhibited extensively throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe and his works are included in many collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada.
Subtly embedded in the skies of these barely coloured photographs are historical texts of social and political aspiration and idealism such as 1863's Emancipation Proclamation, 1872’s Yellowstone Act (creating the world’s first national park), or Lyndon Johnson’s The Great Society speech, 1964, or even The New Colossus, an 1883 poem by Emma Lazarus that graces the base of the Statue of Liberty (“give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…”).
Stan Denniston, artist and art restorer, lives and works in Toronto. Denniston has exhibited extensively throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe and his works are included in many collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada.
Michael Fernandes
Michael Fernandes, “Writing on the Wall", 2020, iPhone video
Artist Statement: The title of the exhibition suggests doing nefarious deeds and getting away with it. Dictators are emboldened to such a degree that they feel free, under the guise of serving the people, to fulfill their own selfish aims. This audacious contempt has become the way of the world - witness the current rise in global autocracy. The short video clip “Writing on the wall” demonstrates a different version -that of an innocent two year old being caught in the act doing what he wants without any ulterior motive. Both father and son cordially agree to cease and desist.
Michael Fernandes arrived in Montreal from his native Trinidad, in the 1960s, to study at the Museum of Fine Arts. He has taught at NSCAD for many years and has exhibited across Canada and internationally including MASS MOCA, and MoMA PS1. His works are included in the collections of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and The National Gallery of Canada. Michael Fernandes received the 2020 Governor General's Award in Media and Visual Arts.
Michael Fernandes arrived in Montreal from his native Trinidad, in the 1960s, to study at the Museum of Fine Arts. He has taught at NSCAD for many years and has exhibited across Canada and internationally including MASS MOCA, and MoMA PS1. His works are included in the collections of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and The National Gallery of Canada. Michael Fernandes received the 2020 Governor General's Award in Media and Visual Arts.
Mireya Folch Serra
Mireya Folch Serra, “The Butterfly Affect", 2020, acrylic & mixed media on canvas
Artist Statement: When I produce a painting, an artifact, it gives information about me. It tells that I like all kinds of images, those in nature like trees, lakes, and flowers and those in books of art, especially the old masters. I reproduce and somehow mix natural images with images of Greek and Roman antiquity, Renaissance artists or 19th Century masters. I like to quote the images close to my heart and sensitivity. I believe in telling a story when I paint, usually, something emotionally charged with an imagery related to themes that intrigue and inspire me. I called it my personal interpretation of Kitsch. “The butterfly effect", for instance, is an event and a natural phenomenon that conveys the beauty and drama of the imagined and the possible. I cannot think of something more intriguing than the fragility and power of butterflies.
Mireya Folch Serra was born during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) in Tarragona, Spain. The daughter and granddaughter of antifascist Spanish exiles she has lived in Toulouse, France, Mexico City and Canada. Since 1994 she has lived in London, Ontario, and for many years she taught geography at Western University. Her publications explore the silencing of collective memory and the lack of historical justice in contemporary Spain. As a retired Professor Emerita, her passion for writing, viewing, and doing art is now a full-time occupation.
Mireya Folch Serra was born during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) in Tarragona, Spain. The daughter and granddaughter of antifascist Spanish exiles she has lived in Toulouse, France, Mexico City and Canada. Since 1994 she has lived in London, Ontario, and for many years she taught geography at Western University. Her publications explore the silencing of collective memory and the lack of historical justice in contemporary Spain. As a retired Professor Emerita, her passion for writing, viewing, and doing art is now a full-time occupation.
Fatima Garzan
Fatima Garzan, “Beyond the Shadows", 2020, mixed media on canvas
Artist Statement: Beyond the Shadows is a reflection on how much the current political moment has radically transformed our physical, psychological and economic lives. We face triple crises of a global pandemic, injustice and systemic racism at a time when financially-motivated autocrats and their extremist parties continue to manipulate the masses to further their own agenda and often immoral goals. Beyond the Shadows is a paper cut-out of life drawings that was created over a long period of time. Although they are far from a perfect rendering of the human body, I treasure these fragile drawings. I have a special bond with them despite not knowing anything about who they are, where they are now or what their story was. To me, they have a divine presence as a constellation of human figures in the space that they refuge. They are citizens, men and women, old and young, who were courageous, vulnerable, and exposed. Some look content or contemplating, and others evoke pain, damage, and displacement; regardless of their situation, all stand tall with a will to survive a natural reaction of the human spirit. They seem to understand, cautiously and somewhat reluctantly, the precariousness of the present moment hovering over them. They have small gatherings and lawfully practice physical distancing - a new era of thinking about how bodies exist in public spaces and at the crossroads of transcontinental politics.
Fatima Garzan is an Iranian-born Canadian artist. Garzan's art practice spans across painting, printmaking, and installations. Her experimentation with an array of materials from paper to plastic, lead her work to different and unexpected concepts. Her work evokes cultural traditions and the power of re-using and recycling materials in an increasingly congested world. Garzan has exhibited in Canada, France, and Iran.
Fatima Garzan is an Iranian-born Canadian artist. Garzan's art practice spans across painting, printmaking, and installations. Her experimentation with an array of materials from paper to plastic, lead her work to different and unexpected concepts. Her work evokes cultural traditions and the power of re-using and recycling materials in an increasingly congested world. Garzan has exhibited in Canada, France, and Iran.
Michelle Gay
Michelle Gay, “Biosphere", 2017, plastic, garden sticks & blue felt
Artist Statement: Huts for Future Living grows directly from my experience as an urban planning activist with the local community group Active18 in Toronto’s West Queen West precinct. I spent a decade thinking about: urban planning, city design, communities, participatory design methods of engaging people in wicked problems, artists’ roles in community engagement. Community members worked together to shape this contested neighbourhood. As practicing artist, this research project is a result of years of complex discussions, readings and thinking about these larger issues – turning to making art objects, digital artefacts to continue to ponder these wicked problems.
These new works focus on urban environment, urban planning and speculate on infrastructures or structures for future living. Excess packaging, trash and found materials are collected then transformed into low-fidelity assemblages and models. These speculative structures are meant to become a method of critical making & thinking around the impact of human-choices on our collective futures and a mediation towards our built environments and city infrastructures. The forms play with new infrastructures - sleds for clouds, a movable beehive, a fishing system, biosphere-maker, water filtration systems, rolling forest, etc.
The original project arc was to simply craft these low-tech, low fidelity models and digitize them. Once digitized, the models, made from found materials, would be recycled. The concept being that the new digital ‘artefacts’ would stand in for the physical models. At this writing I have tried a few modes of documenting these sculptures (photogrammetry, documentary photography, animation and drawing). All models are still hanging out in my studio – as I have not yet found the perfect method of documenting objects for future viewers.
Michelle Gay is an artist, designer, and researcher. She is currently working on a PhD in the Environmental and Urban Change faculty at York University, focusing on Artists as Urban Theorists.
These new works focus on urban environment, urban planning and speculate on infrastructures or structures for future living. Excess packaging, trash and found materials are collected then transformed into low-fidelity assemblages and models. These speculative structures are meant to become a method of critical making & thinking around the impact of human-choices on our collective futures and a mediation towards our built environments and city infrastructures. The forms play with new infrastructures - sleds for clouds, a movable beehive, a fishing system, biosphere-maker, water filtration systems, rolling forest, etc.
The original project arc was to simply craft these low-tech, low fidelity models and digitize them. Once digitized, the models, made from found materials, would be recycled. The concept being that the new digital ‘artefacts’ would stand in for the physical models. At this writing I have tried a few modes of documenting these sculptures (photogrammetry, documentary photography, animation and drawing). All models are still hanging out in my studio – as I have not yet found the perfect method of documenting objects for future viewers.
Michelle Gay is an artist, designer, and researcher. She is currently working on a PhD in the Environmental and Urban Change faculty at York University, focusing on Artists as Urban Theorists.
Wyn Geleynse
Wyn Geleynse, “Private Property", 2020, filmwork
Artist Statement: The work entitled Private Property derived from my musings on the origins of capitalism, which has many origin stories, starting with the Ancient Greeks. What I mean by private property is not properties like clothes, cars, cooking utensils or tools but private ownership of “ground” and all that exists or can exist on it or from it. My studio is located in a light industrial area of the city and I was encouraged in my musings by all the fenced-in empty lots surrounding my studio, which announced their private ownership status by the signage attached to their fences. Also by the developer/investor that owns a great many properties within our city and the surrounding county that are empty or simply unused. I was musing; when did “ground” transition from collective universal sharing to private ownership.
Wyn Geleynse is a multimedia artist living and working in London, Ontario. Considered one of Canada's pioneer film and video projection artists, he has exhibited extensively both in Canada and Europe in a career that spans nearly 40 years. His work raises questions about self and identity, commenting on the human condition with a subtle blend of irony and humanity. Wyn was a member of the Embassy Cultural House (ECH) board and also co-edited the ECH tabloid and curated the film program. He and his wife Lucretia and their daughter Mara were regulars at most ECH events. Today, Wyn is a part of the newly formed Embassy Cultural House Advisory Circle.
Wyn Geleynse is a multimedia artist living and working in London, Ontario. Considered one of Canada's pioneer film and video projection artists, he has exhibited extensively both in Canada and Europe in a career that spans nearly 40 years. His work raises questions about self and identity, commenting on the human condition with a subtle blend of irony and humanity. Wyn was a member of the Embassy Cultural House (ECH) board and also co-edited the ECH tabloid and curated the film program. He and his wife Lucretia and their daughter Mara were regulars at most ECH events. Today, Wyn is a part of the newly formed Embassy Cultural House Advisory Circle.
Alberto Gomez and Dot Tuer
Alberto Gomez and Dot Tuer, “Vendedora de chipacuerito en la ruta" (Tortilla Seller on the Highway) From the series “Corrientes imaginarios", 2016
Artist Statement: The photographic series Corrientes Imaginarios, and its companion series, Espacios de memoria, emerge from the political activism and social commitment of the Kirchnerista years in Argentina (2003-2016), when the governments of Nestor and Cristina Kirchner confronted global neoliberal forces that sought to impose “transnational crime syndicate(s) masquerading as government(s)” across Latin America. This process of unleashing state violence and political impunity in the service of neoliberal economics began in Argentina with the military coup on March 24, 1976. Termed by the military junta “El Proceso de Reorganización Nacional” and undertaken with the complicity of United States’ geopolitics and the hemispheric reach of Plan Condor, this process continues today in different guises on a global scale. These photographic series are dedicated to all those who continue to resist the global sacking and divisive politics of neoliberalism, and to the cultural memory of the more than 30,000 people who were murdered and disappeared during the 1976-83 military dictatorship in Argentina.
In this photograph from the series Corrientes Imaginarios, a woman stares back at the camera in defiance of a subsistence economics and political marginalization. She is the guardian of a boat that once sailed the vast Río Paraná and today lies abandoned and landbound, at once a ruin and a portent of extractivist plundering. Under the wetland pampas of Corrientes lies one of largest aquifers in the world, an object of multinational corporate greed and subject to the devastation of drought and flooding produced by climate change and the burning of the Amazon. The tortilla seller stands her ground against the encroachment of these global forces, while her child steers the ship towards an uncertain future, a beacon of resistance.
Alberto Gomez is an artist, writer, and political activist from Corrientes, Argentina. He is a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Corrientes, where he has played a central role in establishing a Space of Memory in the former military regiment, RI-9. He uses photography, painting and testimonial writing to document cultural memory as a site of resistance and is finishing a book on his experiences as a social activist and political prisoner during the 1970s and 1980s in Argentina. Gomez divides his time between Corrientes and Toronto.
Dot Tuer is a writer, artist, and professor from Toronto, Canada. Her work explores the intersections of cultural memory, decolonial histories, and visual storytelling in Latin America and Canada. She is the author of Mining the Media Archive and Frida and Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting and numerous museum catalogues, book anthologies, and journal essay publications. She is currently working on a video documentary about the RI-9 Space of Memory in Corrientes and completing a book on commemorative artistic practices in Argentina. Tuer divides her time between Toronto and Corrientes.
In this photograph from the series Corrientes Imaginarios, a woman stares back at the camera in defiance of a subsistence economics and political marginalization. She is the guardian of a boat that once sailed the vast Río Paraná and today lies abandoned and landbound, at once a ruin and a portent of extractivist plundering. Under the wetland pampas of Corrientes lies one of largest aquifers in the world, an object of multinational corporate greed and subject to the devastation of drought and flooding produced by climate change and the burning of the Amazon. The tortilla seller stands her ground against the encroachment of these global forces, while her child steers the ship towards an uncertain future, a beacon of resistance.
Alberto Gomez is an artist, writer, and political activist from Corrientes, Argentina. He is a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Corrientes, where he has played a central role in establishing a Space of Memory in the former military regiment, RI-9. He uses photography, painting and testimonial writing to document cultural memory as a site of resistance and is finishing a book on his experiences as a social activist and political prisoner during the 1970s and 1980s in Argentina. Gomez divides his time between Corrientes and Toronto.
Dot Tuer is a writer, artist, and professor from Toronto, Canada. Her work explores the intersections of cultural memory, decolonial histories, and visual storytelling in Latin America and Canada. She is the author of Mining the Media Archive and Frida and Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting and numerous museum catalogues, book anthologies, and journal essay publications. She is currently working on a video documentary about the RI-9 Space of Memory in Corrientes and completing a book on commemorative artistic practices in Argentina. Tuer divides her time between Toronto and Corrientes.
Dave Gordon
Dave Gordon, “Two Donalds", 2019, acrylic on canvas
Artist Statement: I bought a plastic Donald Duck figure at Value Village. It inspired me to paint a portrait of Trump’s head on the duck’s body. I painted the 1st Donald in 2016 before he was elected - smug and smiling. I painted the 2nd Donald in 2019 before the impeachment hearings - surly and scowling. I hope Donald #2 will serve for 2020, too.
Dave Gordon lives and works in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Solo shows include the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Niagara Artist's Centre, St. Catharines, and the Art Gallery of Peterborough. He was a founding member of the Forest City Gallery in London, Ontario and the Modern Fuel Artist Run Centre in Kingston. His work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Canada Council Art Bank, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and in numerous private collections. He had a solo exhibit of paintings at the Embassy Cultural House from June 4 to July 2, 1983.
Dave Gordon lives and works in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Solo shows include the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Niagara Artist's Centre, St. Catharines, and the Art Gallery of Peterborough. He was a founding member of the Forest City Gallery in London, Ontario and the Modern Fuel Artist Run Centre in Kingston. His work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Canada Council Art Bank, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and in numerous private collections. He had a solo exhibit of paintings at the Embassy Cultural House from June 4 to July 2, 1983.
Freda Guttman
Freda Guttman, “Disappearance IV", 2017, embossment on black Arches paper
Artist Statement: I chose the device of embossment to speak about the political act of disappearing people, something that many fascist governments have done and still do. I was inspired by an essay by J.B. Brager called “Bodies of Water". Just as the bodies of Chileans dropped from airplanes during the Pinochet regime wash ashore, just as the 43 Mexican students and their disappearance continues to haunt us, these crimes of disappearance continue to haunt both perpetrators and victims. They are in plain vue.
Freda Guttman is a native of Montreal and she has worked as a printmaker, photographer and laterally, as an installation artist. In more than forty years of active research and practice, her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States and internationally. Freda participated in two Embassy Cultural House exhibitions: International Women's Day Exhibition March 3 - March 21, 1984; and the Silent Auction: A Benefit Exhibition, May 11 - June 3, 1989.
Freda Guttman is a native of Montreal and she has worked as a printmaker, photographer and laterally, as an installation artist. In more than forty years of active research and practice, her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States and internationally. Freda participated in two Embassy Cultural House exhibitions: International Women's Day Exhibition March 3 - March 21, 1984; and the Silent Auction: A Benefit Exhibition, May 11 - June 3, 1989.
Jamelie Hassan
“A TRANSNATIONAL CRIME SYNDICATE MASQUERADING AS A GOVERNMENT",
Jamelie Hassan, “From the Library", 2020, digital photograph
Artist Statement: My books and research - on the Middle East, North Africa and Lebanon in particular have been a significant part of my work. The authors highlighted in the photo on our library shelf address a number of historical, political, social and cultural issues. Over the decades, the people of Lebanon have struggled against the corrupt and criminal elements that govern and undermine whatever reforms could be a benefit to all. Suffering from decades of war, invasions, economic collapse and the pandemic of COVID-19, the most recent traumatic event of the massive Beirut blast on August 4, 2020 at the city's port has added to the turmoil. Lebanon is a devastating example of “a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government."
Thanks to Siba Mulhem for the translation of Sarah Kendzior’s iconic statement into Arabic.
Jamelie Hassan is a visual artist and activist based in London, Ontario. Since the 1970's, she has exhibited widely in Canada and internationally. She is also active as a lecturer, writer and independent curator and has travelled extensively. In 2001 she received a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts in recognition of her artistic achievement. Her activism, curatorial work and contributions to the artist-run centre movement in Canada were also mentioned by the jury in their statement. Jamelie was one of the founders of the Embassy Cultural House.
Thanks to Siba Mulhem for the translation of Sarah Kendzior’s iconic statement into Arabic.
Jamelie Hassan is a visual artist and activist based in London, Ontario. Since the 1970's, she has exhibited widely in Canada and internationally. She is also active as a lecturer, writer and independent curator and has travelled extensively. In 2001 she received a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts in recognition of her artistic achievement. Her activism, curatorial work and contributions to the artist-run centre movement in Canada were also mentioned by the jury in their statement. Jamelie was one of the founders of the Embassy Cultural House.
Fern Helfand
Fern Helfand, “Watching from the North of the Border", 2020, hand-built ceramic columns, with scanned imagery
Artist Statement: Watching From North of the Border is a series of hand-built ceramic columns inspired by what I feel is the very troubling times we are in. In this particular work the columns, (the first having an added triangular pediment reminiscent of the White House) are juxtaposed against images I took of fake ruins on the grounds surrounding the Ringling Brothers’ Florida summer home, Ca’ d’Zan an ersatz, Venetian Gothic Revival based on the Doge’s Palace, Ca’ d’Oro and others. I have long been interested in Jean Baudrillard’s and Umberto Eco’s ideas about the hyperreal, the power of the symbol and the fabricated experience. As the supremacy of mega corporations, governments and mass media push us as farther and farther into the “hyper real” what is left of democracy?
Fern Helfand is a photo-based artist and educator living in Kelowna, BC. Helfand’s art production has always been influenced by environments and cultures, exploring issues addressing cultural observation and commentary, tourism, consumerism and ecology, environmental concerns, racism and the changing medium of photography itself. Helfand was an early supporter of the ECH and had a solo exhibit in 1983 at the ECH, the year the exhibition programs began. She participated in two group exhibitions and many of the subsequent events programmed at the Embassy Cultural House. Today, she is part of the newly formed Embassy Cultural House Advisory Circle.
Fern Helfand is a photo-based artist and educator living in Kelowna, BC. Helfand’s art production has always been influenced by environments and cultures, exploring issues addressing cultural observation and commentary, tourism, consumerism and ecology, environmental concerns, racism and the changing medium of photography itself. Helfand was an early supporter of the ECH and had a solo exhibit in 1983 at the ECH, the year the exhibition programs began. She participated in two group exhibitions and many of the subsequent events programmed at the Embassy Cultural House. Today, she is part of the newly formed Embassy Cultural House Advisory Circle.
Susanna Heller
Susanna Heller, “Eyes in a Bleak World", 2020, oil paint, mixed media on canvas
Artist Statement: “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.
Susanna Heller is an American citizen who grew up in Montreal as a landed immigrant and, since 1980, has lived in Brooklyn, NY. The “metropolis" has been the primary source of inspiration for Susanna, and her work is represented in both public and private collections including, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Air Canada Corporation; the Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa; Concordia University Art Gallery, Montreal; Museum London; and Oakville Galleries. Following meeting Ron Benner, Jamelie Hassan, and Wyn Geleynse in Paris in 1984, a long-standing friendship began with the artists of the Embassy Cultural House. Susanna was invited to present a solo exhibition Recent Works at the ECH in 1986.
Susanna Heller is an American citizen who grew up in Montreal as a landed immigrant and, since 1980, has lived in Brooklyn, NY. The “metropolis" has been the primary source of inspiration for Susanna, and her work is represented in both public and private collections including, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Air Canada Corporation; the Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa; Concordia University Art Gallery, Montreal; Museum London; and Oakville Galleries. Following meeting Ron Benner, Jamelie Hassan, and Wyn Geleynse in Paris in 1984, a long-standing friendship began with the artists of the Embassy Cultural House. Susanna was invited to present a solo exhibition Recent Works at the ECH in 1986.
S F Ho
S F Ho, “Money Mirror", 2020, digital photo
Artist Statement: “Now money, when it moves into a new tribe, very quickly creates an image of the food, craft, and work there: it gathers around them, holds to them, stays away from the places where none are to be found, and clots near the positions where much wealth occurs. Yet, like a mirror image, it is reversed just as surely as the writing of a piece of paper is reversed when you read its reflection on a boy’s belly. For both in time and space, where money is, food, work, and craft are not: where money is, food work and craft either will shortly be, or in the recent past were. But the actual place where the coin sits, fills a place where wealth may just have passed from, or may soon pass into, but where it cannot be now—by the whole purpose of money as an exchange object."
Quote from Samuel Delany, “The Tale of Old Venn,” Tales of Nevèryon Series
S F Ho is an artist living on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ peoples. They’re into community building, books, and being sort of boring. They recently published a short novella about aliens, love and boundaries called George the Parasite.
Thanks to Helen Chau Bradley for assistance with this work.
Quote from Samuel Delany, “The Tale of Old Venn,” Tales of Nevèryon Series
S F Ho is an artist living on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ peoples. They’re into community building, books, and being sort of boring. They recently published a short novella about aliens, love and boundaries called George the Parasite.
Thanks to Helen Chau Bradley for assistance with this work.
Tricia Johnson
Tricia Johnson, “Oval Office”, 2020, etching & letterpress on kozo paper
Artist Statement: The idea of “Hiding in Plain Site", combined with the phrase “a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government" recalled the many photo ops in the Oval Office, in front of the fireplace, of presidents, both past and present, with numerous world leaders. As a printmaker, I appreciate how etching and letterpress can appear to convey that past and present and with the combination of this specific image and text, the artwork cannot be located only in this present time.
Tricia Johnson currently resides in London, Ontario, where she is an Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Chair in the Department of Visual Arts at Western University, teaching Foundations of Visual Arts and Print Media. Her artwork includes both traditional and experimental printmaking alongside her explorations into paper-based fiber art.
Tricia Johnson currently resides in London, Ontario, where she is an Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Chair in the Department of Visual Arts at Western University, teaching Foundations of Visual Arts and Print Media. Her artwork includes both traditional and experimental printmaking alongside her explorations into paper-based fiber art.
George Kubresli
George Kubresli, “Portrait of a Refugee", from the series “The Roads of Death in the Winter", 2020, watercolour on paper
Artist Statement: War makes people homeless and lost without a map leading them to their destination. War is the awareness that separates us from our earthly world, war makes man a refugee at the gates of the metaphysical world, the world of Gods, in search of those who have pity on us. Painting, in my humble opinion, is the most expressive means of depicting the sensory and intellectual matters within the person. The presence of a person within a certain social and cultural framework may prevent him from expressing many feelings and ideas, just because they contradict the cultural and social framework of the society.
George Kubresli was raised in Damascus, the capital of Syria, which is one of the oldest inhabited capitals in the world. In late 2013, he and his family made the hardest decision: to flee their land. This was made possible by the financial aid from relatives and friends in order to purchase the necessary tickets to relocate to Lebanon; followed by a move to Turkey, and finally to Canada. George Kubresli completed his Master’s Degree in Fine Art at Western University in 2020. His book titled, “The Hell of Boiling Red" was self-published in 2020 and is available through the artist.
George Kubresli was raised in Damascus, the capital of Syria, which is one of the oldest inhabited capitals in the world. In late 2013, he and his family made the hardest decision: to flee their land. This was made possible by the financial aid from relatives and friends in order to purchase the necessary tickets to relocate to Lebanon; followed by a move to Turkey, and finally to Canada. George Kubresli completed his Master’s Degree in Fine Art at Western University in 2020. His book titled, “The Hell of Boiling Red" was self-published in 2020 and is available through the artist.
Suzy Lake
Suzy Lake, “Back-Room Boys", 2019, digital photo
Artist Statement - Game Theory: Global Gamesmanship: Game theory has been used to analyze and calculate best possible strategies by participants in circumstances where their interests are at least in part conflicting. Chess is considered to be a ‘strictly competitive game’. It is a prime example of the thought process behind zero-sum strategies that are used to maximize one’s position at the loss of the other. Zero sum tactics are not limited to games. These lines of approach can be found as templates in economic, political and corporate strategies wherein something is lost, and something is gained. The gain is to win at all cost.
In 2016, I had the opportunity to see the Lewis Chess collection at the British Museum. I was quickly drawn to the Queen’s pose over what is lost as she is positioned amongst the medieval oligarchs. I chose to stand with the Queen’s despair over the collateral damage in this photographic series. To quote historian, Nancy Marie, she writes, “everyone can agree that the Lewis queens do not look pleased. Though not warrior women, they are women at war.” How can I counter the current behavior surrounding extreme nationalist or libertarian policies that are nurturing elitist nationalism, racism, anti-feminism, and homophobia?
Suzy Lake is originally from Detroit, Michigan, USA and since 1968 has made Canada her home. She completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at Concordia University, Montreal in 1980. She is an internationally recognized artist presently based in Toronto, Canada. Lake is known to be among the first female artist to adopt performance, video, and photography to explore the politics of gender, aging, the body, and identity. In 1985, Lake had a solo exhibition, Recent Work, at the Embassy Cultural House.
In 2016, I had the opportunity to see the Lewis Chess collection at the British Museum. I was quickly drawn to the Queen’s pose over what is lost as she is positioned amongst the medieval oligarchs. I chose to stand with the Queen’s despair over the collateral damage in this photographic series. To quote historian, Nancy Marie, she writes, “everyone can agree that the Lewis queens do not look pleased. Though not warrior women, they are women at war.” How can I counter the current behavior surrounding extreme nationalist or libertarian policies that are nurturing elitist nationalism, racism, anti-feminism, and homophobia?
Suzy Lake is originally from Detroit, Michigan, USA and since 1968 has made Canada her home. She completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at Concordia University, Montreal in 1980. She is an internationally recognized artist presently based in Toronto, Canada. Lake is known to be among the first female artist to adopt performance, video, and photography to explore the politics of gender, aging, the body, and identity. In 1985, Lake had a solo exhibition, Recent Work, at the Embassy Cultural House.
Patrick Mahon
Patrick Mahon, “TA-WP (Suggestion #1)” 2020, collage with digital photo & printed wood veneer
Artist Statement: This is a collage made with an Internet-sourced image of a textile ‘crest’ that references the 2004 American-German comedy, “Team America: World Police.” The movie used puppets in a satire of action films to skewer the global effects of US foreign policy. Its title invokes the criticism that the US frequently and unilaterally tries to ‘police the world.’ In my work, I have interwoven the circular crest with digitally printed wood veneer strips embellished with details of an image of an urban garden, which appears as a dot pattern that resembles a textile. The proposition my artwork’s title asserts its, “suggestion,” alludes to the fact that, in addition to American foreign policy overpowering those of other, often poorer nations, it also serves to undermine global environmental efforts. I intend my work to partially ‘hide’ or disrupt a reminder of this dominance, and instead foreground a subtle image of growth and (re)generation.
Patrick Mahon is an artist, a writer/curator, and a Professor of Visual Arts at Western University, in London, Ontario. Mahon’s artwork has been exhibited widely: in Canada at The Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Museum London, The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto; internationally in exhibitions in China, France, Norway, and Switzerland; and in numerous print biennales since the early 1990’s.
Patrick Mahon is an artist, a writer/curator, and a Professor of Visual Arts at Western University, in London, Ontario. Mahon’s artwork has been exhibited widely: in Canada at The Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Museum London, The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto; internationally in exhibitions in China, France, Norway, and Switzerland; and in numerous print biennales since the early 1990’s.
Doug Mitchell
Doug Mitchell, Detail: “#1 Dundas St. Forks of the Thames", 2005, mixed media on translucent paper, plexiglass and hardware
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Doug Mitchell, “#1 Dundas St. Forks of the Thames", 2005, mixed media on translucent paper, plexiglass and hardware
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Artist Statement: #1 Dundas St. is part of an installation which took place at a small brick cottage at that address. I found it interesting that the room where I was to install my work had a single window which overlooked the forks of the Deshkan Ziibi/Thames River. I thought about how over the time of the window's existence it was a constant observer of the location and as well the city of London's relatively short history. I assembled images, historic maps and writing about London which included text from Buckminster Fuller's “Future Study of London" as well as quotations from the poetry of Robert Fones, Michael Ondaatje and James Reaney all of whom had strong ties to London. It is very easy to lose sight of the significance of the characteristics, culture and history of a location and it's connection to what has come before and what will come after, which is the girdled tree.
Doug Mitchell is a London, Ontario-based multimedia artist who works with many different mediums such as painting, sculpture, sound, photography and illustrations. He has recently retired from his position at Western University as the Sculpture Studio instructor. Currently, he works full time as an artist. His contributions at the Embassy Cultural House, as a curator included Tom Benner’s exhibit: The Coves, and poet Christopher Dewdney’s: Landscape Reading in April, 1990. Mitchell also exhibited at the Embassy Cultural House, including the Silent Auction and Recent Works in 1984, and a benefit exhibition in 1989.
Doug Mitchell is a London, Ontario-based multimedia artist who works with many different mediums such as painting, sculpture, sound, photography and illustrations. He has recently retired from his position at Western University as the Sculpture Studio instructor. Currently, he works full time as an artist. His contributions at the Embassy Cultural House, as a curator included Tom Benner’s exhibit: The Coves, and poet Christopher Dewdney’s: Landscape Reading in April, 1990. Mitchell also exhibited at the Embassy Cultural House, including the Silent Auction and Recent Works in 1984, and a benefit exhibition in 1989.
Kim Moodie
Kim Moodie, "Time Pile" (detail), 2008, India ink on paper
Artist Statement: Time Pile depicts a wasteland littered with tools, weapons, fabricated objects, boats, helicopters and fallen stars. Wandering about are spacemen, with weapons, cameras, tools and collected stars. They represent the soldiers, miners and collectors of the future. In the center of the drawing is a very large pile/pyramid of clock/coins. Sitting on it is a cowboy holding a wind up clock and a spaceman holding a star with a lighted match. The clock/coins represent the reaping of the time and values of others. The litter and the barren landscape are what is left. The drawing is done in a horror vacui style, difficult to read overall, like a dim memory. The renderings of the cowboy, spacemen and various objects should imply different time periods and indicate these activities happen over and over. The drawing is meant to be a critique of colonialism, greed, and concepts of manifest destiny.
Kim Moodie has been a London-based artist since 1978. Having retired as Professor Emeritus from the University of Western Ontario, he now focuses solely on his art practice. His work is held by many collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Museum London, the McIntosh Gallery and the Algoma Art Gallery. Kim Moodie’s exhibition “Signs and Symbols,” was the inaugural exhibition at the Embassy Cultural House in 1983.
Kim Moodie has been a London-based artist since 1978. Having retired as Professor Emeritus from the University of Western Ontario, he now focuses solely on his art practice. His work is held by many collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Museum London, the McIntosh Gallery and the Algoma Art Gallery. Kim Moodie’s exhibition “Signs and Symbols,” was the inaugural exhibition at the Embassy Cultural House in 1983.
Catherine Morrisey
Catherine Morrisey, “Golden Bunnies”, September 2020, oil on canvas
Artist Statement:
Beware of Golden Bunnies.
Be not lulled by their charm.
They will disappear in the blink of an eye.
But their tracks will go
To their Rabbit Hole
If you follow
You will learn where they hide
their Offshore
Numbered Bank Accounts.
Catherine Morrisey has been a vibrant part of the London community for many years. Her varied work as a librarian, a curator at the London Regional Art & History Museum (now Museum London), an instructor at Fanshawe College, and in property restoration has enriched her current artistic practice. At present, the woods, river and garden behind Catherine Morrisey’s studio provide endless subject matter for her oil paintings.
Beware of Golden Bunnies.
Be not lulled by their charm.
They will disappear in the blink of an eye.
But their tracks will go
To their Rabbit Hole
If you follow
You will learn where they hide
their Offshore
Numbered Bank Accounts.
Catherine Morrisey has been a vibrant part of the London community for many years. Her varied work as a librarian, a curator at the London Regional Art & History Museum (now Museum London), an instructor at Fanshawe College, and in property restoration has enriched her current artistic practice. At present, the woods, river and garden behind Catherine Morrisey’s studio provide endless subject matter for her oil paintings.
Olivia Mossuto
Olivia Mossuto, “No Colony for Despair", 2020, watercolour & india ink on stonehenge paper
Artist Statement: The images, with their own concerns and truths, feel important amalgamated and as disparate forces. The composition takes form through Matisse’s French Window at Collioure. I am looking out the window, and I cannot decide if the vast darkness of night is inviting or resistant. It marks a world that is re-orienting in the face of political upheaval and empathetic action. It marks a world that is descending into apathy and operating on greed. The window shifts into a book, filled with narrative, gospel, and fiction. At some point in a hellish four years, a man raises the book skyward in a dramatization of morality. The tether between worlds grows fraught, strained. In the back of my mind, filmmaker Werner Herzog’s cool, pointed voice rings, “The one in the center, he would neither go towards the feeding grounds at the edge of the ice, nor return to the colony.” I believe we have the obligation as a colony, to deal with the deranged anomaly - the rogue shape shifter exacerbating/inciting/encouraging descent into chaos and non-truths.
Olivia Mossuto is an emerging artist, curator, and writer based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Her practice engages painting, sculpture, and installation as a way to conceptualize affective and intimate encounters with beings, images, and objects. She has exhibited work in London, UK; London, Canada, and Toronto, Canada. She is currently completing her MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art Design in London, UK, and is also a contributing editor for the Embassy Cultural House.
Olivia Mossuto is an emerging artist, curator, and writer based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Her practice engages painting, sculpture, and installation as a way to conceptualize affective and intimate encounters with beings, images, and objects. She has exhibited work in London, UK; London, Canada, and Toronto, Canada. She is currently completing her MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art Design in London, UK, and is also a contributing editor for the Embassy Cultural House.
Kim Neudorf
Kim Neudorf, "masquerading as a", 2020, watercolour & acrylic on paper
Artist Statement: “masquerading as a" responded intuitively to the Sarah Kendzior quote used in the exhibition's premise. The garish pooling of colours around the text both holds it in place and threatens to engulf it, creating an atmosphere around the words that is garish and loud, yet unstable.
Kim Neudorf’s writing and paintings explore themes of resilience, healing, and survival, while seeking to undo easy legibility in order to honour the daily, more complicated modes of visibility and existence. Their work has appeared most recently at Support project space, London ; DNA Gallery, London, ON; Paul Petro, Toronto; Franz Kaka, Toronto; Forest City Gallery, London, ON; Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, Kingston; Evans Contemporary Gallery, Peterborough; and Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto. They live and maintain a writing and studio practice in London (ON).
Kim Neudorf’s writing and paintings explore themes of resilience, healing, and survival, while seeking to undo easy legibility in order to honour the daily, more complicated modes of visibility and existence. Their work has appeared most recently at Support project space, London ; DNA Gallery, London, ON; Paul Petro, Toronto; Franz Kaka, Toronto; Forest City Gallery, London, ON; Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, Kingston; Evans Contemporary Gallery, Peterborough; and Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto. They live and maintain a writing and studio practice in London (ON).
Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro, “Buffet", 2016, digital photo
Artist Statement: I have been collecting Indian Head Nickels for quite a few years now. If I see one or many in a flea market or at an antique mall I can’t resist acquiring them. The male head is attractive and looks healthy. Reading the history of these portrayals makes me sad, however. They are a culmination of four different men. I’m supposing they liked the eyes of one, the ears of another, the chin and nose from a different source and the perfectly rounded head of another to allow the braided hair and the feather attached to the head to fall in a balanced manner. Beauty is the wanted feature here. The Indian Head Nickel was created to pay tribute to the vanishing Indian race. The sad part is that many Indigenous people were in a state of despair. Placed on Indian reservations their economic situations were controlled and limited. Often they couldn’t leave their reserves in pursuit of jobs and the jobs they did find were on a lower pay scale.
On the flip side of the coin, there is the buffalo. This is an appropriate feature as the buffalo had been decimated in the 19th century, leaving the majority of Native people with no food to hunt or depend on. Starvation was a key factor in controlling the reservation’s inhabitants.
I’ve studied these small remnants of history of the United States and appreciate the scratches and scars each one of them have. I wonder what their own history is. Where have they been and the stories they could tell. Time has moved on and gradually the Native/Indigenous population is increasing once again.
Behind the head I’ve placed words that say money in different languages. It feels like North America has been a place where every country in the world has come here to take part in the stripping down, and consuming the resources that this continent has to offer. Much like a buffet, the gates have been open for the taking away and the taking away. Will it ever stop? They are now exploring the moon for water.
Shelley Niro is a multi-disciplinary artist who lives and works in Brantford, Ontario. She is a member of the Six Nations Reserve, Bay of Quinte Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) Nation, Turtle Clan. Her practice consists of a range of media, including photography, beadwork, film, installation, and painting. Her work challenges the expectations and stereotypes of Indigenous peoples and her prolific and artistic legacy has been aptly recognized by many organizations across Canada and internationally. Shelley Niro debuted her video work at the Venice Biennale in 2003. In 2012, Shelley was the inaugural recipient of the Aboriginal Arts Award presented through the Ontario Arts Council. She was the winner of the 2017 Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts and in the same year she received the Scotiabank Photography Award.
On the flip side of the coin, there is the buffalo. This is an appropriate feature as the buffalo had been decimated in the 19th century, leaving the majority of Native people with no food to hunt or depend on. Starvation was a key factor in controlling the reservation’s inhabitants.
I’ve studied these small remnants of history of the United States and appreciate the scratches and scars each one of them have. I wonder what their own history is. Where have they been and the stories they could tell. Time has moved on and gradually the Native/Indigenous population is increasing once again.
Behind the head I’ve placed words that say money in different languages. It feels like North America has been a place where every country in the world has come here to take part in the stripping down, and consuming the resources that this continent has to offer. Much like a buffet, the gates have been open for the taking away and the taking away. Will it ever stop? They are now exploring the moon for water.
Shelley Niro is a multi-disciplinary artist who lives and works in Brantford, Ontario. She is a member of the Six Nations Reserve, Bay of Quinte Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) Nation, Turtle Clan. Her practice consists of a range of media, including photography, beadwork, film, installation, and painting. Her work challenges the expectations and stereotypes of Indigenous peoples and her prolific and artistic legacy has been aptly recognized by many organizations across Canada and internationally. Shelley Niro debuted her video work at the Venice Biennale in 2003. In 2012, Shelley was the inaugural recipient of the Aboriginal Arts Award presented through the Ontario Arts Council. She was the winner of the 2017 Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts and in the same year she received the Scotiabank Photography Award.
Troy Ouellette
Troy David Ouellette, 2016 "Platform", detail, archival digital print. Over-all view of work to right
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Artist Statement: Taken from the 2016 US Republican Party Platform, before the election, I reworked the text using a font prominent at the height of National Socialist power during the 1930s. My contention was that the excessive media memes of Donald Trump created a diversion away from the real intent of the party, which is contained in their platform. Anyone who reads this would be astounded by the language and the simplicity of the arguments that bear a resemblance to other altra-right movements. From a short distance, the image to the right, the white 4pt text on the black ground looks like small particles. As one examines it more closely they are able to read the fine print that gives details regarding the direction that the party itself wants to take an entire country. My contention is that this platform alone should have been cause for alarm but few in the media actually conveyed the meaning of the document.
Troy David Ouellette is an artist/researcher specializing in Assemblage theory, technology and conceptual art. He received his PhD, in Visual Arts, from York University in 2014 and his M.F.A. from the University of Windsor in 2007. He has taught Design, Sculpture and undergraduate courses at various universities and colleges in Southern Ontario. From 1999 until 2006 he was the Sculpture Facilitator, at the Banff Centre for the Arts, in Banff Alberta. His work has been included in several solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Australia and the United States. He resides in St. Catharines, Ontario where he is Assistant Professor of Media Art & Design at Brock University.
Troy David Ouellette is an artist/researcher specializing in Assemblage theory, technology and conceptual art. He received his PhD, in Visual Arts, from York University in 2014 and his M.F.A. from the University of Windsor in 2007. He has taught Design, Sculpture and undergraduate courses at various universities and colleges in Southern Ontario. From 1999 until 2006 he was the Sculpture Facilitator, at the Banff Centre for the Arts, in Banff Alberta. His work has been included in several solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Australia and the United States. He resides in St. Catharines, Ontario where he is Assistant Professor of Media Art & Design at Brock University.
June Pak
June Pak, "Observation 1", 2020,
video
Artist Statement: This video came about soon after the WHO (World Health Organization) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. In Canada, all non-essential businesses were closed and the country was basically under stay at home orders. Under the definition of “essential”, those who continued to work were in finance, transportation, health, construction, agriculture, and service and maintenance works.
In this piece, a video camera is set up outside of a brightly lit lobby of Canada Trust, one of the largest banks in Canada. As you look closely, you see a small red rectangle following a figure. In comparison to the massive scale of the lobby, she is almost invisible. I had to add the red marking on top of her to protect her identity and, more importantly, so we don’t miss her presence. Invisible labour that we hardly pay attention to is now what’s keeping the city running during this time of fear and uncertainty.
June Pak was born in Seoul, South Korea, and now lives in Toronto. Coming from her personal experience of living in Canada as a Korean-Canadian, the hyphenated identity is a central theme in her practice. Her multi-disciplinary works have been shown in Canada and abroad. She received numerous grants for her projects from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council. Pak teaches as a part-time lecturer at the University of Toronto and OCAD University.
In this piece, a video camera is set up outside of a brightly lit lobby of Canada Trust, one of the largest banks in Canada. As you look closely, you see a small red rectangle following a figure. In comparison to the massive scale of the lobby, she is almost invisible. I had to add the red marking on top of her to protect her identity and, more importantly, so we don’t miss her presence. Invisible labour that we hardly pay attention to is now what’s keeping the city running during this time of fear and uncertainty.
June Pak was born in Seoul, South Korea, and now lives in Toronto. Coming from her personal experience of living in Canada as a Korean-Canadian, the hyphenated identity is a central theme in her practice. Her multi-disciplinary works have been shown in Canada and abroad. She received numerous grants for her projects from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council. Pak teaches as a part-time lecturer at the University of Toronto and OCAD University.
Doris Purchase
Doris Purchase, "Wall", 2015, mixed media – canvas, wire, frame, hidden objects in cabinet
Artist Statement: “Wall" is a piece that has changed its meaning for me over time. It began as an irony piece. Where is the art work? - what is the art hiding? Where is the back, where is the front, where is both at the same time? It makes one wonder what is beyond that hodgepodge of a door. You see it but you can’t access it, well you could but do you want to? Are you allowed?
It began as a personal story piece - revealing a bit about myself - Wall has opened my mind to new ideas. I have viewed it in new ways because of what I have seen and learned as an art educator since 2015. I have been known to hide money from time to time - I have a nostalgic mind for mystery movies and stories that at some point reveal that behind the painting on the wall in the study is a safe, and in that safe, perhaps, a clue to more mysteries. I really love those walls that move to reveal a hidden chamber too.
As time passed I was made aware of both a need to address frames and understand their role in art history and within colonialism. For the most part, a frames role is to not be noticed, yet support the artwork, compliment the art with colour, keep the art from being damaged, and so that the artwork could be hung on a wall. Frames also have unnoticed power, even power to stir up trouble - because of an indulgence in gold (think of the Sun King) and all that felled wood or because they have been put on a fake to make it seem like the real thing.
I realize to cut frames, or turn frames backwards (as in this case), is to make one notice them, but that in doing so also represents a subversiveness. The wire that hangs art is similar - it is most certainly a hidden aspect to hanging - I want it to be noticed. Having it strung across the hiding place is to create a subtle barrier and to remind us that the piece is an artwork after all and as we know - you don’t touch the artwork, and yes, people hide things - It’s no secret here.
Doris Purchase, born in Winnipeg, is a Toronto-based mixed-media artist who has degrees from Ontario College of Art and the University of Guelph. Her work has appeared in multiple Toronto galleries, and she has participated in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. She received a Jury Award from Latcham Gallery in 2018. Doris's work is predominantly conceptual and draws on the materiality behind a painting; by focusing on artists’ materials, she invokes conversations about western ideals and questions our value system.
It began as a personal story piece - revealing a bit about myself - Wall has opened my mind to new ideas. I have viewed it in new ways because of what I have seen and learned as an art educator since 2015. I have been known to hide money from time to time - I have a nostalgic mind for mystery movies and stories that at some point reveal that behind the painting on the wall in the study is a safe, and in that safe, perhaps, a clue to more mysteries. I really love those walls that move to reveal a hidden chamber too.
As time passed I was made aware of both a need to address frames and understand their role in art history and within colonialism. For the most part, a frames role is to not be noticed, yet support the artwork, compliment the art with colour, keep the art from being damaged, and so that the artwork could be hung on a wall. Frames also have unnoticed power, even power to stir up trouble - because of an indulgence in gold (think of the Sun King) and all that felled wood or because they have been put on a fake to make it seem like the real thing.
I realize to cut frames, or turn frames backwards (as in this case), is to make one notice them, but that in doing so also represents a subversiveness. The wire that hangs art is similar - it is most certainly a hidden aspect to hanging - I want it to be noticed. Having it strung across the hiding place is to create a subtle barrier and to remind us that the piece is an artwork after all and as we know - you don’t touch the artwork, and yes, people hide things - It’s no secret here.
Doris Purchase, born in Winnipeg, is a Toronto-based mixed-media artist who has degrees from Ontario College of Art and the University of Guelph. Her work has appeared in multiple Toronto galleries, and she has participated in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. She received a Jury Award from Latcham Gallery in 2018. Doris's work is predominantly conceptual and draws on the materiality behind a painting; by focusing on artists’ materials, she invokes conversations about western ideals and questions our value system.
Jayce Salloum
Jayce Salloum, from the series: “beyond now", 2020, digital text images
Artist Statement: beyond now is a project for this time, in and out of quarantine time pondering how to tackle the point that we find ourselves in now and in the unforeseeable future and the politics of fear, regression, pain, promise and hope that surround us. I’ve started and stopped several stabs at things, a message comes at an opportune albeit heavily pressurized time requesting a response. I don’t normally produce work upon such short notice, with a short time frame, usually labouring over projects for years, trying to produce something resonant. Nevertheless I am interested in trying to think this period, this time, through into something useful. Your enthusiasm is convincing and breaks my indeterminate ennui. I had started by collecting fragments of text, correspondence with others and writing bits and pieces since I got back here (literally from the jungle) so am making it somewhat of a daily practice. The form becomes a sutured manifesto disguised as poetic ramblings and rants out into the void.
Jayce Salloum is a grandson of Syrian or Lebanese immigrants and was born and raised on the Sylix (Okanagan) territory. He now lives on the unceded Xʷməθkʷey̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh + Səíl̓wətaʔł territories. Salloum has lectured, published and exhibited from his downtown, Eastside Vancouver neighbourhood to institutions such as the Musée du Louvre, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Centre Georges Pompidou, National Gallery of Canada, Bienal De La Havana, Sharjah Biennial, Biennale of Sydney and the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Jayce Salloum is a grandson of Syrian or Lebanese immigrants and was born and raised on the Sylix (Okanagan) territory. He now lives on the unceded Xʷməθkʷey̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh + Səíl̓wətaʔł territories. Salloum has lectured, published and exhibited from his downtown, Eastside Vancouver neighbourhood to institutions such as the Musée du Louvre, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Centre Georges Pompidou, National Gallery of Canada, Bienal De La Havana, Sharjah Biennial, Biennale of Sydney and the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Roland Schubert
Roland Schubert, “Smokin'", 2015, digital photo
Artist Statement: My image pays homage to the people and buildings of the unloved downtown areas in many Canadian cities. Invisible and feared they are people and buildings “Hiding in Plain Sight."
Since 1982, Roland Schubert and his wife, Myra, have owned and operated Colour by Schubert, which has grown to become London, Ontario's premier custom photo lab. Roland Schubert studied photography and photo printing at Fanshawe College and worked in the professional photo industry as a photographer and custom printer for 10 years before launching the business. A significant feature of Roland's work is with archival paper and archival inks - creating high quality art prints for artists. His professional photography has been featured in photo journals and online media. Colour by Schubert is one of the Embassy Cultural House's community supporters and partners.
Since 1982, Roland Schubert and his wife, Myra, have owned and operated Colour by Schubert, which has grown to become London, Ontario's premier custom photo lab. Roland Schubert studied photography and photo printing at Fanshawe College and worked in the professional photo industry as a photographer and custom printer for 10 years before launching the business. A significant feature of Roland's work is with archival paper and archival inks - creating high quality art prints for artists. His professional photography has been featured in photo journals and online media. Colour by Schubert is one of the Embassy Cultural House's community supporters and partners.
Jean Spence
Jean Spence, “Posada Remembered", circa 1990, watercolour on paper & thread
Artist Statement: While attending a summer educational term in Mexico in 1965, I became aware of the importance of skeleton imagery as referenced through Mexican culture, religion and art. Most notable are the political caricatures expressed through engravings by José Guadalupe Posada. Stripped of the flesh, the dark skeletal humour was more potent and revealing. In the context of this exhibit he deserves mention. He was a forceful critic of the political establishment and actively involved in the period leading to the revolution. He continued as a force to his death...and to this day.
Jean Spence has been a vital part of the London art scene since arriving here in the 1970s from her native Chicago. Spence was an early supporter of artist-run centres, joined the collective of the Embassy Cultural House in 1986 and participated in organizing exhibitions and programs, including The Body & Society and International Women's Day exhibitions. Over the past four decades, she has contributed to fund-raising projects for many local initiatives addressing issues of social justice and presenting her work in community spaces, including the Cross-Cultural Learner Centre which addresses immigrant, minority rights and refugee issues. Spence has participated in exhibitions in the USA and Mexico.
Jean Spence has been a vital part of the London art scene since arriving here in the 1970s from her native Chicago. Spence was an early supporter of artist-run centres, joined the collective of the Embassy Cultural House in 1986 and participated in organizing exhibitions and programs, including The Body & Society and International Women's Day exhibitions. Over the past four decades, she has contributed to fund-raising projects for many local initiatives addressing issues of social justice and presenting her work in community spaces, including the Cross-Cultural Learner Centre which addresses immigrant, minority rights and refugee issues. Spence has participated in exhibitions in the USA and Mexico.
Diana Tamblyn
Diana Tamblyn, "Like That Human?", 2020, ink on paper
Artist Statement: I’m a cartoonist, and one of my favourite comic books is called “Magnus, Robot Fighter”, a Gold Key comic written and drawn by Russ Manning that was published in the 1960s. The series takes place in 4000 AD in “North Am” - a booming megacity that encompasses all of North America. In the comic, human beings and have become dependant on robots and the police chief (who is a robot), is trying to impose totalitarian rule on society. The hero - Magnus was an orphan raised a robot who could think and feel, and who believed that robots and humans could live together in harmony. Magnus seeks to ensure that robots do not dominate humans (hence he is a “robot fighter”), but he also seeks to ensure that humans do not hold dominion over robots.
I enjoy drawing Magnus smashing robots as “warm-up drawings” before I start into my regular work. These are fun drawings to loosen up the muscles and the mind. However in this drawing process, I couldn’t help but think of today’s society - particularly in the pandemic and the role that automation and technology play in transforming entire industries and workforces. Thousands have been displaced from good union-paying jobs with benefits to precarious hourly employment in poor working conditions. Also the large tech businesses that benefit from automation are making huge profits and aren’t paying their fair share in taxes. Amazon is a prime example here, thus you see the AWS logo on the robot who is slapping Magnus (which stands for Amazon Web Services). The comic was science fiction, but are we moving towards a Magnus future?
Diana Tamblyn is an award-winning artist and graphic novelist. She has exhibited her comics at small press fairs and comic book festivals in both Canada and the US and in various group and solo shows. In 2005, she was chosen by the Globe and Mail as a “Canadian cartoonist to watch”. She is the recipient of a Canada Council Grant, a London Arts Council Grant, and is the founder of the “Ting Comic and Graphic Arts Festival” in London, Ontario. Tamblyn recently curated the show Words and Pictures: Cartoonists from Southwest Ontario for Museum London.
I enjoy drawing Magnus smashing robots as “warm-up drawings” before I start into my regular work. These are fun drawings to loosen up the muscles and the mind. However in this drawing process, I couldn’t help but think of today’s society - particularly in the pandemic and the role that automation and technology play in transforming entire industries and workforces. Thousands have been displaced from good union-paying jobs with benefits to precarious hourly employment in poor working conditions. Also the large tech businesses that benefit from automation are making huge profits and aren’t paying their fair share in taxes. Amazon is a prime example here, thus you see the AWS logo on the robot who is slapping Magnus (which stands for Amazon Web Services). The comic was science fiction, but are we moving towards a Magnus future?
Diana Tamblyn is an award-winning artist and graphic novelist. She has exhibited her comics at small press fairs and comic book festivals in both Canada and the US and in various group and solo shows. In 2005, she was chosen by the Globe and Mail as a “Canadian cartoonist to watch”. She is the recipient of a Canada Council Grant, a London Arts Council Grant, and is the founder of the “Ting Comic and Graphic Arts Festival” in London, Ontario. Tamblyn recently curated the show Words and Pictures: Cartoonists from Southwest Ontario for Museum London.
Zainub Verjee
Zainub Verjee, “Tautology 45", 2020, digital Image
Artist Statement: Do we see what we see? Or, do we see what we know? Or, do we see what we can say? These questions have always occupied me. I am interested in the relationship between reality and language and with metalinguistic modality to engage with reality—discursive, abstract and its symbology. This artwork--Tautology 45 is based on the role of redaction in creating meaning for texts in various formats. It alludes to redaction criticism, where the redactor shapes the narrative to express ideological positionality. Often used in the study of theological literature and based on vocabulary, comparison and repetition, redaction is mainstream and very much part of the political toolkit as much as statecraft. This artwork also plays on the tension between visibility and invisibility, and the relationship between language and voice. Given its power in creating meaning and non-meaning, redaction itself becomes an aesthetic statement of power— to erase, censure, render invisible—by the very power bestowed by the State and/or its agencies. This artwork is a continuation of my practice where language becomes the materiality of the form and its meaning. The visible red letters are a play on redact as in a red act. The red words strung together create a statement and a meaning. The words which appear to be redacted make a fulsome import to what is hiding in the plain sight.
Zainub Verjee works as a multidisciplinary artist, as well as a programmer/curator, critic, writer, arts administrator, and activist. With expertise in cultural policy and cultural diplomacy across four decades, she has contributed to international and national policies and legislation pertaining to the culture sector. Her artworks have been shown at the Venice Biennale, Museum of Modern Art, NY, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland US, Centre d’Art Contemporain de Basse-Normandie, France, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, México, D. F. (Mexico City, Mexico), Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University of Baroda, India, and resides in private and public collections. Verjee is the laureate of 2020 Governor General's Visual and Media Arts for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Canada. She is the executive director of the Ontario Association of Art Galleries in Toronto.
Zainub Verjee works as a multidisciplinary artist, as well as a programmer/curator, critic, writer, arts administrator, and activist. With expertise in cultural policy and cultural diplomacy across four decades, she has contributed to international and national policies and legislation pertaining to the culture sector. Her artworks have been shown at the Venice Biennale, Museum of Modern Art, NY, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland US, Centre d’Art Contemporain de Basse-Normandie, France, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, México, D. F. (Mexico City, Mexico), Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University of Baroda, India, and resides in private and public collections. Verjee is the laureate of 2020 Governor General's Visual and Media Arts for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Canada. She is the executive director of the Ontario Association of Art Galleries in Toronto.
Christine Walde
Christine Walde, “Constitution", 2016, vinyl lettering, pencil on paper
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Artist Statement: Constitution (2016) was composed in the days following the election of Donald Trump to The White House. The work plays with the word ‘constitution’ as a double entendre that references both the supreme law of the United States and a person’s physical state, both of which have been inalterably impacted by Trump’s presidency. Using “We”, “The”, and “People” as a constraint for its composition, Constitution reimagines its’ sovereign authority as a document as a radical call for action against oppressive regimes and systems of government..
Christine Walde is a writer, artist, and librarian whose work combines library and archival research with interests in experimental prose, poetry, visual poetry, performance, and the visual arts.
Christine Walde is a writer, artist, and librarian whose work combines library and archival research with interests in experimental prose, poetry, visual poetry, performance, and the visual arts.
Paul Walde
Paul Walde, “This is a Transnational Crime Syndicate Masquerading as a Government", 2020, audio work
Artist Statement: This is a Transnational Crime Syndicate Masquerading as a Government is a sound composition that responds to writer Sarah Kendzior's statement from her 2020 book Hiding in Plain Sight. The voice in this piece is Kendzior's from Gaslit Nation, a podcast in which she is describing her book. A clip of Kendzior saying her most iconic phrase was used as the basis of the composition in which the tone and rhythm of her speech were roughly transcribed and then expanded upon. Piano is the only instrument heard in the piece played with a variety of standard and extended techniques.
Paul Walde is an award-winning artist, composer and curator who lives in Victoria, Canada on WSÁNEĆ territory. Originally trained as a painter, Walde’s music and sound compositions have been a prominent feature in his artwork for over 20 years.
Paul Walde is an award-winning artist, composer and curator who lives in Victoria, Canada on WSÁNEĆ territory. Originally trained as a painter, Walde’s music and sound compositions have been a prominent feature in his artwork for over 20 years.
Jade Williamson
Jade Williamson, "Unshielded", 2020, conte on masonite layered with broken glass and frame
Artist Statement: Unshielded aims to raise awareness for at-risk wildlife and tackle the political issues surrounding the protection of these animals. The black surface in my artwork symbolizes a void regarding population and habitat. As it begins to engulf the subject, it embodies the lurking extinction upon these species.
The irreversibility of broken glass demonstrates the permanent ramifications of human activities and the fragility of these species. It symbolizes the weakened protection of wildlife due to the recent changes to the Endangered Species Act. With these new regulations, species are being delisted or reclassified, which may prevent these species from getting the protection they need to survive. In materiality and imagery, my artwork demonstrates that life is finite, and the evolution of these species ends with us.
Jade Williamson is a realism artist from London, Ontario, currently completing an Honours Specialization of Fine Arts at the University of Western Ontario. She has joined the Embassy Cultural House website team as a contributing editor. Her practice recently has been informed by an interest in wildlife and raising awareness for endangered species. Alongside actively working as an artist and pursuing her career as an art educator, she is the Exclusive Artist for Polar Nation.
The irreversibility of broken glass demonstrates the permanent ramifications of human activities and the fragility of these species. It symbolizes the weakened protection of wildlife due to the recent changes to the Endangered Species Act. With these new regulations, species are being delisted or reclassified, which may prevent these species from getting the protection they need to survive. In materiality and imagery, my artwork demonstrates that life is finite, and the evolution of these species ends with us.
Jade Williamson is a realism artist from London, Ontario, currently completing an Honours Specialization of Fine Arts at the University of Western Ontario. She has joined the Embassy Cultural House website team as a contributing editor. Her practice recently has been informed by an interest in wildlife and raising awareness for endangered species. Alongside actively working as an artist and pursuing her career as an art educator, she is the Exclusive Artist for Polar Nation.
Winsom Winsom
Winsom Winsom, “LOVE NOT HATE", 2017, paint & found material
Artist Statement - LOVE NOT HATE: Around the World there is so much conflict, especially using guns to solve issues, instead of digging deep within ourselves to find Universal love. I watch as many governments help to foster divide between their own people and nations. LOVE NOT HATE is an invitation to start a conversation about the violence, and how we can address it on a personal level, in our communities, and globally. I felt it was time to consider putting away the guns and hate and turn them into Art to Love and Honour.
Winsom Winsom has a long and distinguished career of art-making and exhibiting across Canada, the US, and the Caribbean. Her artwork interprets images of the elements, land, animal and human presence in the context of Afrocentric value systems. Spirituality becomes central to the imagery. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from OCADU in 2015.
Winsom Winsom has a long and distinguished career of art-making and exhibiting across Canada, the US, and the Caribbean. Her artwork interprets images of the elements, land, animal and human presence in the context of Afrocentric value systems. Spirituality becomes central to the imagery. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from OCADU in 2015.
James Reaney: Hiding in Plain Sight with the King
King Ganam — Canada’s King of The Fiddle — c 1957 courtesy of CBC.ca
Reid Diamond, "Storytelling Jukebox" 1989; Wood paint, acrylic, artificial electric fireplace, audio recording of King Ganam, the "Cattle Call" from his 1965 album "King of the Fiddle", installed in the Sunnyside Lounge, Embassy Hotel. Collection of Museum London, gift of Rebecca Diederichs
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Hamoody Hassan, London, on King Ganam via CBC.ca:
“The King was a fantastic musician & great character who played in my dad's bars. He rolled into town in a Caddy with his beautiful wife. He was fun & funny. A source of great pride for a young Lebanese boy.” The glories of the Embassy Cultural House (ECH) have been hiding in plain sight since (at least) Aug. 29, 1957. The official dates in its story are 1983-1990, when the Embassy Cultural House flourished in what had been the Embassy Hotel restaurant area. Then, in 2012, a Museum London exhibition celebrated the ECH. Now, in 2020, a virtual ECHcentric exhibition with a marvelously inclusive group of creators launches on Oct 30, at 2 PM EST with some of its artists and journalist Sarah Kendzior participating. That exhibition is called Hiding In Plain Sight. But the Embassy Cultural House was already there, in its own way, on that summer day back in 1957. On that date, King Ganam made an appearance before an overflow crowd of 14,000 fans at the then-new Covent Garden Market. He also visited his friends, and fellow Lebanese Canadians, the Hassan family, at their Erie Avenue home. The Saskatchewan-born star known as “Canada’s King of The Fiddle" had come to London for a homecoming of co-stars Gordie Tapp and Tommy Hunter. All three were stars of CBC-TV’s Country Hoedown, a huge hit show with Ganam as its leader. Back in 1957, Ameen Sied (King) Ganam found a calm space with the Hassans, owners of the Embassy Hotel. Future artist and ECH stalwart Jamelie Hassan was taking violin lessons and King played on her little fiddle, sounding the first notes of the Embassy Cultural House. Ganam’s connection with the Embassy Cultural House was hiding in plain sight decades later when Museum London included artwork by Toronto artist and musician Reid Diamond (1958-2001) in a 2012 ECH-themed survey exhibition curated by Robert McKaskell (1943-2020). Inspired by hearing of King Ganam’s connection with Jamelie Hassan and her family, Diamond created a work of art using a jukebox that included King Ganam music. This work is now in Museum London’s collection. Too many people mentioned here King Ganam, Reid Diamond and Robert McKaskell are gone. All three were part of the Embassy hotel story or the Embassy Cultural House story or both those stories. As the ECH reveals a thrilling new iteration, let’s play some King Ganam and remember them. James Stewart Reaney, October 26, 2020 
From the archive: Coaster created for the exhibition, 1989
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This inaugural exhibition, Hiding In Plain Sight, is financially supported by the following individuals: Mireya Folch Serra, Tariq Hassan Gordon, Lucretia and Wyn Geleynse, Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner. The Embassy Cultural House extends its sincere appreciation to all the artists and copyright holders for their generosity in allowing their works to be reproduced in our online website and social media.
