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Current Exhibition

SEPT 25 - NOV 3, 2023  |  25 SEPT - 3 NOV, 2023

The Temiskaming Art Gallery is excited to present dual exhibition Learning to Try by Peter Greyson and Cross Cut by Rob Niezen, sponsored by the Ontario Arts Council.

Learning to Try

Peter Greyson

Peter - Won't-Make-It.jpg

I Want to Try With You

Oil on Canvas, 2023

Peter Greyson grew up in London, Ontario where he developed a love of painting by viewing many Canadian artworks as a child visiting the London Public Library and Art Museum. Since moving to the Temiskaming region 20 years ago he has been actively painting landscapes that grapple with the effects of human activities on nature. He intends to keep exploring and documenting the region and it's relation to our challenged relationship with nature as well as pursue the unending, worthwhile challenge of making beautiful oil paintings.

Peter Greyson’s paintings grew out of a wish to utilize the Group of Seven’s iconic images of Canada while acknowledging our destruction of nature. This is a topic they neglected to mention in their paintings but one that he suspects they would have had great sympathy for judging by the books they read and statements made in letters of the time.

About the exhibition Greyson writes: The work is composed of fragments of words and images that are blended together in a nearly abstract manner that softens the jarring contrasts of such diverse contents. I have made beautiful paintings in a traditional manner that fully exploits the inherent qualities of oil paint.

Despite their attractiveness the paintings depict the most dire interpretation of our failures but end with an obstinate invitation to keep trying.

Cross Cut

Rob Niezen

Rob - The Cobalt Song.jpg

The Cobalt Song
Linocut, ink on Legion Madison Print paper, 2023

Rob Niezen is a painter, printmaker and illustrator. He paints mostly in oils, and his printmaking includes etchings and linocuts.

Cross Cut is a series of linocuts created in 2022 that reflect on traditional songs from Ontario with a contemporary perspective. The exhibition aims to connect our recent history and today’s society, and the issues we face as citizens of Ontario and Canada.

 

Each linocut is accompanied by a folk song, the origins of which date back to between 1820 and 1920.The narratives of the chosen collection of songs cover themes that are universal and of a timeless nature, as they deal with human existence and social and societal issues: immigration, work and leisure, politics and war, crime and justice, physical and mental health, love and death, and so on.

 

Superficially things have changed, but the human conditions now seem not that different from 100 or 200 years ago. Has life improved, or is progress only on a materialistic level? Folk songs make global issues accessible to everyone, as they are created and sung by real people telling real human stories.

By using innovative techniques like laser engraving and etching, and adding contemporary elements to historical scenes, Rob conveys the parallels and juxtapositions of the past and the present.

Click here to listen to the songs on Rob's bandcamp page.

Generously funded by

Financée par

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