After a few years of struggling during the COVID pandemic the Artists Project is back with vengeance. Pulsating with vibrant art, the venue seems very welcoming this year. And being a large show the visitor is easily overwhelmed, as I was. One is disoriented by seductive artworks beckoning you from every angle. So, I chose to focus my attention on the so-called ‘untapped’ artists located at the centre rear of the hall.
Each of the 20 artists in this section of the project is described as emerging. In other words, they are at an early stage in their careers. A modest space is provided to each of them for free. They were selected among many submissions, and so are the chosen few, so to speak. Most have followed the now traditional career path of formal studies in art, but not all have. Free of the considerable cost of renting a booth, these artists have been given room to exhibit with less concern about sales. As a result, over all they tend to show works with an emphasis on content rather than visual allure. In that sense, the section is a bit of a calm harbour in an otherwise choppy sea. Below I look at five of these talented artists.
One of the first booths in the section the visitor encounters is that of Chelsea Brant. Brant hails from Port Dover on the shore of Lake Erie. She studied at the universities of Guelph and Saskatchewan. The theme of her work, close-ups of plants and flowers, is often a kiss of death in terms of artistic content; which is to say, it usually announces to the viewer that these are simply pretty pictures. But Brant escapes this trap entirely. These works, in relatively muted colours, are visually elegant, quietly drawing the viewer in. They are formally sophisticated pictures, but are nonetheless beautiful. ‘Poetic’ is the best way of describing her work.
Chelsea Brant in front of her work
Next door to her is the work of Montreal based Marielle Saucier. She is a self-described textile artisan. Her work is a reminder of how traditional crafts are not limited decoration. Originally a student of music and psychology, Saucier then studied at the Institute of Crafts and the Centre for Contemporary Textiles of Montreal. Her work focuses on the theme of the tension between order and freedom. This tension is essentially expressed visually in terms of straight lines and curves respectively. The artworks on display here are canvases embroidered – sometimes including beads – that feature amorphous shapes. There is a wonderful quiet lyricism to all the pieces.
Marielle Saucier in her booth
The work of Toronto multidisciplinary artist Ehiko Odeh is located next to Saucier’s. Odeh studied fine art at OCADU, with a minor in creative writing. In this show her focus is on advertisements featuring hair products for Africans. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria, hence her interest in African advertising in particular. These paintings are ‘Warholesque’ in style, that is, a riff on pop art roughly echoing Warhol’s Campbell soup series. One work consists of two columns of ten small square paintings of such adverts. They are playful, energetic and loosely painted, suggesting an interest in recording style and language, rather than wanting to copy them faithfully.
Ehiko Odeh with her advertisements
In another aisle are the textiles of Sarah Zanchetta. She is a graduate of OCAD University and has a master of visual studies from the University of Toronto. The theme of her textile work is a little idiosyncratic, namely, poisonous plants. Her interest is in our increasingly limited connections to nature. I guess that our inability to recognize the poisonous plants that grow all around us is emblematic of this loss of connection with nature. Indeed, her whole approach to the subject is itself idiosyncratic. We see a beautiful display of embroidered images of deadly nightshade. As well, she has theatrically installed velvet gloved hands holding up off-white cloths stained by poisonous plants. ‘Imaginative and delicious’ is the best way to describe this work.
Sarah Zanchetta among her textiles
At the end of the same aisle is located four small sculptures by Heather Rule. Rule is a self-taught artist from Toronto. She is a living embodiment of the fact that one doesn’t need a formal education in art to be a great artist. This work is stunning in its understated way. The base of each of the four sculptures is a ceramic vase-like figure with elongated gesturing hands. Placed on the top of each ceramic figure is a paper bag form. We have a raven’s head, two masklike heads with carefully cut-out features, and a block head with a hand holding a cigarette. Overall, they are wonderfully playful. The gesturing of the ceramic hands plays off beautifully against the paper forms ontop. One of the most difficult things to do in art is to make work that is just right in the balance of its elements, both formally and in content. Rule has done this brilliantly here.
Sculptures by Heather Rule
Text and photo: Hugh Alcock
*Artist Project, April 11 – 14, 2024, Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, 195 Princes’ Blvd, Toronto. Hours: April 11, 12 & 13, 12 – 8 pm, April 14, 12 – 6 pm.