The Beyond our Roots 2014 Visual Arts Exhibition
is a contemporary multi-disciplinary Visual Arts Exhibition presented by
the Latino Canadian Cultural Association that shows the fusion between the
different cultures and roots
of the Latin American and artists from other
parts of the World and the influence of the multicultural society where they
work and reside. The artists' starting point is their own cultural background
and experiences, going through the discovery first, and then the sharing of
other cultures, to finally, develop and transform them into a new and
original
product.
Co-Curated by Alejandro Freeland and Hugo Ares
ALEJANDRO FREELAND – CURATOR
Born in Buenos Aires. Freeland established himself as an artist in
Toronto. He is the executive director of Latino Canadian Cultural
Association. Freeland received his formal training in photography, film
and video at the Ontario College of Art & Design. During the past
few years, Alejandro has been programming and curating for different
festivals and visual arts exhibitions including: "Latin-Afro Fest II"
(2008), "Latin-Afro-First Nations Festival", "Latin-Afro-South Asian
Festival" (2010) and "Rhythms of the Earth Festival" (2011). He has
showed his work in several contemporary art events in Canada and abroad
such as: Light Bringers Art Show (Collective) at Gallery 1313, Alter
Toronto (Collective) in collaboration with Georgeta Marcus at Gallery
1313, Beyond our Roots (Collective) at Gallery 61, EBB & FLOW
(Collective) at Gallery 1313, AlucinArte (Collective) at Gallery 1313,
Gothic Buenos Aires, with painter Gustavo Ferreira, at Danish church,
Buenos Aires, Argentina and Latin American Group(Collective) at OCAD.
HUGO ARES – GUEST CURATOR
www.hugoares.com
Hugo is an independent visual art curator, programmer and art
administrator based in Toronto, Canada. I completed my degree in
Multimedia Arts at the National Institute of Art, at the University of
Buenos Aires City and a Post-degree in Visual and Critical Studies at
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). I have been working
as a curator, and programmer and art manager for artist-run centres,
arts collectives and cultural associations like: Espacio Ecléctico;
Southern Currents Film and Video Collective, aluCine–Toronto Latin Media
Arts Festival, "Digital Event" by -e-fagia-Visual & Media Art
Organization; and ArtsXplosion Cultural Society.
ARTIST LIST
FIYA BRUXA
www.gildamonreal.blogspot.com / www.essenciartcollective.com
I carry in my blood legends that echo passionate love, unity, terror,
loss and hope. I have in my blood the stories that my mother and father
shared with me about their home, about their lives, about why I am here
and not there. I have in my blood, in my voice, and in my gaze, our
stories of survival. I have in my blood the beautiful colours of this
land. And here I am, with my feet standing firmly on Canadian soil,
while my hair dances along with Andean winds. To those southern winds
that knot my hair, I thank you for your truths and for your folklore. It
is with your truths and your folklore that I have become this woman. I
am a Canadian Chilean storyteller, multidisciplinary artist, community
builder, and strong believer in equalitarian values. I am the living
dualities, contrasts and contradictions that exist between the North and
the South. I wish to create atmospheres that will transcend viewers
into a world of magical realism. By creating stories, characters and new
worlds I take them on a dark and mysterious voyage, where different
thresholds of meaning and value systems can be explored. The various
mediums I work with include: video, performance, writing, sound, costume
making, puppetry, muralism, graffiti, street art, and installation. My
artistic work speaks through these various mediums to create spaces that
question the truths and beliefs that surround me; their subtleties, and
the boundaries of their generally assumed connotations. There are
questions that must be asked, so that we do not take for granted where
we came from, and so that we know where we are headed. It is a
responsibility, a privilege and a gift to question this vast and ever
changing reality.
SYBIL LAMB
www.lilybutterland.com
For over 20 years she has been a Notorious Deluge of Paintings and
Illustration that often conspicuously feature a rag tag cast of young
Misfits rockers Oddballs and cute Monsters and obsessive love to detail
modified physiques. Operating a busy art studio, showing in galleries
and selling at the Art Fairs of Toronto since 2009, born in Ottawa she
has also left her mark on New Orleans Montreal Ottawa and SF/Oakland.
Her work is sold at a number of Galleries in Toronto and around the
Continent. Her work has been featured at Ryerson University 2014,
contemporary pop art factory SuperWonderGallery 2012-2014, The Gladstone
Hotel 2013, Gallery Videofag 2013, Morgan Page's and Michael Mackid's
Projects at Buddies in Bad Times 2012, Come As You Are 2011, and Unit2
2011. From 2005 to 2008 she founded and administered the Termite &
Vine Artist's and Musicians Homesteaders Studio Collective Co-operative
Association in New Orleans Louisiana and was Collected and Shown by
Barristers Gallery. Trained in parade float construction by Julian
Schnable from Royal Floats, she has Moonlighted a tech for giant group
sculpture performance projects including Rockaway Armada 2007, The Cult
of The Little Lambs Trash Noise Rock Band 2008. See her Portraits of
North American Traveling Strippers and Punk Rock Freight Train Culture,
91 foot longCommissioned Historical Mural for the Church Wellesley
Village/ World Pride 2014, 11 foot wide triptych depicting a "Window
Girl" fight in Amsterdam, and work with Bipolarbear Productions Animated
Cartoons on her Epicly Enormous Website.
LUCERO MILCHORENA
Born in Mexico City in 1971, I was always preoccupied with drawing and
painting. I grew up as an only child within an abusive but artistic
family. I was a very solitary, odd and curious girl and painting was not
only my escape but also the only way in which I gained some attention
and recognition. I confronted my emotional situation through art. I was
told that I had that gift and spent my childhood and early adolescence
always trying to be close to artistic forms, whether it was an
alternative movie or an art book or a painting show. In 1988, being only
17 years old, I formally started my inception into the Arts
participating in the now extinct counter-culture performance group "El
Sindicato del Terror" (The Syndicate of Terror) and a few months later
opening an underground art gallery "El Ghetto". Some of the artists I
curated at the time are now well known and respected - such as Francis
Alÿs, Nahum Zenil, Alejandro Arango, Adolfo Patiño, etc. After three
years of University level Communications studies in Mexico City, I moved
by myself to Toronto and applied to the Ontario College of Art (now
ODADU) with my drawings and paintings and was accepted. Originally, I
wanted to pursue a painting career but became fascinated with Toronto's
flourishing cyber culture of the 90´s. So I joined the Integrated Media
program earning my Honours Diploma in Fine Arts four years later. In
1999 I received a grant and completed a Masters program in Barcelona in
Digital Arts. I have just received a grant by the OAC to produce first
documentary and I enjoy sporadically making my own experimental videos
and working in collaboration with other artists. After all these years I
decided to return to OCADU to complete my degree and obtain a BFA.
Further, after all these years the experience of being back in a
creative environment stirred in me the desire to accomplish what
originally inspired me to study Art but that I never did: painting.
Subsequently, I am currently entering my second career as a painter
under the mentorship of two Toronto based professional painters. These
are some of my first paintings, arising purely from the core of my
naivety and my lack of style or experience. They are the beginning of an
exploration of multiple layers of interest and self-expression and the
beginning of a much-desired personal journey.
JENNIFER HUMPHRIES
Jennifer Humphries won first place in the Toronto-wide Graphix Art
Competition Scholarship in 1992. She then graduated from OCADs' 4-year
Drawing & Painting program and has an upcoming solo exhibition
entitled "The Shining Series." Jennifer also paints commissioned
portraits, often of client's dogs. The paintings in this show capture
iconic villains taken from stills in classic horror films. By delving
into the paradoxes of existence both terrible and beautiful, powerful,
yet sublime, these three paintings centre around the philosophy of
Nietzsche's concepts of evil, the will to power, the necessary
destruction and overcoming before creation and the affirmation of life
in the face of great suffering. This body of work also addresses one of
the unique features of our time, the domination of the screen, be it a
television, Smartphone or computer. All three images have been painted
directly "from the non-life" of a television screen reflecting both the
isolating factor of a viewer removed from the characters and drama on
the screen and the replacement of direct contact with a virtual reality,
which has become not only a replacement for reality, but also a main
factor of today's reality itself.
ARAMIKA KLIAVIN
www.aramika7ra.blogspot.ca / www.zorachk.wix.com/aramika
Aramika Kliavin, was born in Eastern Europe, Belarus, is a Toronto based
contemporary visual artist and sculptor. She received her BFA in Fine
arts at OCAD University in 2012. In her work she employs traditional
European techniques and ongoing western traditions and concepts.
Presently Aramika exhibits around Toronto and does public commissions,
as well as artworks for private collectors. I create conceptual, at
times surrealistic artwork that captures the essence of my imagination. I
combine traditional European techniques in new and innovative ways. I
approach my work with a unique perspective that takes into account your
needs and your individual style. My style and technique are broad and
flexible, developed over years of training and experience.
ROSA MINDREAU
Rosa Mindreau is a Toronto-based visual artist. A graduate of the Art
Institute of Toronto, and she will be soon to be graduate at Toronto
School of Art, Rosa specializes in multiple forms of printmaking such as
Screen-printing, Block Printing and Etching. She also creates mixed
media pieces that range from 2D to 3D, with elements of encaustic and
acrylic painting, screen-printing, found objects and collage. She has
exhibited and sold work widely across the city including at the Artist
Project, Queen West Art Crawl, The Gladstone (as part of Come Up To My
Room), North by Northeast, Whippersnapper Gallery, AWOL Gallery, and
many others. Rosa is dedicated to alternative and accessible learning
opportunities for emerging artists. She has conducted printmaking
workshops at her own studio, as well as at PARC (a drop-in centre in
Parkdale), Queen West Community Health Centre, Pathways to Education (in
Rexdale), and Sketch Working Arts.
She avidly supports social justice and grassroots community
endeavors—Rosa has donated original artwork for exhibitions and auctions
to support Sketch Working Arts, the United Way, and GBLGay Youthline,
among others. Her work has been featured in the
Toronto Star and online art forums.
GOMO GEORGE
Gomo George is a multi-disciplinary artist and writer who immigrated to
Canada in the mid 1970's from Dominica. His academic achievements
include a B.F.A. from The University of Manitoba and a M.F.A. from the
University of Western Ontario. Gomo has shown his work in group and
solo exhibitions in galleries across Canada for more than two decades.
Gomo has worked as an art instructor (Red River College 1982-83,
University of Western Ontario 1995-7), storyteller, and artists in the
schools and in community settings as a counselor and program
coordinator. Gomo has received grants from the Manitoba Arts Council,
the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council and the Canada
Council for the Arts. The author/initiator of several developmental
projects in the arts, notably curator of landmark exhibition X-Position
1983, the Project "Positive Manoeuvres" a African Canadian visual arts
festival, and "The Last Stop" projects bearing the objective of
promoting African Canadian Art and Artists. Gomo also founded and
directed ColoLux Studios the first and only Alternative Art Gallery run
by African Canadian artist, 1984-1987. Gomo's work is represented in
various collections including the Canada Council Art Bank.
RICHARD NOEL
www.richardnoelart.ca
I am originally from South Wales in the UK. South Wales is a beautiful
part of the world which I feel privileged to have grown up in and taken
inspiration from. The Welsh are proud and passionate people. We're
certainly not afraid to show our feelings. Most of my artwork represents
mood and emotion. I often translate my feelings through eccentric
colour palettes, but lately have been drawn to using textured white
surfaces. All of my art creations have been created to catch the light
and have impact. You will also notice that all of them of them use the
colour black, which I think echoes the dark moods that often haunt me. I
have always been one to wear my feelings on my sleeve, so recording my
feelings on canvass was a natural step forward for me. Apart from a few
key phrases to describe the theme of each painting, I always avoid
giving away too much information. It really is half the enjoyment
looking at a piece of art and finding your own interpretation. My piece
"Lost" is about the re-occurring dream. Trying so hard to get back to
you.
LUIS ANTONIO MONROY
www.staticflowimaging.com
Static Flow is an opportunity for me to showcase the images that I
collect and compose on my day to day. They are reminders of the many
wonders that surround us all the time, everywhere, and also of the
possibilities of what the ordinary can become when
you look through the window of your imagination. These images are a
sampling of the work that I have done so far. I hope you enjoy them and
come back soon as I will be updating the site from time to time. Please
visit Static Flow Imaging on Facebook at and if you see something that
you like please press the "like" icon or leave a comment.
JOHN NOBREGA
http://www.edwarddaygallery.com/artist_John_Nobrega.htm
John Nobrega is a Toronto-based artist best known for accomplished
figurative paintings that engage with art- historical imagery. In recent
years he has focused increasingly on drawing and video projects. He has
been exhibited widely and is featured in several public collections,
including the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston. He is
represented in Toronto by the Edward Day gallery.
CAROLINA FAVALE
"CUORE"http://buenosairesstreetart.com/2014/06/cuore-new-mural-ciudad-emergente-buenos-aires/http://buenosairesstreetart.com/2012/07/circle-of-life-interview-with-cuore/
Carolina Favale paints under the pseudonym “Cuore” and is one of the
most inspirational street artists working in Buenos Aires. Her murals
stand out for their striking characters, vivid colours, beautiful
compositions and powerful imagery. Beneath the surface there is also
deep thought, care and sensitivity behind her creations. Her art also
mirrors elements that have touched her own life as well as the world
around her and draws inspiration from personal journeys, experiences,
relationships and moments of introspection and reflection.
Carolina studied Fine Art at the Antonio Berni School of Visual Arts in
San Martín, Buenos Aires, graduating with an honours degree while also
specializing in engraving. And her influences come from painters such as
Mark Rothko, Antoni Tapies, Anselm Kieffer and Egon Schiele, and she
points to Interesni Kazki (Ukraine), Herbert Baglione (Brazil), Kenor
(Spain) and Inti (Chile) as some of the street artists whose work she
admires most. Despite only starting to paint regularly in the street two
years ago under the name “Cuore”, She has painted more than 20 murals
in her home town and is now painting outside almost every week. “I was a
painter before becoming a street artist and I was working with images
and concepts a long time ago,” Carolina reveals. “I think that art
should be a way to connect with other people and to help us think about
who we are and it should carry a message.”
FAISAL ANWAR
http://www.yongestreetmedia.ca/features/faisalanwar01112012.aspx
Faisal Anwar is a digital media artist/ interactive producer / UI/UX
expert (Toronto/ Pakistan). He is founder of an interactive art studio,
DigitalDip and Co-founder Me A Monster Inc. His project series,
Oddspaces, brings together art, culture and technology in an odd
configuration to explore our perceptions towards architectural space,
private or public spaces and social interactivity in modern urban
cultures. He has shown at the Winter Olympics 2010, and performed
nationally and internationally. He has directed five other sort films
which were part of various festivals in Canada and abroad, such as
Monitor 3 South Asian Film and Video' presented by SAVAC Toronto, 2007,
'Pollution' presented by INTERart, Romania, 2007, aluCine Toronto Latin
Festival, 2007, Shortsnonstop.com and at TPW Gallery Toronto, 2007.
Anwar is a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre's Habitat-LAB,
Interactive Arts and Entertainment Program 2004, Anwar did his Bachelors
in graphic design from the National College of Arts Pakistan 1996.
Faisal volunteered on the Programming Committee of SAVAC (South Asian
Visual Arts Centre) and taught part time at Centennial College.
by Alejandro Freeland
