January 8 – 19, 2020
This exhibition features the art of the 2019 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair Emerging Artist Winners: David Brandy, Golrokh Daneshgar, Ivanna Hreshchuk and Shaylah Marsh. Guest curated by Karlene Ouellette.
We are all capable of seeing our environments differently; experiencing them in harmony as a whole.
At one point or another, we have all gone on a journey. To me, a Scenic Route is more than just the experience of travelling, it is the passage of time, the opportunity of new memories, and the promise of stories untold. I have travelled a fair bit these last few years and each experience offered new challenges that brought about some spectacular memories. As an emerging curator myself I was a little nervous to tackle the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, but booth by booth the excitement grew. I was ready to see where this path would take me because I knew I would find the perfect artists to make this exhibit work, and I did.
I was drawn to these artists because of their creative vision; their ability to capture the world artistically had me pause and admire the moment in much the same way one would “stop and smell the roses”. I felt a profound connection between these artists and I knew I found the exhibition I was looking for. I will always be astonished as new perspectives emerge when artists cross paths.Karlene Ouellette, Emerging Curator
David Brandy
My photography practice captures transient moments that reveal the strangeness in the ordinary. I highlight places or objects that are detached from their natural setting or function, endeavoring to create a sense of disquieting pleasure from something that appears to be both familiar yet alien at the same time.
I have always worked best in isolation. Creating a space where distractions are absent. As a result my work often emphasizes a strong sense of absence or isolation. My goal is to reflect a splendour that we seldom notice while living in a hectic world filled with distraction. The photographic mantra I adhere to is; beauty can be strange and the strange can be beautiful.
My process is to constantly scout for a unique subject or place to photograph. Like a film director who puts their hands up in front of their eyes with the tips of their thumbs touching to form a frame, I am always narrowing my vision when out searching in order to gaze beyond the norm and frame the inherent strangeness in the beauty.
The passion for my art and the photographs I capture are guided by the words of photojournalist Dorthea Lange who said, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
David Brandy is an award-winning contemporary fine art photography artist. He began his creative career with a BA in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University. His practice has evolved from radio copywriter, to Founder and Creative Director of a marketing events agency, to photographic storyteller.
Brandy received the Juror’s Choice Award from RMG Exposed 2019 fine art photography auction. He also won an Emerging Artists by Emerging Curator Award at the 2019 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. His art sold over-asking in the Curatorial Collection at SNAP 2019 – Toronto’s premier fine art photography auction. He was a finalist in both the Quest Art 2018 National Art Prize, and the 2017 Salt Spring National Art Prize.
Brandy’s art hangs in his collectors’ residences and commercial spaces across Canada.
Golrokh Daneshgar
Golrokh Daneshgar is a watercolour artist and an OAA Architect. Golrokh received her PhD in architecture in 2010 from the University of Tehran with a focus on the quality of life, sense of place and place attachment.
Golrokh is a registered architect in Ontario and her architectural background is being reflected in her paintings with application of her unique abstract technique towards the interpretation of natural and built environment.
Golrokh is one of the awarded artists in TOAF 19 and received Emerging Artist award by Emerging Curator award for her abstract watercolour artworks.
Golrokh has been working as an Architect-Artist, and her artworks reflect an abstract image of qualities embedded in our environment such as nature, Landscapes and city-scapes.
Ivanna Hreshchuk
When given an opportunity to tell a story, Ukrainian-Canadian artist Ivanna Hreshchuk does so through her developing technique called the visual voice. She combines her passions of travel, photography and graphic design through an innovative multi-layered tapestry that can be viewed in a 360-degree angle, creating a 3D installation.
Ivanna is a BA graduate from the Fashion Communication Program at Ryerson University. During this time, she embarked on an exchange semester to study Communication and Graphic Design at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. This experience was the source of her inspiration for her graduating thesis and motivated her to utilize her design talent for social good.
Since kickstarting her career after graduation, Ivanna has won the Young Social Entrepreneur Award in 2017 for the Fair Trade Show Expo in Toronto as well as the Founding Chairman Award at the 57th Toronto Outdoor Art Fair in 2018. She was also shortlisted for the Emerging Artist Award by the Emerging Curator of Toronto’s Propeller Art Gallery and the 2019 winner of the award. Her latest achievement was
being invited to display her award-winning installation at the Clio Art Fair, in New York City.
Shaylah Marsh
Shaylah Marsh is an emerging Canadian artist based in Ottawa, Ontario. She received her BFA from York University and holds a BEd from Nipissing University. She works in many different types of printmaking with a passion for linocut printing. The act of carving away to reveal each layer of colour creates a connection between artist and print like no other form of printmaking. Linocut is a true hands-on experience ending with the joy of pulling the print off the block to reveal the image. Her most recent print series are Canadian landscape reduction linocuts meant to evoke nostalgia and a sense of place. Each location is chosen based on personal experiences with the place or based on the experiences of others spoken to her.
Reduction linocuts are created by carving and printing each layer of colour in the print one at a time from the same block. Starting by carving away any areas of white, then printing the background or lightest colour first. Continuing to carve a layer away and printing the next, until you have reached the darkest colour or smallest details. Always printing the colour onto the paper before carving that layer away from the block. It’s a time consuming but connected process.
Emerging Curator, Karlene Ouellette
Karlene Ouellette’s passion for curating started in high school where she completed a co-op at the Woodstock Art Gallery, as the Gallery Assistant in Collections and Curatorial Practices. In that time, she helped curate exhibitions, worked closely with the permanent collection, helped with tours, and assisted with gallery operations across departments. Since then Karlene attended OCAD University before transferring to York University as an undergraduate History Major under the specialized honours program. While pursuing this degree, she completed an international exchange at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Karlene just completed her Post Graduate Certification in Arts Management at Centennial College. Through Centennial College, Karlene participated in an internship at Propeller Art Gallery where she assisted artists with exhibition installation and deconstruction as needed, worked with website management, assisted with editing the membership policy, drafted relevant promotional materials, and assisted with gallery administration. Karlene aspires to one day open an Art Gallery of her own so that she may give back to the art communities that inspired her.
