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Urban Futurities – Guest Curator Ilene Sova

August 23 – September 10, 2023
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 24, 5 – 8 pm
Curator & Artist Talks: Sunday, September 10, 3 pm

Urban Futurities – Essay by Ilene Sova

Walk around the city and look very closely at your surroundings. Notice the noises. Hear the messages. Feel the feelings. Cold metal construction cranes loom over neighbourhoods by the dozens. Gentrification rubs up against inter-generational communities pushing people to downsize. Artists are packing up their studios in the urban centres towards affordability in outlying regions. Tent cities crop up in the underpasses on the edges of the parks. Urban populations are experiencing precarity on all levels. Politicians wring their hands and spew broken promises from glass towers. Inflation, the housing crisis, and gentrification are calling into question the future of our global cities. Affordability, rising food costs, skyrocketing rents and real estate development are pushing people to the literal margins. As citizens, we watch as this significant transformation takes place all around us, and we can see the inevitable death of our cities on the horizon but somehow feel powerless to stop it. In this exhibit on Urban Futurities, we pause and take stock. The exhibition will show viewers this crisis point through art and as we use our creative capacity to imagine new solutions and new ways of living together in our communities.

Guest Curator, Ilene Sova

Guest Curator, Ilene Sova is an artist and activist whose art practice focuses on equity and diversity with a feminist focus on creating a dialogue around anti-oppression. She is also heavily involved in arts advocacy, community activation, and curatorial projects that promote pluralism in the arts.

Sova is the founder of the Feminist Art Conference and Blank Canvases, an in-school creative arts programme for elementary school students. She holds an Honours BFA from the University of Ottawa in Painting and an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Windsor. Sova holds the position of Associate Professor in Drawing and Painting at OCADU.

With extensive solo and group exhibitions in Canada and abroad, Sova’s work has most notably been shown at the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and Mutuo Centro de Arte in Barcelona. Additionally. Sova’s work has been featured on television, the internet, and in print media with highlights in Canadian Art, the Toronto Star, CBC Radio, CBC TV, CTV Canada AM and the Globe and Mail.

Ilene Sova

Exhibiting Artists:

  • Kezleigh
  • ARTIFACTS
  • Bret Culp
  • Beverly Daniels 
  • Douglas Gammage 
  • Carly Friesen
  • Thomas Hlavacek
  • Ruth Maude
  • Joseph Muscat
  • Frances Patella
  • Dan Philips
  • Hye Yeon Shin 
  • Patrick Stieber
  • Genevieve Singer 
  • Jonathan Stern 
  • Helena Wehrstein
  • Maddy Young
  • Kezleigh . - Are we there yet? - Digital painting on acrylic glass - 30 in. x 20 in. $2300

    Alternate View

    Kezleigh .
    Are we there yet?
    Digital painting on acrylic glass
    Artwork: 30 in. x 20 in.

    Price: $2300
    Artist Statement

  •  ARTIFACTS - Tiny Homes: Everyone is Downsizing - Installation - 66 in. x 20 in. $2200

    Alternate View

    ARTIFACTS
    Tiny Homes: Everyone is Downsizing
    Installation
    Artwork: 66 in. x 20 in.

    Price: $2200
    Artist Statement

  • Bret Culp - Jack’s Video Sports Bar, Cleveland, Ohio, USA - Metal Print Photograph with Float Mount - 36 in. x 24 in. $725

     
    Bret Culp
    Jack’s Video Sports Bar, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
    Metal Print Photograph with Float Mount
    Artwork: 36 in. x 24 in.
    Frame: 36 in. x 24 in.
    Price: $725
    Artist Statement

  • Beverley Daniels - Blue Sky - Collage - 24 in. x 18 in. $900

     
    Beverley Daniels
    Blue Sky
    Collage
    Artwork: 24 in. x 18 in.
    Frame: 25 in. x 19 in.
    Price: $900
    Artist Statement

  • Carly Friesen - Nonprofit Housing Now - Mixed Media on Wood - 12 in. x 12 in. $145

    Alternate View

    Carly Friesen
    Nonprofit Housing Now
    Mixed Media on Wood
    Artwork: 12 in. x 12 in.

    Price: $145
    Artist Statement

  • Carly Friesen - Coop Housing Now - Mixed Media on Wood - 8 in. x 8 in. $160

    Alternate View

    Carly Friesen
    Coop Housing Now
    Mixed Media on Wood
    Artwork: 8 in. x 8 in.

    Price: $160
    Artist Statement

  • Douglas Gammage - Sidewalk Closed - Two-Plate Aquatint - 8.5 in. x 7 in. $260

     
    Douglas Gammage
    Sidewalk Closed
    Two-Plate Aquatint
    Artwork: 8.5 in. x 7 in.

    Price: $260
    Artist Statement

  • Thomas Hlavacek - The Castle - Single-channel HD video, 08:07, 2012 (https://youtu.be/kolcdWz2T4w) - . in. x . in. NFS

    View Video
     
    Thomas Hlavacek
    The Castle
    Single-channel HD video, 08:07, 2012 (https://youtu.be/kolcdWz2T4w)
    Artwork: . in. x . in.

    Price: NFS
    Artist Statement

  • Ruth Maude - Waste Not, Want Not - Encaustic on scraps of fabric - 20 in. x 13 in. $400

     
    Ruth Maude
    Waste Not, Want Not
    Encaustic on scraps of fabric
    Artwork: 20 in. x 13 in.

    Price: $400
    Artist Statement

  • Joseph Muscat - Damn! - Beaver hewn wood, Metal,Paint,Wire - 12 in. x 11 in. $1100

    Alternate View

    Joseph Muscat
    Damn!
    Beaver hewn wood, Metal,Paint,Wire
    Artwork: 12 in. x 11 in.

    Price: $1100
    Artist Statement

  • Frances Patella - Now Under Construction - Digital chromogenic print on Hahnemuhle paper, 1/5 - 9 in. x 13.75 in. $450

     
    Frances Patella
    Now Under Construction
    Digital chromogenic print on Hahnemuhle paper, 1/5
    Artwork: 9 in. x 13.75 in.
    Frame: 16.50 in. x 19 in.
    Price: $450
    Artist Statement

  • Dan Philips - Cartoon#9 in the Daring Adventures Series - Print of digital montage and drawn ink and digital tones - 14 in. x 11 in. $250

     
    Dan Philips
    Cartoon#9 in the Daring Adventures Series
    Print of digital montage and drawn ink and digital tones
    Artwork: 14 in. x 11 in.

    Price: $250
    Artist Statement

  • Dan Philips - COLOSSUS 0F ROADS - Cartoon#8 in the  Daring Adventures Series - Print of digital montage and drawn ink and digital tones - 14 in. x 11 in. $250

     
    Dan Philips
    COLOSSUS 0F ROADS – Cartoon#8 in the Daring Adventures Series
    Print of digital montage and drawn ink and digital tones
    Artwork: 14 in. x 11 in.

    Price: $250
    Artist Statement

  • Hye Yeon Shin - Regenicide - Collage on aluminum - 22 in. x 46 in. $20,000

     
    Hye Yeon Shin
    Regenicide
    Collage on aluminum
    Artwork: 22 in. x 46 in.

    Price: $20,000
    Artist Statement

  • Genevieve Singer - Reminiscing on Queen St. West - Acrylic on canvas - 24 in. x 36 in. $450

     
    Genevieve Singer
    Reminiscing on Queen St. West
    Acrylic on canvas
    Artwork: 24 in. x 36 in.

    Price: $450
    Artist Statement

  • Jonathan Stern - I OWN THE CITY AND THE RIVER - 6 5X7 photographs with accompanying poem - 5 in. x 7 in. $500

    Alternate View

    Jonathan Stern
    I OWN THE CITY AND THE RIVER
    6 5X7 photographs with accompanying poem
    Artwork: 5 in. x 7 in.
    Frame: 8 in. x 10 in.
    Price: $500
    Artist Statement

  • Patrick Stieber - Facade - Photography - 24 in. x 48 in. $450

     
    Patrick Stieber
    Facade
    Photography
    Artwork: 24 in. x 48 in.

    Price: $450
    Artist Statement

  • Patrick Stieber - Pickup - Photography - 36

     
    Patrick Stieber
    Pickup
    Photography
    Artwork: 36″ in. x 36″ in.

    Price: $300
    Artist Statement

  • Helena Wehrstein - Searching For Sanity - Circuit boards and other bits from dismantled discarded electronic devices, discontinued fabric sample scraps, found wooden box, discarded metal antennas. - 20 in. x 14 in. $590

    Alternate View

    Helena Wehrstein
    Searching For Sanity
    Circuit boards and other bits from dismantled discarded electronic devices, discontinued fabric sample scraps, found wooden box, discarded metal antennas.
    Artwork: 20 in. x 14 in.

    Price: $590
    Artist Statement

  • Maddy Young - YESTERDAY/TOMORROW - Sticker lettering on sheet vinyl, metal frame - 6.5 in. x 24 in. $400

     
    Maddy Young
    YESTERDAY/TOMORROW
    Sticker lettering on sheet vinyl, metal frame
    Artwork: 6.5 in. x 24 in.

    Price: $400
    Artist Statement

Photos from the August 24th Opening Reception

Special thanks to our community partners and sponsors. 

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