Colin Carney

Notation

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:10:58 +0000

archival digital print, 24 x 18″, 2011

“Here, Then and There” - Forest City Gallery - London ON

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Colin Carney & Ian McLean - Here, Then and There

Friday, November 4, 2011 - Saturday, December 10, 2011

Opening reception: Friday, November 4, 7:00pm

The Forest City Gallery

258 Richmond Street
London, Ontario N6B 2H7
(519) 434-5875
info@forestcitygallery.com

Guelph-based artist Colin Carney is interested in time and perception. “Then And There” is a recent series of multi-layered digital photographs which he shot at an annual retreat in rural Ontario. He says that the layering in this work helps to both depict his authentic experience and interrupt the specifics of location and circumstance. While describing the quiet and the stillness, Carney’s work is also concerned with the interaction of the viewer’s memory and the subject. A collection of pauses, “Then And There” is a series of work which both tells a story and asks for one at once. Carney gratefully acknowledges the support of the OAC exhibition assistance program for their support of this exhibition.

www.colincarney.com

Ian McLean is interested in imagery that explores the relationship between social and natural worlds. His paintings often reveal efforts to contain, control, manipulate, or avoid circumstances of nature as evidenced in highly groomed and domesticated environments reflecting a deep-seated desire for comfort or beauty or distraction. The residential environments in his paintings are sometimes real and sometimes imagined, enhancing discrepancies between setting and mood through an emphasis on ornamentation. The exaggeration of certain decorative elements of comfort is intended to both lure viewers into familiar environments and unsettle them once they are there. Efforts to keep elements of dissolution or entropy at bay are evident in these settings. The success of such efforts is thereby challenged. Ian McLean was born in Sarnia, Ontario and studied at the University of Guelph. His work has been exhibited extensively and is in several private and corporate collections across Canada. He lives in Bright’s Grove and is represented in Toronto by Loop Gallery and Gallery Moos. McLean gratefully acknowledges the support of the OAC exhibition assistance program for their support of this exhibition

www.ianmclean.ca

Artist Talk - Colin Carney

Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 7:00pm

Colin Carney is a multidisciplinary artist who currently teaches printmaking at the University of Western Ontario. He received a BA with honours from the University of Guelph where he won the Bronfman Family Foundation Printmaking Award and the Warner-Lambert Printmaking Award. Carney completed his MFA from the University of Waterloo. During his graduate studies, he worked with artists in Ireland and France courtesy of the Keith and Win Shantz Internship Award. Carney is a current member of Red Head Gallery in Toronto. In his artist talk, Carney will discuss his photographic work which extends from his video and printmaking interests. The artist will speak about the influences, concepts and methods which structure his ongoing practice concerned with perception, time and space. The Forest City Gallery Speakers series made possible through the generous support of Brenda Fuhrman. The Forest City Gallery gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, The London Arts Council and The City of London.

Images:

Delay, Colin Carney, archival digital print, 45 x 30″, 2010
Fuller, Ian McLean, oil on canvas, 40″ x 30″, 2011

Return

admin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:39:10 +0000

archival digital print, 45 x 30″, 2011

Last Look

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archival digital print, 45 x 30″, 2011

Sway

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archival digital print, 45 x 30″, 2011

Glance

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archival digital print, 45 x 30″, 2011

Nocturn

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archival digital print, 45 x 30″, 2011

August 2011- Thoughts about space and circumstance

admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:12:36 +0000

This summer has been busy on all fronts. New images will be updated shortly as I prepare for an upcoming show at Forest City Gallery in London ON in November and I will be teaching advanced printmaking at The University of Western Ontario this fall.

As well, I have been drawing and painting in my studio. For those of you who know me well, you will know this is not news and has always been an important part of my life in art. That said, I have not chosen to work this way in a while. For now, this is largely an extended exercise to think and rethink my subjects, sharpening some choices I am making in digital work. I will often use sketches and shorthand notation in tandem when working with cameras. I have also never gotten over the love of a hard earned mess when fighting with a painting or working a charcoal drawing. I’m happiest with dirty process hands.

A couple of years ago, when I moved into my new studio which is separate but connected to our rebuilt home, I began to settle in and work right away, almost to justify the fortunate opportunity the space presented. Only recently have I felt the sanctity of that space come to fruition. It now is marked by a sense of calm and comfort. I’m not sure why specifically. Maybe time will do that on its own. So much had happened in such a short span of time leading up to that move and the pace was almost frantic. I made a lot of work, participated in many shows and felt really good doing so. I later felt a gradual need to step back before stepping forward. Take a breath and see what I can see at this place and time. I have been using this summer specifically to read studiously, listen to music carefully, sip slowly and think quietly. Being still. Letting this all soak directly into my work.

That may sound charmed and in truth is, but I have had to work at balance between this enriching studio time and the important time being a husband and father. Working at that balance makes me think about Jack Chambers who has been so influential in the development of my work. I credit Doug Kirton for opening up Chambers’ story to me in its fullness. Jack was working with cameras and paint in the 60s and 70s in London ON while also tending to his young family. His family life influenced his practice and his practice influenced his family life. He went on to make a substantial body of thoughtful work and kept himself rooted in family. That really didn’t mean much to me when I was a young upstart as an undergraduate student and I skimmed over Chambers in my studies. Years later, it sounds like a perfect aspiration. So, I have taken note and been busy trying to do just that.

My recent drawing and painting endeavors for now remain personal but I am hopeful they will grow to be something I may present publicly in the future. In the meantime, I’ll be retreating north again to the bush in September with my cameras and drawing supplies. That amazing place, which helps connect my affections for fishing and stargazing with my affections for painting, writing and music, keeps me honest and clear headed. Assuredly, I will be busy making work based on that experience later this fall.

Nocturn 2

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:58:16 +0000

archival digital print, 45 x 30″, 2011