Catharine MacTavish

Dust In The Air

March 14-April 5, 2003

Paul Petro Contemporary Art is pleased to present a small survey of works by Catharine MacTavish. Dust In The Air is Catharine MacTavish's first solo exhibition at Paul Petro Contemporary Art and her first public exhibition in over ten years. The show consists of works spanning more than twenty years. This exhibition incudes some of her latest works.

Here is some of her history:

Catharine MacTavish's art work was fueled by 60's radical play, arts and sciences studies at Queen's University in the 60's, and then fine art at York University in the early 70's. In the eclectic and fertile culture of the time, which had room for off beat bit players, she pursued her dialectical questions in activities associated with independent publishing and microfiche art at Coach House Press, the File Magazine network, holography in San Francisco and at Visual Alchemy, experimental film in Egypt with Al Razutis, and exceptionally bad performance with Point Zero Eight in Vancouver, and Julie Harrison at Franklin Furnace in New York.

Her focus narrowed into a series of drawings, Self Centred (1977) and paintings, Bathers (1975-1990), Lifelines (1980-1981), Night Vision (1977-1990) which included Both Sides (Night Vision #13) (1981-1984), Arms Race (1984) and Dust in the Air (1985-1986) which were exhibited at artist-run, private and public galleries in Canada, and which made their way into private and public collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Hamilton and Art Bank, Ottawa. She also wrote for Vanguard and C magazines.

In the late 80's MacTavish removed herself from the scene and followed her muse into parenting, child care, and ordination as a Buddhist nun. She continued to produce works of art.

Each piece entails a slow conceptual and technical percolation, with a production rate of one dense painting every two or three years. (She would call it a dealer's nightmare!). Catharine MacTavish is Toronto-based and is a teaching assistant while she pursues a masters degree at Wilfred Laurier University.