Watershed
Stephen Andrews, Marlene Creates, Francisco De la Barra, Michel Dumont, André Ethier, Gary Evans, FASTWÜRMS, Ron Giii, Sadko Hadzihasanovic, Jay Isaac, Zachari Logan, Olia Mishchenko, Jeanne Randolph, Mélanie Rocan, Su Rynard, Carol Wainio, Robert Wiens, Natalie Wood
group exhibition
September 6 - October 5, 2024
Opening Reception Friday September 6, 7-10pm
For a full list of installation and artwork images, please click here.
We all live on a watershed even if it's off a downspout or a tent flap. Watersheds are our connection to the ecosystem. -- Robert Wiens, May 2024
Stephen Andrews
Marlene Creates
Francisco De la Barra
Michel Dumont
André Ethier
Gary Evans
FASTWÜRMS
Ron Giii
Sadko Hadzihasanovic
Jay Isaac
Zachari Logan
Olia Mishchenko
Pejvak
Jeanne Randolph
Mélanie Rocan
Su Rynard
Carol Wainio
Robert Wiens
Natalie Wood
Paul Petro Contemporary Art is pleased to present the group exhibition Watershed.
This summer has seen a time of flash flooding in many parts of the world, including in Toronto where thunderstorm bursts unexpectedly flooded roads and basements. It was also the year that the mayor of Paris, in preparation for the summer Olympics, demonstrated to the world the somewhat-remediated water health of the river Seine by taking a swim.
Installed this summer in Ottawa at the National Gallery of Canada, in a permanent collection exhibition attuned to the environment, are photo-based works, a video and a memory map drawing by Marlene Creates and a pen and ink drawing, Ravine World (2014), by Olia Mishchenko. Comprised of eight sheets at 22 x 30 inches each, this continuous drawing maps a Lake Ontario shoreline fragment over its 240-inch length. I have always thought of this work as a primordial meeting place of land and water, enacted upon over time by humans at all ages, at play and at work, and by the effects of erosion and maintenance, and urban development.
The shoreline presents as a place of constant re-enactment. Rich in bio-diversity at its best, this junction of water and vegetation is known as the riparian zone, and functions as a barometer of lake health, supporting a vast array of animal, insect, bird, aquatic and, by extension, human life. Watershed looks at these relationships and considers bio-diversity in the balance of climate change.
-- Paul Petro, August 2024 (longer text forthcoming)