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Item Ships From: Canada
Lateral Optics
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 has long admired Lizz Aston's evolving career and body of work. We are pleased to be offering her incredible creations. Aston's practice is insp...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Film, Mulberry Paper

Blue Apatite
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Caviar20 has long admired Lizz Aston's evolving career and body of work. We are pleased to be offering her incredible creations. Aston's practice is insp...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mulberry Paper

King of the hill
Located in Toronto, ON
38" x 29.5" Vintage collage on Illustration Board Hand Signed by Danielle Cole
Category

2010s Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Blue Mood (Original)
Located in Toronto, ON
Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Joann
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Yellow Flamenco
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Angel Road (Original)
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Mixed Media Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Apollo
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Battlement
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Bugaku
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Dancer with White Dress
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Face IV
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Face V
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Firebird III
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Flamenco Dancer I
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Black Tutu
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Flamenco with Pink Flowers
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Green Dancers
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Idyllic (Original)
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Mixed Media Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Midsummer Nights Dream
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Nubia
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Pas de Trois
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

See
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Illustration on Paper Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Paper

Quartet
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Stretching
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Tutu I
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Two Dancers
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Tying Toe Shoes
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Untitled IV
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Untitled VII
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Untitled X
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Wings (Original)
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Mixed Media Hand Signed by Rachel Isadora
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

The Bridge
Located in Toronto, ON
30" x 22" Unframed Mixed Media on Paper Hand Signed by Costa
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Philosophy
Located in Toronto, ON
5" x 7" Unframed Original - Mixed Media on Paper Hand Signed by Laurice Kilgour
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Attitude
Located in Toronto, ON
22" x 22" Archival Pigment Print Mounted to Acrylic on Aluminum Numbered of 10 Designer: Jay Manuel Fall 2010 Hand Signed by Alexander Rocco
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Archival Pigment

Xaniis (Original)
Located in Toronto, ON
29" x 29" framed Original Acrylic on Panel Hand Signed by Jaye Ouellette
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Blu (Original)
Located in Toronto, ON
8" x 24" framed Original Acrylic on Panel Hand Signed by Jaye Ouellette
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Meditation III (Original)
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Canvas Hand Signed by Joann Côté
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Untitled3 (Original)
Located in Toronto, ON
Original - Mixed Media on Board Hand Signed by Joann Côté
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Redrawn Map
Located in Toronto, ON
12" x 12" Unframed Original Hand Signed by Erin Lofton
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Sunrise - Out
By Elizabeth Gregory-Gruen
Located in Toronto, ON
34" x 24" Framed Original - 2 PLY 100% Cotton Museum Board with Gouache Paint Framing: Plexi with Shadow Box Frame Hand Signed by Elizabeth Gregory-Gruen
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Gouache, Board

Japanese Labels
By Greg Curnoe
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Greg Curnoe (1936-1992) was a highly revered artist, bookmaker, and competitive cyclist based in London, Ontario, but beloved across the country. He represented Canada in the 1976 Ve...
Category

1960s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

In Transit
By Johnathan Ball
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Hand Signed by Johnathan Ball Johnathan Ball has been working for more than 15 years to establish a style of painting that transforms the language of the street into a hybrid form of abstraction and urban realism. From the outset, JBall has sought to interpret his experience of cities that have served as crossroads in his life, from Toronto to New York to Miami the urban experience is a central theme in his work. Not always bound to one genre he also works from iconic images and film stills while purposefully engaging with the rich history of painting since the rise of abstraction in the 1950s. His work provides markers of time, engages the viewer with mood and line tracing the painting providing an artist lead tour of the work. JBall is also well known for his sculptural work. Sculpting anatomical forms using them as an entirely new canvas for his painting. His sculptures are an accent to his painted works, sometimes bringing levity. JBall is an active muralist working with community programs such as Toronto’s Street Art initiative, as well as private commissions. His notable patrons include The Mayor of Toronto, Universal Music, Blattner energy, and IMT Corporation. JBall (born Toronto, ON 1983) studied at York University, Toronto, where he received his Bachelors in Fine Arts degree, graduating with honors. He was also the recipient of the Ontario Arts Council emerging artist award. Johnathan is currently represented by the Liss Gallery...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

City exploration
By Johnathan Ball
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Hand Signed by Johnathan Ball Johnathan Ball has been working for more than 15 years to establish a style of painting that transforms the ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

12 Parsecs
By Johnathan Ball
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Giclee on canvas hand embellished and Hand Signed by Johnathan Ball Johnathan Ball has been working for more than 15 years to establish a style of painting that transforms the language of the street into a hybrid form of abstraction and urban realism. From the outset, JBall has sought to interpret his experience of cities that have served as crossroads in his life, from Toronto to New York to Miami the urban experience is a central theme in his work. Not always bound to one genre he also works from iconic images and film stills while purposefully engaging with the rich history of painting since the rise of abstraction in the 1950s. His work provides markers of time, engages the viewer with mood and line tracing the painting providing an artist lead tour of the work. JBall is also well known for his sculptural work. Sculpting anatomical forms using them as an entirely new canvas for his painting. His sculptures are an accent to his painted works, sometimes bringing levity. JBall is an active muralist working with community programs such as Toronto’s Street Art initiative, as well as private commissions. His notable patrons include The Mayor of Toronto, Universal Music, Blattner energy, and IMT Corporation. JBall (born Toronto, ON 1983) studied at York University, Toronto, where he received his Bachelors in Fine Arts degree, graduating with honors. He was also the recipient of the Ontario Arts Council emerging artist award. Johnathan is currently represented by the Liss Gallery...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Giclée

Scar Face
By Johnathan Ball
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Hand Signed by Johnathan Ball Johnathan Ball has been working for more than 15 years to establish a style of painting that transforms the language of the street into a hybrid form of abstraction and urban realism. From the outset, JBall has sought to interpret his experience of cities that have served as crossroads in his life, from Toronto to New York to Miami the urban experience is a central theme in his work. Not always bound to one genre he also works from iconic images and film stills while purposefully engaging with the rich history of painting since the rise of abstraction in the 1950s. His work provides markers of time, engages the viewer with mood and line tracing the painting providing an artist lead tour of the work. JBall is also well known for his sculptural work. Sculpting anatomical forms using them as an entirely new canvas for his painting. His sculptures are an accent to his painted works, sometimes bringing levity. JBall is an active muralist working with community programs such as Toronto’s Street Art initiative, as well as private commissions. His notable patrons include The Mayor of Toronto, Universal Music, Blattner energy, and IMT Corporation. JBall (born Toronto, ON 1983) studied at York University, Toronto, where he received his Bachelors in Fine Arts degree, graduating with honors. He was also the recipient of the Ontario Arts Council emerging artist award. Johnathan is currently represented by the Liss Gallery...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Silver Screen
By Johnathan Ball
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Hand Signed by Johnathan Ball Johnathan Ball has been working for more than 15 years to establish a style of painting that transforms the language of the street into a hybrid form of abstraction and urban realism. From the outset, JBall has sought to interpret his experience of cities that have served as crossroads in his life, from Toronto to New York to Miami the urban experience is a central theme in his work. Not always bound to one genre he also works from iconic images and film stills while purposefully engaging with the rich history of painting since the rise of abstraction in the 1950s. His work provides markers of time, engages the viewer with mood and line tracing the painting providing an artist lead tour of the work. JBall is also well known for his sculptural work. Sculpting anatomical forms using them as an entirely new canvas for his painting. His sculptures are an accent to his painted works, sometimes bringing levity. JBall is an active muralist working with community programs such as Toronto’s Street Art initiative, as well as private commissions. His notable patrons include The Mayor of Toronto, Universal Music, Blattner energy, and IMT Corporation. JBall (born Toronto, ON 1983) studied at York University, Toronto, where he received his Bachelors in Fine Arts degree, graduating with honors. He was also the recipient of the Ontario Arts Council emerging artist award. Johnathan is currently represented by the Liss Gallery...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Sneaky Dees
By Johnathan Ball
Located in Toronto, ON
Original Hand Signed by Johnathan Ball Johnathan Ball has been working for more than 15 years to establish a style of painting that transforms the language of the street into a hybrid form of abstraction and urban realism. From the outset, JBall has sought to interpret his experience of cities that have served as crossroads in his life, from Toronto to New York to Miami the urban experience is a central theme in his work. Not always bound to one genre he also works from iconic images and film stills while purposefully engaging with the rich history of painting since the rise of abstraction in the 1950s. His work provides markers of time, engages the viewer with mood and line tracing the painting providing an artist lead tour of the work. JBall is also well known for his sculptural work. Sculpting anatomical forms using them as an entirely new canvas for his painting. His sculptures are an accent to his painted works, sometimes bringing levity. JBall is an active muralist working with community programs such as Toronto’s Street Art initiative, as well as private commissions. His notable patrons include The Mayor of Toronto, Universal Music, Blattner energy, and IMT Corporation. JBall (born Toronto, ON 1983) studied at York University, Toronto, where he received his Bachelors in Fine Arts degree, graduating with honors. He was also the recipient of the Ontario Arts Council emerging artist award. Johnathan is currently represented by the Liss Gallery...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Butterfly Series - Pink
Located in Toronto, ON
Excellent Condition This is available on its own or could be combined with a quadriptych of three other matching pieces: Available in Blue, Pink, Yellow and Purple
Category

2010s Pop Art Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Resin

A Balancing Land
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and sky are tinged a movie musical pale blue and their gear is a bit too colorful for the era of man-hauling. And then there’s the sled, piled high not with boxes of supplies but with a jumbled heap of antiquities: Greek Athenas, bits of a coliseum, a ship’s great wheel. In Jessica Houston’s collage “The Long Haul,” the explorers drag history itself into the great beyond, their backs turned from their absurd load. But we take in the entire scene. In her suite of works, Over the Edge of the World, Houston uses oil on wood, ink on paper, and collages of found images, many from National Geographic Magazine, to rearrange the evidence – and thus history’s possibilities. Houston joins visual artists such as Judit Hersko, Katja Aglert, and Isaac Julien...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

There Remains and Irreducible Parity
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and sky are tinged a movie musical pale blue and their gear is a bit too colorful for the era of man-hauling. And then there’s the sled, piled high not with boxes of supplies but with a jumbled heap of antiquities: Greek Athenas, bits of a coliseum, a ship’s great wheel. In Jessica Houston’s collage “The Long Haul,” the explorers drag history itself into the great beyond, their backs turned from their absurd load. But we take in the entire scene. In her suite of works, Over the Edge of the World, Houston uses oil on wood, ink on paper, and collages of found images, many from National Geographic Magazine, to rearrange the evidence – and thus history’s possibilities. Houston joins visual artists such as Judit Hersko, Katja Aglert, and Isaac Julien who have been inspired by the explorers of the past. Like them, she draws, in part, on the singular tradition of polar exploration narratives as well as fictions such as Ursula Le Guin’s “Sur” (1981), a utopian feminist hoax in which a party of South American women reach the South Pole in 1909, two years before the official arrival of European explorers. Le Guin’s explorers do not feel compelled to leave any written record or physical proof of their presence at the South Pole. If Le Guin’s women might have made it, what other traces have been missed? Collage can work alongside alternative history: it interprets, interrupts, and rearranges. It questions the completed whole, instead emphasizing composition and relation. Collage suggests it all might be … otherwise. Houston’s collages flaunt their second nature. Yet what they show remains somehow plausible. You want to believe what you’re beginning to see. In “A life Attuned to Larger Rhythms” Houston grids out rectangles of captured images to overwhelm the eye as the polar environment itself might (whiteout is a paradoxical species of optical overstimulation). Through the strangely ordered confusion of an ice survey grafted atop a chessboard, the mind begins to recognize new connections, emergent shapes: a different future? In “Launching Strategy” a yellow-orange pyramid balances garishly atop a tent. Which came first, the realist tent or the Platonic shape? Can we ever be sure that we’re not already seeing through premade abstractions? Or is it that baggage we’ve been dragging along? In “Architecture of the Anthropocene” and “Red Blood, Red Earth” Houston reroutes visually symbolic through-lines between women and non-European people and the official history in which they appear dimly or not at all. A full-skirted woman holds onto the tether of a kite that seems to pull her upwards towards a weather balloon floating above an Antarctic base’s radio tower; a row of tropical workers wielding pickaxes folds into the trajectory of a sailor aiming a bow and arrow at an iceberg stained with red. These are not people or images normally associated with polar discovery. But shouldn’t they matter? “Territory Over Land” strips in a scene from a painted depiction of the tropics, possibly from one of Captain James Cook’s circumnavigations. “Captain Cook’s Legacy” more directly confronts an official portrait of Cook with the torn-in eyes from what can only be described as the explorer’s anonymous dark Other. The hybrid portrait is a kind of contact zone. “Henson and Peary – Past Entanglements” is a cooler, less volatile twin portrait of disputed discoverer of the North Pole Robert Peary...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Holding Up and Attracting the Earth
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Between Them
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

The Impossible Abyss Which Separates the Two Sides
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Of a Difference in Which the Differences Are Inseparable
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and sky are tinged a movie musical pale blue and their gear is a bit too colorful for the era of man-hauling. And then there’s the sled, piled high not with boxes of supplies but with a jumbled heap of antiquities: Greek Athenas, bits of a coliseum, a ship’s great wheel. In Jessica Houston’s collage “The Long Haul,” the explorers drag history itself into the great beyond, their backs turned from their absurd load. But we take in the entire scene. In her suite of works, Over the Edge of the World, Houston uses oil on wood, ink on paper, and collages of found images, many from National Geographic Magazine, to rearrange the evidence – and thus history’s possibilities. Houston joins visual artists such as Judit Hersko, Katja Aglert, and Isaac Julien...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Both Above and Below
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Taking Place
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and sky are tinged a movie musical pale blue and their gear is a bit too colorful for the era of man-hauling. And then there’s the sled, piled high not with boxes of supplies but with a jumbled heap of antiquities: Greek Athenas, bits of a coliseum, a ship’s great wheel. In Jessica Houston’s collage “The Long Haul,” the explorers drag history itself into the great beyond, their backs turned from their absurd load. But we take in the entire scene. In her suite of works, Over the Edge of the World, Houston uses oil on wood, ink on paper, and collages of found images, many from National Geographic Magazine, to rearrange the evidence – and thus history’s possibilities. Houston joins visual artists such as Judit Hersko, Katja Aglert, and Isaac Julien who have been inspired by the explorers of the past. Like them, she draws, in part, on the singular tradition of polar exploration narratives as well as fictions such as Ursula Le Guin’s “Sur” (1981), a utopian feminist hoax in which a party of South American women reach the South Pole in 1909, two years before the official arrival of European explorers. Le Guin’s explorers do not feel compelled to leave any written record or physical proof of their presence at the South Pole. If Le Guin’s women might have made it, what other traces have been missed? Collage can work alongside alternative history: it interprets, interrupts, and rearranges. It questions the completed whole, instead emphasizing composition and relation. Collage suggests it all might be … otherwise. Houston’s collages flaunt their second nature. Yet what they show remains somehow plausible. You want to believe what you’re beginning to see. In “A life Attuned to Larger Rhythms” Houston grids out rectangles of captured images to overwhelm the eye as the polar environment itself might (whiteout is a paradoxical species of optical overstimulation). Through the strangely ordered confusion of an ice survey grafted atop a chessboard, the mind begins to recognize new connections, emergent shapes: a different future? In “Launching Strategy” a yellow-orange pyramid balances garishly atop a tent. Which came first, the realist tent or the Platonic shape? Can we ever be sure that we’re not already seeing through premade abstractions? Or is it that baggage we’ve been dragging along? In “Architecture of the Anthropocene” and “Red Blood, Red Earth” Houston reroutes visually symbolic through-lines between women and non-European people and the official history in which they appear dimly or not at all. A full-skirted woman holds onto the tether of a kite that seems to pull her upwards towards a weather balloon floating above an Antarctic base’s radio tower; a row of tropical workers wielding pickaxes folds into the trajectory of a sailor aiming a bow and arrow at an iceberg stained with red. These are not people or images normally associated with polar discovery. But shouldn’t they matter? “Territory Over Land” strips in a scene from a painted depiction of the tropics, possibly from one of Captain James Cook’s circumnavigations. “Captain Cook’s Legacy” more directly confronts an official portrait of Cook with the torn-in eyes from what can only be described as the explorer’s anonymous dark Other. The hybrid portrait is a kind of contact zone. “Henson and Peary – Past Entanglements” is a cooler, less volatile twin portrait of disputed discoverer of the North Pole Robert Peary...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Ink, Archival Paper

Drawing in Water
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and sky are tinged a movie musical pale blue and their gear is a bit too colorful for the era of man-hauling. And then there’s the sled, piled high not with boxes of supplies but with a jumbled heap of antiquities: Greek Athenas, bits of a coliseum, a ship’s great wheel. In Jessica Houston’s collage “The Long Haul,” the explorers drag history itself into the great beyond, their backs turned from their absurd load. But we take in the entire scene. In her suite of works, Over the Edge of the World, Houston uses oil on wood, ink on paper, and collages of found images, many from National Geographic Magazine, to rearrange the evidence – and thus history’s possibilities. Houston joins visual artists such as Judit Hersko, Katja Aglert, and Isaac Julien who have been inspired by the explorers of the past. Like them, she draws, in part, on the singular tradition of polar exploration narratives as well as fictions such as Ursula Le Guin’s “Sur” (1981), a utopian feminist hoax in which a party of South American women reach the South Pole in 1909, two years before the official arrival of European explorers. Le Guin’s explorers do not feel compelled to leave any written record or physical proof of their presence at the South Pole. If Le Guin’s women might have made it, what other traces have been missed? Collage can work alongside alternative history: it interprets, interrupts, and rearranges. It questions the completed whole, instead emphasizing composition and relation. Collage suggests it all might be … otherwise. Houston’s collages flaunt their second nature. Yet what they show remains somehow plausible. You want to believe what you’re beginning to see. In “A life Attuned to Larger Rhythms” Houston grids out rectangles of captured images to overwhelm the eye as the polar environment itself might (whiteout is a paradoxical species of optical overstimulation). Through the strangely ordered confusion of an ice survey grafted atop a chessboard, the mind begins to recognize new connections, emergent shapes: a different future? In “Launching Strategy” a yellow-orange pyramid balances garishly atop a tent. Which came first, the realist tent or the Platonic shape? Can we ever be sure that we’re not already seeing through premade abstractions? Or is it that baggage we’ve been dragging along? In “Architecture of the Anthropocene” and “Red Blood, Red Earth” Houston reroutes visually symbolic through-lines between women and non-European people and the official history in which they appear dimly or not at all. A full-skirted woman holds onto the tether of a kite that seems to pull her upwards towards a weather balloon floating above an Antarctic base’s radio tower; a row of tropical workers wielding pickaxes folds into the trajectory of a sailor aiming a bow and arrow at an iceberg stained with red. These are not people or images normally associated with polar discovery. But shouldn’t they matter? “Territory Over Land” strips in a scene from a painted depiction of the tropics, possibly from one of Captain James Cook’s circumnavigations. “Captain Cook’s Legacy” more directly confronts an official portrait of Cook with the torn-in eyes from what can only be described as the explorer’s anonymous dark Other. The hybrid portrait is a kind of contact zone. “Henson and Peary – Past Entanglements” is a cooler, less volatile twin portrait of disputed discoverer of the North Pole Robert Peary...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Ink, Archival Paper

Of the return voyage...
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
“Of the return voyage there is nothing to tell… In 1912 all the world learned that the brave Norwegian Amundsen had reached the South Pole; and then, much l...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

She dug out one more cell...
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
“She dug out one more cell just under the ice surface, leaving nearly a transparent sheet of ice like a greenhouse roof; and there, alone, she worked at sculptures...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

instead of a narrow bight...
By Jessica Houston
Located in Montreal, Quebec
A group of figures heads for icy distant mountains. A familiar enough scene of polar explorers hauling their sledges. Yet somehow this does not quite fit the heroic mold. The ice and...
Category

2010s Contemporary Canada - Mixed Media

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

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