Gareth Bate

Artist Gareth Bate.

Gareth Bate

Gareth is an emerging artist living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The core theme of his work is essentially the big philosophical question "What is the meaning of life?" His different bodies of work don't strive to answer that question, but rather to ask it in different ways. He is interested in our relationships with nature, our scale and place in the universe, and a search for personal meaning. Gareth often reinterprets religious metaphors in an atheistic worldview. His practice is diverse and includes painting, installation, photography, video, performance and set design. He has a strong interest in experimenting with materials..

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Available Work

OCAD University, Toronto.

Education

Gareth was born in South Africa and moved to Oakvile, Ontario, Canada at a young age. His mother was very supportive and kept every drawing he ever did. He spent a formative year in Grenoble, France on a Rotary International Youth Exchange.

In 2005 Gareth graduated from the Adult Art Program at Central Technical School where he won “Outstanding Student” award two years in a row. He was made an honourary staff member for running the Art Alumni Network for the past 7 years. In 2007 he graduated with a BFA from the Ontario College of Art & Design (now OCAD University) where he won the 401 Richmond Career-Launcher Prize, a free studio given to one OCAD graduate for a year. He also won awards for painting, academics and art writing. 

Gareth at the Deep Field exhibition at Gareth Bate Art Projects, 401 Richmond St. West, Toronto. Photo: Erin MacKeen,

Art Practice

Gareth began to establish his art practice while using the free studio at the beautiful 401 Richmond building in Toronto. He then moved to a studio in the basement where he continues to work. He sometimes transformes the studio into a project gallery called Gareth Bate Art Projects.

Gareth was chosen to represent emerging artists in the Toronto Star's extensive series "Artists in Real Life: The Up and Comers". His work has been featured in a number of reviews and magazines. He has received an emerging artist grant from the Ontario Arts Council. He has exhibited at several Toronto galleries and as a set designer for contemporary dance in Montreal. Ever December he helps organize Frolic: 401 Richmond's Artists Open Studio.

Gareth's studio at 401 Richmond St. West, Toronto.

Recent

In June 2011 Gareth had a solo exhibition "Floating World" at Loop Gallery in Toronto. He works as a web and graphic designer and as a night school art teacher at The Art Centre at Central Technical School. In the fall he will be teaching "Paint the City", "Abstract Painting" and "Visual Culture: 1850 to Present."

Upcoming

Jan 27 - 29th, 2012 he will be doing an installation at Toronto's Gladstone Hotel for Come Up to My Room 2012 called "Jewel Net of Indra."

Gareth's "Floating World" body of work will be shown at the Art Gallery of Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library, Jan. 12 - Feb. 19, 2012 in Montreal.

Gareth is a Festival Curator of the 2012  World of Threads Festival of contemporary fibre art in Toronto and Oakville. Every week he publishes the "Weekly Fibre Artist Interviews" series with local, national and international fibre artists.