2011 Review: Yearly Update

Gareth with his "Jewel Net of Indra" installation. Photo: Saglara Kitchikova. 2012.

Summary of 2011

2011 was a great year! Highlights included my installation "Jewel Net of Indra" for Come Up To My Room at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, and my solo exhibition "Floating World" at Loop Gallery, Toronto and a public library gallery in Montreal. For the whole year I've been working as Festival Curator getting organized for the 2012 World of Threads Festival. In 2011, with Dawne Rudman, I published a total of 45 "Weekly Fibre Artist Interviews".

In May I went on a trip to London, England and had a fabulous time. This year I taught three courses at Central Technical School's night school, Abstract Painting, History of Modern Art and Paint the City. I've also continued my film project from last year "52 Films in 52 Weeks." At the bottom of the newsletter is what's coming in 2012.

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Photo: Agata and Lucas Piskunowicz, 2012.

Photo: Gareth Bate, 2012.

Jewel Net of Indra, installation

Come Up To My Room 2012
The Gladstone Hotel, Toronto

Jan 27 - 29, 2012 I showed my installation at the Gladstone Hotel for Come Up To My Room 2012. The event was really successful. This was my main project for 2011. I'm very proud of this installation because I was able to grow as an artist from a technical point of view and conceptually. The process was very challenging and enjoyable as I painted and listened to "The Great Courses" dvd series at the same time.

Jewel Net of Indra installation is a cosmology representing the interconnectedness of humanity. It is based on a Mahayana Buddhist metaphor of an infinite net of jewels, each representing an individual. Every jewel is a reflection of all others.  It was a wall installation with one thousand acrylic mirrored discs. Three hundred and twenty-five mirrors contained hand-painted miniature portraits of iconic individuals.  In 2012 I'm expanding the piece to 2000 portraits.

View " Jewel Net of Indra" Installation
Artist Statement and List of Names

Press:

For this work I was interviewed for the Toronto Standard and featured on the CBC, Radio Canada, Toronto Life, View on Canadian Art, Torontoist, Fashion Magazine, Moco loco, and Display Design Magazine. The installation received a Designlines "Love Tag" marking the top 100 from Toronto Design Week.

View Press Section

Floating World Series: "Cosmos and Tsunami", Gareth Bate, acrylic on wood, 2011

Floating World: Solo Show

My "Floating World" painting series  was an existential response to the horrors of the Japanese Tsunami.  It was exhibited first at Loop Gallery, an artist Co-op in Toronto where I became a member. I showed from June 25 - July 17.

Floating World: Solo Show

Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc
Public Library, Montreal.

I had the opportunity this January to remount "Floating World" in Montreal.

View Floating World Series

World of Threads Festival Logo, Gareth Bate Design, 2009.

Festival Curator
World of Threads Festival, 2012

I'm currently working as the Festival Curator along with Dawne Rudman on the 2012 World of Threads Festival. We are expanding into Toronto and also remaining in Oakville where the festival began. The next festival is Nov 9 - 25, 2012. In 2012 I will be curating five "Common Thread International" exhibitions at various galleries in Oakville.

View World of Threads Festival Website

Weekly Fibre Artist Interviews Series

Every week for the last year, along with Dawne Rudman, I've published a new "Weekly Fibre Artist Interview". For 45 weeks we have been profiling local, national and international fibre artists. The aim is create a comprehensive archive of the most exhiting fibre artists in the world.

View "Weekly Fibre Artist Interviews" Archive.

Cumulanibus 2011 #1, Gareth Bate, photo.North Lake, Prince Edward Island.

2011 Cumulonimbus: Year 5
Photography Series

I've been working on this photography series for 5 years now. Every August I stay at North Lake, Prince Edward Island and photograph the shifting skies over the lake in every weather condition. Every photograph is the exact same scene with radically different skies. I'm amazed by how different each year has been.

View 2011 Cumulonimbus Series.

View other years of Cumulonimbus

Group Exhibitions

Pearson International Airport, Airspace Gallery, Terminal 1, "Weather,": I exhibited a triptych from my "Moments" series of paintings.

Gallery 1313, "Courvoisier Collective Gallery Award Winners Exhibition": I exhibited a graphic photomontage piece called "The Factory" a commentary about Toronto's G20 police force which was based on the iconic photo by Richard Avedon called "Any Warhol and The Members of the Factory."

In December I again helped to organize the artist open studio aspect of the Frolic, the new open house event. It featured 21 artists from Toronto's 401 Richmond Street West. Each artist opened up their studio to the public for a Friday night opening and Saturday all day. The event was a success and saw large crowds visit the building. More about the event...

Video: Part 1 of the Up Series: 7 Up.

Video: Trailer for The Tree of Life.

52 Films in 52 Weeks: Year 2

Last year I started a project to watch 52 films in 52 weeks. This year I focused primarily on documentaries. Overall my favourite was The Up Series which follows a group of British seven year olds. It revisits them every seven years for their entire lives. I've also discovered the amazing dvd series The Great Courses university lectures on a huge variety of topics.  I loved the films Tree of Life by Terance Mallick and the classic All About Eve.

Favourite Documentaries of 2011
The Up Series: 7 Up to 49 Up, Kenneth Clark's Civilisation, How Art Made The World, The Power of Art, The Genius of Charles Darwin, Hoop Dreams, Encounters at the End of The World, A History of Britain, The Atheism Tapes, Brother's Keeper, The Thin Blue Line, Spellbound, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Art21 Season 5.

The Great Courses: The Meaning of Life, Biological Anthropology: An Evolutionary Perspective, Science and Religion, Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age.

Favourite Films of 2011
The Tree of Life, All About Eve, Doubt, Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express, The Tudors: Seasons 1-4.

Photo: "Boy on a London Bus", Gareth Bate, 2011

Leonardo Da Vinci, "Cartoon for the Virgin and Child with St. Anne
and the Infant Son St. John", 1499

Trip to London

In May I took my first trip across the Atlantic in nearly 12 years! I loved London and saw a ridiculous amount of art. For much of the trip we rode around on buses all over the city.

Art in London: Highlights

The National Gallery:
When I saw Leonardo Da Vinci's large drawing known as the "The Da Vinci Cartoon" I thought: 'that is the most beautiful thing in the world.'

Seurat's "Bathers at Asnières" was really striking. I had forgotten how beautiful and impactful the Impressionist work really is. After seeing all the work before that era it was like suddenly being able to breath again.

The Portrait Gallery: The Tudor portraits are truly remarkable. They have all the trappings of royalty yet seem to convey a deep inner psychology of their sitters including Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots and Henry VIII.

The Saatchi Gallery: "The Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture." I was impressed with the vitality of this show and how exhiting it was. I especially loved David Altmejd's and Folkert de Jong's pieces.

Richard Nagy Gallery: "Egon Shiele Drawings." Over 60 Egon Shiele drawings in one small commercial gallery! And all for sale!

The Tate Britain: This was probably my favourite museum experience because it was empty! I particularly loved seeing again Mark Wallinger's stunning video piece "Threshold to the Kingdom".

Teaching Art at Central Tech Night School

I now teach three courses at Central Tech’s adult night school. The newest ones are "Abstract Painting" and "Modern Art History". I also continue to teach "Paint The City" which I've been doing for nearly 4 years. Learn more about my classes

History of Modern Art (New)
This informal lecture style course is intended to make students feel comfortable discussing modern and contemporary art from 1850 - present. Through looking at art books and powerpoint presentations we discuss important artists and movements such as Impressionism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Land Art, Conceptual, Post-Modernism, Performance, and Contemporary Art etc.

Abstract Painting (New)
Projects follow the evolution of abstract art over the last century. Explore Abstract Expressionism through colour-field and geometric painting and post-modern approaches. Students look at historic and contemporary artists from Picasso to Pollock to Mehretu.

Paint the City (Fourth Year)
Projects include exploring a neighbourhood you've never visited, the neon lights of the city at night, interiors of bars, cafes and restaurants and creating collages out of urban materials. Students are introduced to prominent historical and contemporary urban painters.

Gareth Bate Design

I continue to design websites. I work primarily on artist portfolios and sites for professionals and creative organizations. This year I'm doing my first CD album design for the experimental singer Wendalyne. View Gareth Bate Design Website

2011 Websites

OAEA: Ontario Art Education Association, Nomi Drory,
Margaret Glew, Pelee Island Cottage, Anne Armstrong,
Sharon Barr, Nadia & Co: Art & Pastry.

In process shot of "Jewel Net of Indra." My studio at 401 Richmond St. West, Toronto.

Upcoming in 2012

Studio: I'm going to expand "Jewel Net of Indra" into a large-scale installation with 2000 portraits. 

52 Films in 52 Weeks: Year 3: I'll continue to watch The Great Courses DVD series of university lectures.

January

Installation: "Jewel Net of Indra", for Come Up To My Room, The Gladstone Hotel, Toronto.
Solo Show: "Floating World", Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library, Montreal.

April

Group Show: "Where the Wild Things Aren't: Environmental Art Show," Off the Wall Gallery & Framing, Ottawa
Jury: Hard Twist 7: Touch Me, Feel Me. I'll be helping to choose the work for the Gladstone Hotel's annual fibre exhibition.

August - September

Prince Edward Island: I will be returning to North Lake where I go every year for inspiration. I'll be continuing the "Cumulanimbus" photo series.

November

Festival Curator for the 2012 World of Threads Festival:
I will be curating as many as five Oakvile exhibitions including De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things) at Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre, Momento mori at The Gallery at Sheridan Institute, and the Outdoor Environmental Fibre Instatllations.It will be a huge amount of work, but I'm excited.

December

RELAX!

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