September 13 – October 14, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 13, 6 – 9 p.m.
Artist Talk: Saturday, September 15, 12 p.m.
JULIE M. GALLERY
15 Mill Street Building 37, Suite 103
Toronto ON M5A 3R6
T: 416 603 2626
E: info@juliemgallery.com
www.juliemgallery.com
The opening reception of No Way Back from 6 – 9 pm on Thursday, September 13 will feature a live metalpoint drawing performance by the artist.
No Way Back builds on a radical technique developed in 2010 by Ram Samocha in Guelph, Ontario. It will be the first solo exhibition to exclusively present Samocha’s unique three-dimensional metalpoint works. Samocha has reinvented the forgotten art of metalpoint, vigorously working on rugged sheets of rock paper until what began as two-dimensional abstract drawings distend into sculptural objects. Since moving to Brighton, England in 2011, Samocha has refined the unique skill set of metalpoint, and placed it at the heart of his drawing and video practice. He is the only artist creating sculptural metalpoint drawings in the world today. Despite the works’ singular technique and materials, they are products of continuity, experimentation and unwavering commitment—the pillars of Samocha’s innovative artistic career.
The exhibition title No Way Back refers both to the permanence of a mark once it has been made in metalpoint, and to our inability to efface or redact our actions. The present invariably slips into the past, and there it remains, no matter how much we wish we could change it. Like time, metalpoint is a demanding mistress: no mark can be erased and redrawn, no flaw can be rubbed out. Each work is a perfect archive of the artist’s creative process. Ram Samocha’s metalpoint practice investigates this trope of time further through the gradual discoloration of his works caused by oxidation. Since moving to Brighton, the gradual tonal shifts of the metalpoints have been accelerated by Britain’s legendary damp. In No Way Back, Samocha revisits imagery from his time in Ontario alongside a suite of works that directly reference the day-to-day experience of living in Britain. Patchwork fields are juxtaposed against European roundabouts and the pastoral magnificence of craggy cliffs.
Well known for his drawing performances, Ram Samocha invites reception attendees to contribute to the genesis of a metalpoint from 6 to 9 pm on Thursday, September 13th—what an ideal photo op!
3D Metalpoint Drawings Reception: Thursday, September 13, 6 – 9 p.m.
Artist Talk: Saturday, September 15, 12 p.m.