Peter Barelkowski
September 26 – October 7, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 27, 6 – 10 pm.
Open for Nuit Blanche September 29, 2012, 12 p.m. to midnight
PROPELLER CENTRE FOR THE VISUAL ARTS
984 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario M6J 1H1
T: 416-504-7142
E: gallery@propellerctr.com
Hours: Wed/Sat: 12-6 pm, Sun: 12-5 pm
Holier than Thou | Peter Barelkowski, Joseph Muscat, Holly Wheatcroft & Keijo Tapanainen
Holier Than Thou / Visual Commentaries on Religion & Spirituality
Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts is proud to present Holier Than Thou, an exhibition featuring four different viewpoints on the role of religion and spirituality in society as expressed through painting, mixed media, collage and sculpture. The content of the exhibition is intended to provoke, challenge and provide insightful commentary on two of religion’s most conflicting aspects: organized fundamentalism and radicalism alongside private, individual and/or secular spirituality.
The eighteenth century brought us Enlightenment, and with new developments in the Western world, established systems of faith were forced to adapt as various new secular movements gained momentum. At the dawning of the twenty-first century, religious fervor is one again palpable, especially in political discourse and in war: wreaking havoc, spreading hate and causing pain and suffering. Holier Than Thou is an exhibition that discusses the negative aspects of organized belief systems which are often premised on exclusivity, preference and privilege, and contrasts them with the serenity and hopeful power of the basic tenets of spirituality such as the power of nature, meditation, and the beauty of the human body.
Peter Barelkowski is a Toronto painter born in Poland and educated in Europe and Canada. Adapting a visual language of grotesque and satire, Barelkowski effectively confronts the rationalism of historical perspective with the absurdity of political and religious powers that repeatedly throws humanity into the haunting dance macabre of war and annihilation. Although, deriving from specific historical events, Barelkowski’s works convey an uncomfortable universal message when applied to contemporary history. He is represented by Gallery 133 in Toronto.
Joseph Muscat is a mix media artist born in Malta, educated in France and Canada and living and working in Toronto. His work spans a wide spectrum of two and three-dimensional work including painting, collage, photography, lithography and video. His recent tar paper – photographic collages use a wide repertoire of symbols referencing Political, Biblical and Environmental issues. He confronts these serious concepts with wit and whimsy balancing the Sacred with the Profane. He is represented by David Kaye in Toronto, Shayna Laing International in Montreal. He is currently Chair of Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts.
Keijo Tapanainen is a Toronto based visual artist who creates digital works from mixed media and photographic images. He is interested in creating works that are playful in nature and that address the idiomatic and the idiosyncratic. The human figure is central to his art and these artworks attempt to capture the persona through the juxtaposition of complementary visual imagery, electronically composed, and collaged from unrelated sources. A native of Finland, he currently residing and working in Toronto.
Holly Wheatcroft is a Toronto artist and educator The artist’s sculptures serve as symbolic searches for the sacred (order) in the profane (chaos) through the use of objects that reference the concept of axis mundi. Holly Wheatcroft has an extensive exhibition history that includes Peak Gallery and IDS Toronto, as well as site-specific community installations for bookhou, the MonTon Window, Infiniti cars and Weis & Associates. She is a member of Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts and the Sculptors Society of Canada, and is represented by the Art Gallery of Hamilton and Canvas Gallery in Toronto.