401 Towards London No 1, 1968-69, oil on mahagony, 183 x 244 cm. Gift of Norcen Energy Resources Limited, 1986. © 2011 Estate of Jack Chambers; Estate represented by Loch Gallery
November 26, 2011 – May 13, 2012
ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO
317 Dundas Street West,
Toronto, ON M5T 1G4
T:416-979-6648
www.ago.net
Hours: Tue & Thurs – Sun 10 – 5:30, Wed 10 – 8:30
“Jack Chambers was deeply involved in the mysteries of our presence and our departures. Time was his material. His paintings are profoundly, classically static, and even the works with motion (his films) say that they are also moments fixed by Art.”
– Michael Snow, artist
Jack Chambers: Light, Spirit, Time, Place and Life, the collection surveys the varying styles and media used by the artist to create an incredible range of work. Curated by renowned Canadian art scholar Dennis Reid with art critic Sarah Milroy, the exhibition is based largely on holdings from the AGO’s permanent collection.
Situated in the Signy Eaton gallery, the exhibition is presented within four central themes, each anchored by a representative keystone piece in rooms themed “Light,” “Spirit,” “Time,” and “Place”. More than 100 works in various media make up the exhibition, including 40 paintings, 58 drawings, five films, four prints, as well as archival photos, process materials, notebooks and letters from the AGO’s Special Collection. Featured paintings include Meadow, 401 Towards London, McGilvary County, and Lunch. A room in the centre of the space will display a selection of Chambers’ influential films including Mosaic, R34, Hybrid, Hart of London and Circle.
Born in London, Ont. in 1931, Chambers relocated to Europe in 1953 to further his artistic studies. Travelling to Spain at the suggestion of Pablo Picasso, he met his future wife and developed a strong connection to that country’s version of Catholicism which would later influence his paintings, representing a sense of the divine in the domestic and the familiar. Known internationally as an experimental filmmaker, Chambers’ varied painting style represents the wide-reaching scope of his vision. Jack Chambers: Light, Spirit, Time, Place and Life organizes Chambers’ works with interconnected themes that were present throughout his career, and permeated his images.
“Jack Chambers is one of Canada’s most recognizable and renowned painters, and has been highly influential internationally both in this regard and as a filmmaker. His role in Canadian art cannot be underestimated,” said Matthew Teitelbaum, the Michael and Sonja Koerner Director, and CEO of the AGO. “It is an honour for the AGO to offer this unique presentation of Chambers’ life’s work at this time, and to provide the opportunity for our visitors to engage with it.”
An accompanying catalogue edited by Dennis Reid will be published for the exhibition. Jack Chambers: Light, Spirit, Time, Place and Life, is co-published by Goose Lane Editions and the AGO. The soft cover, 240-page volume features 100 full colour images of works by Chambers, and contains essays by Mark Cheetham, Christopher Dewdney, Gillian MacKay, Sarah Milroy, Ross Woodman and Dennis Reid. It includes additional contributions by Eric Fischl, Susan Crean, Michael Ondaatje and John Scott, as well as chronology by Greg Humeniuk. The catalogue is available at ShopAGO for $45.00 and will be celebrated with a public launch in shopAGO on Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 6 p.m.
Programming highlights for Jack Chambers: Light, Spirit, Time, Place and Life include:
SHORT FILMS BY JACK CHAMBERS
Wednesday, January 18, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Jackman Hall at the AGO
Members $20.50/Public $22.50/Students $17
Jack Chambers’ reputation as an innovator of experimental film is based on the five works he completed between 1966 and 1970. Bruce Elder will screen and discuss four of his short films: Mosaic, 1966; Hybrid, 1967; R34, 1967; Circle, 1968-1969.
Bruce Elder is a filmmaker, writer, and teacher of film studies at Ryerson University. His films have been screened internationally, and he is a recipient of the 2007 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts.
THE HART OF LONDON BY JACK CHAMBERS
Wednesday, Jan. 25, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Jackman Hall, AGO
Members $20.50/Public $22.50/Students $17
The Hart of London (1968-70), Chambers’ last and longest film, combines newsreel footage of natural disasters and urban rural landscapes, evoking the cycles of life and death. Rarely screened, it will be presented by Bruce Elder.
BEHIND THE SCENES: THE ART OF JACK CHAMBERS
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7 – 8 p.m.
Signy Eaton Gallery, AGO
Free
Join art historian Dennis Reid, curator of Jack Chambers: Light, Spirit, Time, Place and Life, for a tour of the exhibition.
JACK CHAMBERS: AN INTIMATE REMEMBRANCE
Wednesday, Mar. 7, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Jackman Hall, AGO
Members $20.50/Public $22.50/Students $17
Art critic Christopher Dewdney presents an evening of insights into the work of Jack Chambers along with personal, often humorous, anecdotes from Dewdney’s long familial acquaintance with the artist.
Dewdney has been writing art criticism for more than three decades. He is the author of four books of non-fiction as well as 11 books of poetry. His most recent non-fiction title is Soul of the World: Unlocking the Secrets of Time. Dewdney teaches creative writing and poetics at the Glendon Campus of York University in Toronto.
This exhibition is supported by PACART.
Additional support generously provided by Al and Malka Green, Ethel Harris, The Judith Rachel Harris Foundation, and the Budd Sugarman Foundation.