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The Art Gallery of Peterborough is still recovering from the effects of this weekend`s ice storm. We will be closed today, Wednesday, April 2, but are reopening with regular hours beginning tomorrow, April 3, 2025.

We hope everyone is doing okay out there!

The Art Gallery of Peterborough is closed today due to the weather. Stay safe!

This weather forecast is giving #StayHomeClub and so is this work by Ken Danby from the AGP Permanent Collection 🌧️❄️

Ken Danby (1940-2007) was a celebrated Canadian painter and printmaker who was best known for his photo realistic style and emphatically Canadian compositions. Originally from Sault St. Marie, Danby enrolled at the Ontario College of Art (Toronto) in 1958, but by 1960 he left his formal studies, citing the College’s emphasis on abstract art at the time.

Danby’s preference for realism was not popular. Many practicing artists during Danby’s early career heavily favoured abstract expressionism; a post-war, avant-garde style that emphasized spontaneity and emotion and rejected figurative work.

In this print, Danby’s mastery of the genre is clear in complexity and detail. Working in layers, the artist would create a separate drawing on a nylon screen for each individual colour and then apply the pigment screen by screen; a laborious and intensive process. “Under the Arch” conveys the artist’s technical skill and evokes a familiar tension between the warmth of shelter and the cold of the outdoors.

Image: Ken Danby, Under the Arch, 1972, silkscreen on paper, ed. 71/100. Collection of the Art Gallery of Peterborough. Gift of the Evelyn Aimis Gallery, 1991.

#AGPtbo #KenDanby #Realism #Printmaking #PermanentCollection

2 more weeks to see Dr. Roberta Bondar`s "Patterns & Parallels" at the AGP!

Featuring a collection of photographs from astronaut and environmentalist Dr. Roberta Bondar, this exhibit explores the lives of migratory birds as they navigate habitat loss and climate change.

Patterns & Parallels: The Great Imperative to Survive is on view at the Art Gallery of Peterborough until April 13.

Drop in for a visit. The AGP is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm and admission is free.

For more information about the exhibition, visit: agp.on.ca/exhibition/patterns-and-parallels or check out the link in our profile.

Photo by Zach Ward, We Design Group

#AGPtbo #RobertaBondar #Photography

Happy Friday! Today we’re sharing the work of William Ronald from the AGP #PermanentCollection

William Ronald (1926 – 1998) was a Canadian artist, born in Stratford, Ontario. He spent a significant amount of his life living in both New York City, and Toronto, and was a major influence on the development of the Abstract Expressionist art movement in mainstream Canadian art in the 1960s and 1970s.

Abstract Expressionism emerged from the New York art scene in the 1940s and 50s and emphasized non-objective imagery and emotional expression through bold, gestural abstraction. Arising in the aftermath of WWII, a period of significant trauma and anxiety, it was fueled by artists who sought new ways to express complex emotions.

Within Abstract Expressionism were two broad groupings: the “action painters,” who approached their canvases with expressive brush strokes emphasizing the physical act of creation; and the colour field painters who filled their canvases with large areas of a single colour to create a contemplative or meditative effect.

William Ronald was the youngest member of Painters Eleven, a collective based out of Toronto in the 1950s, and the first abstract painting group in Ontario. The Painters Eleven are credited with introducing a New York abstract influence to the mainstream Canadian art scene.

By the 1970s William Ronald’s style had evolved and adapted stylistically to the evolving abstract art scene by painting almost exclusively with clear colours and hard edges, aligning more and more with the colour field style.

“Black Venus” is an example of this evolution in his style and contains a selection of bold flat colours. The vibrant, asymmetrical background of solid, geometric colour blocks contrasts heavily with the dark organic shape located in the centre of the lower half. Ronald’s use of colour blocking in varying sizes creates a sense of balance and unity across the composition, while the dark central form evokes a sense of unease.

Image: William Ronald, Black Venus, 1962, oil on linen. Collection of the Art Gallery of Peterborough. Gift of Alan M. Schwartz, 1985

#AGPtbo #Collection #WilliamRonald #Abstract #Abstraction #Painting

Do you know a young person interested in applying to a secondary school arts program? The AGP has developed a program to help support the process!

This new four-week course is designed for students aged 11 to 14 who are looking to develop a portfolio of work and prepare for a secondary school art program, such as the Peterborough Integrated Arts Program at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School. It will help participants develop skills and techniques that boost their artistic skill and creativity while emphasizing the importance of taking risks.

Join us in the AGP studio each week from April 24 – May 15 and learn directly from practicing artists in our community to create a standout portfolio of your own!

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Details:

4-week course

Weekly: Thursdays, April 24 – May 15
5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Suitable for ages 11 – 14
Fee: $132

Learn more and register at: https://agp.on.ca/…/teen-programs/portfolio-development/ or check out the link in our profile.

#AGPtbo #Portfolio #ArtEducation #ArtProgram

Join us! We are currently seeking applicants to join the AGP Board of Directors or the Fundraising & Development Committee.

Successful candidates will serve as ambassadors for the organization, and offer leadership, insight, and support as members of the Board of Directors and the Board’s committees.

Our Peterborough community is changing and growing and so are we. If you are an art lover and enthusiastic about supporting your regional gallery, we want to hear from you!

Application Deadline: Wednesday, April 16 at 11:59 pm

More information and how to apply is available at: agp.on.ca/connect/volunteer/call-for-board-members/ or visit our website by heading to the link in our profile.

#AGPtbo #ArtGalleryOfPeterborough #Volunteer

March E-Newsletter is hot off the virtual presses!

🔗 Check it out at the link in our profile.

If you`re not already signed up, consider subscribing! We send out a newsletter on the first Thursday of each month, directly to your inbox, so you never miss what we`re up to at the gallery.

Photo by Zach Ward, We Design Group

#AGPtbo #ArtGallery #Exhibitions #Events #Programs

Happy Friday! It’s the last day of the longest February to ever exist, so we’re manifesting spring with this work by Nobuo Kubota from the AGP #PermanentCollection

Nobuo Kubota is a Japanese Canadian multimedia artist who often combines sound, music, installation, and film in his work, which he calls “intermedia.” He is known for his use of extended vocal techniques and sound poetry.

Kubota was a professor at OCAD University from 1970 to 1998. His artwork is in collections like the National Gallery of Canada, and he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He is interested in developing a calligraphic style of notation for the depiction of sound, which he calls Sonic Calligraphy. Kubota has received numerous awards, including the Allied Arts Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Victor Lynch Stanton Award from the Canada Council, and the Governor General’s Award for the Arts. He currently lives and works in Toronto.

Image: Nobuo Kubota, Fermentacio, 1989, from the Atonement series, photolithograph on paper, ed. 21/30. Collection of the Art Gallery of Peterborough. Gift of the artist, Nobuo Kubota, 2009.

#AGPtbo #NobuoKubota #Collection

Happy Friday! Today we are highlighting a print which is housed in the AGP’s permanent collection, made by internationally recognized Canadian artist Jack Bush.

Jack Bush started his career painting representational landscapes, heavily inspired by the works of the Group of Seven. Later in his career, Bush moved away from landscape painting, into avant-garde abstraction after he was diagnosed with anxiety and was encouraged by a doctor to experiment with self-expression. He used abstraction in his artistic practice to express feelings and mood which influenced the Toronto art scene in the 1960s and 1970s and bought him international recognition.

Bush is associated with the Colour Field movement, which can be described as works placing less emphasis on gesture and brush strokes, containing large fields of flat, solid colour.

Jack Bush’s "Untitled" print was made as part of the Toronto 20 Portfolio, made in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Ontario and the University of Toronto Press in 1965. This silk screen print contains three large sections of vibrant colour stacked on top of each other. The design is simple, and its shapes contain soft, subdued edges. The combination of the colours used and the subtle tapered edges of the top and bottom commands the viewer`s attention to the centre of the work.

What feelings does it evoke for you?

Image: Jack Bush, Untitled, 1965, From the Toronto 20 Portfolio, silkscreen print on paper, ed/ 73/100. Collection of the Art Gallery of Peterborough. Purchased with the assistance of the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture through a Wintario Grant, 1983.

#AGPtbo #PermanentCollection #JackBush #Printmaking