aceart inc. News

hannah_g, aceartinc.’s Director to pursue Canada Council funded writing project

We are delighted to share the wonderful news that hannah_g has been awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to work on an experimental art writing project, Critical Fictions. To support her work, the Board Directors of aceartinc. have given hannah a twelve month sabbatical, commencing November 2018.

In addition to implementing the superb annual juried exhibition program of five exhibitions , among other related activities, hannah champions emerging art writers through the Critical Distance writing program. She has been instrumental in directing transformational initiatives at ace such as: The Cartae Open School (co-founded with Jamie Wright and Helga Jakobson), The Flux Gallery (co-founded with Hannah Doucet), the Indigenous Curatorial Residency (with support from Jaimie Isaac, Nikki Little, Jenny Western, ACC-CCA, and NIMAC), and the BIPOC art & culture writing workshop series (with Creative Manitoba Indigenous Programs and the University of Winnipeg’s Institute of Women & Gender Studies, Noor Bhangu.) The board and staff will miss working with her but enthusiastically await what she fills the next twelve months with…

It is with excitement that aceartinc. is seeking an Interim Director and Programming Assistant to take over hannah’s duties for the duration of her leave. Details about these opportunities are here.

Aruna D’Souza public talk

Saturday 13th October 2018, 7 pm. aceartinc.

Aruna D’Souza writes about modern and contemporary art; intersectional feminisms and other forms of politics; and how museums shape our views of each other and the world. She recently published Whitewalling: Art, Race & Protest in 3 Acts. D’Souza will be talking about the topics in her book and related issues in a free public talk that welcomes everyone.

“Ta-Nehisi Coates’s seminal essay “The Case for Reparations” informed the ethos of her foray back into art writing. “I started to think about what a reparative model of art criticism would be for me, and I decided that my reparative gesture would be [through] attention,” she told me, and for D’Souza, that involves asking herself: “Who does my writing serve? Is it useful to the people I feel have been left out of many conversations? For me, a lot of what the book is about is the question of how to be an ally and how that has broken down in these various situations. It’s an exercise for me as a non-Black writer of colour: How can I write about Black protest? And what’s my role to centre the arguments of Black artists?”

– from: Profile by Merray Gerges, and excerpt from Whitewalling: Art, Race & Protest in 3 Acts. Canadian Art, May 3, 2018

D’Souza’s work appears regularly in 4Columns.org, where she is a member of the editorial advisory board, and has been published as well in The Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Art News, Garage, Bookforum, Momus, Art in America, and Art Practical, among other places. Her book, Whitewalling: Art, Race, and Protest in 3 Acts was published by Badlands Unlimited in May 2018. She currently editing two forthcoming volumes, Making It Modern: A Linda Nochlin Reader, which will be published by Thames & Hudson, and A Presence Which Signals Absence: Lorraine O’Grady Collected Writings 1977-2018.

This talk is co sponsored by the University of Winnipeg Institute for Women & Gender Studies, Creative Manitoba Indigenous programs, and aceartinc. with Plug In ICA, Gallery 1c03, and Border Crossings.

Photo: Dana Hoey

Plug In ICA’s Prairie Art Book Fair

ace is participating with a table holding some merch and publications by as and associated artists…

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art’s PRAIRIE ART BOOK FAIR
September 7-9, 2018
• book fair • book launches • artist multiples • periodicals • workshops • readings •
FREE ENTRY

image caption: Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber, Acrylic on panel, 2018.

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art is extremely excited to present our inaugural Prairie Art Book Fair September 7-9, 2018. As a means to acknowledge the critical relationship between contemporary art and publishing with a regional focus on the Prairies, the weekend will showcase over twenty-nine exhibitors and present numerous events with highlights including collaborative hole punch drawing with Winnipeg born artist Micah Lexier; a talk connecting DIY tattooing and artist multiples by Maxine Proctor (Director and Co-founder of the Toronto Art Book Fair and Managing Editor of BlackFlash Magazine), and a workshop with key presenter Jeff Khonsary (Co-Founding and Artistic Director of Fillip and Director of New Documents) on alternative book fair models, looking at the economics and social space of the book fair model itself.

Explore diverse and accomplished publications from over twenty-five publishers, artists, and galleries ranging from zines, catalogues, artist editions, fiction, poetry, criticism, and periodicals.

A complete list of exhibitors and events are listed below.
For more information contact Erin Josephson-Laidlaw at erin@plugin.org

Exhibitors:

aceartinc. • ARP Books • Association of Manitoba Book Publishers • At Bay Press • Bison Books • BlackFlash Magazine (Saskatoon) • BLINKERS Art and Project Space • Border Crossings • Carnation • Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber • Esker Foundation (Calgary) • Cliff Eyland • Gallery 1C03, University of Winnipeg • Jeff Khonsary (Fillip and New Documents) (Vancouver/Los Angeles) • MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina) • Martha Street Studio • Micah Lexier (Winnipeg/Toronto) • Parameter Press • Public Parking (Winnipeg/Regina/Calgary/Steinbach) • Red Rising Magazine • Remai Modern (Saskatoon) • The Third Rail (Minneapolis) • University of Calgary Press (Calgary) • Urban Shaman Gallery • Video Pool Media Arts Centre • Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff) • Warehouse Journal • Whiny Femmes

*exhibitor from Winnipeg unless otherwise stated.

Events:

FRIDAY:

4:00pm-8:00pm | Opening
6:00pm-8:00pm | Plug In ICA Book Launches: STAGES: Drawing the Curtain supplementary publications (with Fillip Publishing) & Exhibition Notes: Entering the Landscape

SATURDAY:

11:30pm-12:30pm | Launch and Reading: Whiny Femmes Volume 2
1:30pm-2:30pm | Talk: Jeff Khonsary “How to Buy and Sell Books at Art Book Fairs”
3pm-4pm | Talk: Maxine Proctor, “Body Talk: Reclaiming Community, Identity, and Language with Tattoos, Flash, and Artists’ Multiples”
4:30pm-5:30pm | Hannah Godfrey Reading: “Not For The World Would I Compare It To Anything” presented by Parameter Press
6pm-7pm | aceartinc. Event (details tbd)

SATURDAY & SUNDAY:

12:30pm-1:30pm | Micah Lexier: Collaborative hole punch drawing

We offer our sincere thanks to Paula Mitchell and Arnold Leventhal for their generous support of our book fair. Thank You!

Plug In ICA extends our gratitude to our artists, generous donors, valued members and dedicated volunteers. With special thanks to our Director’s Circle. You make a difference!

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council.

Plug In ICA relies on community support to remain free and accessible to all. Enable us to continue presenting excellent programs! Please consider becoming a member of Plug In ICA and a donor at https://plugin.org/supportor by contacting Angela Forget: angela@plugin.org

For more information or for media inquiries please contact: Erin Josephson-Laidlaw at erin@plugin.org; (204)942-1043.

Annual Curated Student Exhibition 2018

Co-Curated by hannah_g & Kat Nancy

You Are Loved- Performance Art Workshop with Elise Dawson

Wednesday, May 23rd from 7-10 PM

If an artist performs alone in a forest, who validates them? Whatever your background, this three hour or however long it is workshop is an opportunity to practice performance in a supportive atmosphere.

In the first half-hour, we will engage in a generative, trust building exercise. The facilitator, Elise Dawson, will then lead us through a brief exercise designed to engage our bodies and minds. We will take a ten-minute break for water, washroom and/or cigarettes. We will then utilize fifteen minutes to conceive and practice a micro-performance which we will present in the hour remaining.

Please bring a writing tool and notebook.

Please bring:

1 object you love

1 object you hate

1 object you feel neutral towards

A Portrait With Your Pet 2018

fundraiser Saturday, May 26

Join us for “A Portrait with your Pet” taking place above Parlour Coffee on Saturday, May 26, 2018! Local artists have constructed one of a kind sets for you and your furry friend to have your photograph taken in.

Book online now

Set details:

Set #1: by Janelle Tougas
Photography 10am-2pm by Mike Peters
Photography 2pm-6pm by Caitlin Spencer
About the set: Janelle is building a human-sized cat tower. Think carpeted platforms and holes to peek out from!

Set #2: by Colby Richardson
Photography 10am-2pm by Evan Taylor
Photography 2pm-6pm by Jacqueline Young
About the set: Fractured Luxury. Plexiglas and broken marble. Reclaimed materials and symbols from an era of discount elegance.

Special thanks to Parlour Coffee and Leif Norman for making this event possible!

Past Portraits…

Set: Diana Thorneycroft and Michael Boss. Photo: Karen Asher. 2015.

Set: Guy Maddin. Photographer: Lief Norman. 2015.

Collage Workshop | Sarah Stewart

Sunday 29 April 2018

This collage workshop will focus on experimenting with the process of altering or recontextualizing found text and images to create a new work. I feel that using found text and imagery for these exercises is integral to the process as it allows for meaning and narrative to be communicated through the juxtaposition of elements that otherwise have been divorced from their intended context.

We will discuss the relationship between text and image, different ways of working with found materials, and participate in a few guided exercises which can be used as a starting point to create a small work using provided materials. This exercise can either be used to create a finished work or be used a starting point for further exploration.

Email sarah.m.j.stewart@gmail.com to confirm attendance.

This is a FREE event!

Please bring:

a writing utensil and paper
scissors
optional* magazines, printed materials, or any anything you wish to incorporate into a collage.

Collage materials and snacks will be provided!

I am a Winnipeg based interdisciplinary artist and designer, as I have practices as both a fine artist and as a graphic designer and I have been finding myself increasingly intrigued by the overlap between these two modes of creating work. In particular, I am interested in the ways that both art and graphic design approach communication and experimenting with various strategies across both disciplines. I generally work with mediums such as typography and text, collage, sculpture, and installation.

This is a Cartae Open School Workshop: https://www.aceart.org/cartae-open-school

SHOW&TELL with Julian K

1-3pm, Sunday, April 8^th, 2018 | aceartinc. (2-290 McDermot Avenue) | FREE!

Show and tell is the ultimate opportunity to present something meaningful to you. Through various exercises, participants will have the opportunity to explore their personal connection to objects. This workshop is also an opportunity to work on public presentation skills in a supportive environment. One time in elementary school, I was very nervous and said “vagina” instead of “Regina”.

You’re safe to say those words here.

Show and tell is about:

Identifying personal connections to objects
Public speaking
Connecting with others through sharing
Listening and asking questions
Redeeming past slip-ups…

To confirm your attendance, please email juliankirchmann1@gmail.com. Include a brief description of the item(s) you plan on bringing.

Please bring:

At least one object for showing
A notebook and pen

Snacks will be provided (good ones).

Julian Kirchmann is an interdisciplinary artist and writer living in Winnipeg, MB. His work explores identity, trauma, vulnerability, self-reflection, and miscommunication. These ideas are often explored though the use of humor and by pushing the boundaries between personal and public.

290 McDermot is not a fully accessible space, for more info please get in touch!

This is a Cartae Open School Workshop

Ekene Maduka | Scott Wachal Memorial Bursary Talk

7pm, Friday 6 April 2018

Ekene Maduka’s practice is grounded in materializing her thought processes and creating opportunities for encounters with her personal experiences through self-representation. Much of her work is informed by the passages of identity and what initiates changes within it.

Maduka’s work is centred on the female figure, creating tension between art historical tropes surrounding the depiction of black women, self representation, and popular culture. She frequently employs heavy detailing when rendering skin, fabrics, and interior spaces. This and her deployment of pattern and striking colors carry historical as well as cultural significance that heightens the social critique often present in her paintings.

In 2017, Maduka was curated into the aceartinc. student exhibition and subsequently awarded the Scott Wachal Memorial Bursary. As part of this, recipients are invited to give a public talk about their work. We hope you can join us to hear Ekene Maduka talk about her practice and recent bodies of work.

Image: Look, it’s just blood. Ekene Maduka. 5’ x 6’; oil on canvas. 2018

The Scott Wachal Memorial Bursary
This bursary is available to art students who have been curated into the Annual Student Exhibition. The bursary is intended to support a project or an opportunity (such as a workshop or residency) that will positively impact the artist’s practice. In 2013 the youngest artist curated into our Annual Student Exhibition passed away. In his memory aceartinc. created the Scott Wachal Memorial Student Bursary.

Creative Writing Workshop with Christina Hajjar

Saturday, March 24, 1-3:30pm, aceartinc.

This creative writing workshop will be an intimate space of writing, sharing, and critical discussion around the theme of diaspora.

Participants will reflect on their own experiences of diaspora, displacement, hyphenated-Canadian identity, and/or first/early-generation Canadian identity. Any level of experience is welcome. No prior arts or writing practice is necessary.

This is a Cartae Open School workshop and it is free.

Please register by email at hajjarchristina@gmail.com with the subject line “Creative Writing Workshop.”

WORKSHOP FORMAT:

Writing prompts and opportunity to draft 1-3 poems
Reading and discussing 2 short poems together
Antiracist decolonial feminist framework: Our thinking and discussion around the topics of home, space, and place is grounded in an understanding that non-Indigenous peoples benefit from stolen land and from ongoing colonization. It also means that we must be critical about the way situate ourselves within systems of power.

The facilitator: I am a first-generation Lebanese-Canadian. My work is grounded in the Lebanese diaspora, thinking through my parents’ life experiences, and through my own experiences of migration, culture, and intergenerational inheritance. As a queer white-passing working-class Arab artist, writer, and organizer, I aim to be critical about my relationship with being a settler of colour. Key questions in my work include: How do migratory and displaced peoples connect to home when home is often elusive, unavailable, changed, or gone? How do non-Indigenous peoples form more ethical relationships to land that has been stolen? www.christinahajjar.com

The venue: Unfortunately aceartinc. is not fully accessible. There are five stairs before reaching the elevator. Visit the website for more directions: https://www.aceart.org/contact-access#accessibility