Portraits of Home

Portraits of Home installation view

Grimsby Public Art Gallery presents

Portraits of Home
Soheila Esfahani, Travis Shilling, Jordyn Stewart, Diana Thorneycroft

February 21 to April 22, 2023
Opening Reception: Friday, March 17 at 7:00pm
Artists Soheila Esfahani and Jordyn Stewart will be in attendance. Remarks at 7:30pm.

Grimsby Public Art Gallery (GPAG) is pleased to present the exhibition, Portraits of Home. Join us for the opening reception on Friday, March 17 at 7pm. Artists Soheila Esfahani and Jordyn Stewart will be in attendance. Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome.

Exploring ideas of Canadiana and what it means to be Canadian through depictions of place, identity, and culture Portraits of Home presents the works of artists Soheila Esfahani, Travis Shilling, Jordyn Stewart, and Diana Thorneycroft. Comprised of photography, sculpture, painting, mixed media, and video these works, both together and individually, challenge viewers to engage with preconceptions around what defines being Canadian. From the pastiche landscapes of Diana Thorneycroft to the delicate installation of Soheila Esfahani’s porcelain birds, each artist speaks to aspects of identity, representation, culture, and landscape.

Soheila Esfahani’s installation features 215 porcelain birds, a combination of collected souvenir-like objects alongside handmade birds painted with culturally specific designs. Together, the birds evoke a representation of the movement of culture from place to place by immigrants and tourists, challenging viewers to consider the dissemination of culture and their inherent complexities.

Influenced by the Group of Seven and Norval Morrisseau, Travis Shilling’s work not only captures the Canadian landscape in a visceral way, but also engages with the ever-changing vistas, drawing connections to the charged political climate, most notably around housing and the development of pipelines.

Jordyn Stewart’s work explores place and personal identity, questioning personal and collective assumptions about landscape and the correlation between nature and national identity. The video work, Landscape Study IV uses the physical intervention of the image to explore the artificiality of scenic tourism’s depiction of the Canadian landscape. As the video continues, the dripping liquid becomes reminiscent of maple syrup—a common and distinctly Canadian condiment.

Diana Thorneycroft’s tongue-in-cheek, large-scale chromogenic photographs illustrate facets of Canadian identity—deep wooded landscapes, hockey teams, and plaid. Paired against the backdrops of paintings by the Group of Seven and Tom Thompson the foreground of each work presents stereotypical, iconic representations that unfold and explore concepts of national pride and cultural ideologies.

Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, March 17 from 7 – 9 pm. Remarks will begin at 7:30 pm.

About Grimsby Public Art Gallery:
The Grimsby Public Art Gallery was founded in 1975 as a committee of the Grimsby Public Library Board, creating an active and accessible community art gallery in the lower level of the Grimsby Public Library. In 1999 the Gallery became a separate sub-department of the Town of Grimsby, although we still shared a building with the Library. In 2004 both Gallery and Library moved into a new purpose–built facility that has significantly enhanced our ability to fulfill all aspects of our mandate.

Forging and maintaining connections with our community is of primary importance and we do this through our careful selection and presentation of exhibitions and programs. We preserve art by our responsible care of the permanent collection. We encourage visual art by maintaining a gallery that is open and welcoming to all visitors and by offering a range of thought provoking art and related programs.

Grimsby Public Art Gallery
18 Carnegie Lane
Grimsby, ON L3M 1Y1

Grimsby Public Art Gallery is wheelchair accessible.

GALLERY HOURS:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10 am – 5 pm
Thursday: 10 am – 9 pm
Saturday: 1 – 5 pm

For more information please contact:
Alexandra Hartstone
Art Gallery Manager/Curator
Grimsby Public Art Gallery
905-345-3246 x 2079
ahartstone@grimsby.ca
www.grimsby.ca/Art-Gallery