In July 2010, Amanda will be taking part in a three-month residency at the Klondike Institute in the Yukon.

More information about Amanda’s exhibition schedule at Lonsdale Gallery coming soon.

Award Winners 2010
The Ontario Craft Council Gallery
990 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M6J 1H1

http://www.craft.on.ca/Programs/Exhibitions

June 2 – July 25

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
Nathan Phillips Square
July 9th, 10th and 11th, 2010
Booth: Yellow 654
www.torontooutdoorart.org

Hard Twist Chroma!
The Gladstone Hotel: 1214 Queen St W, Toronto
Friday November 26, 2010 to Sunday January 30, 2011 with exhibition hours of 12pm-5pm daily
Opening Reception: 6pm-9pm on Friday Nov 26, 2010

Photos provided by wonderful photographers Joseph Voci and Yuanna Djelantik

Bravo News story on Nocturna Artificialia by Osheen Harruthoonyan. Bravo spoke to gallery artist Osheen Harruthoonyan and gallery curator, Stanzie Tooth about his off site exhibition for the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival. The exhibition presented by Lonsdale Gallery, was exhibited at the 918 Bathurst Centre Gallery from May 1-30, 2010.

I got a lovely email from a young artist Ryan Van Der Hout, a recent graduate of the Ryerson photography program in Toronto. He calls his phot-based work, which doesn’t involve the use of a camera, “photographic sketches that highlight the possibilities of the medium.”

He’s got an exhibition on at Toronto’s Lonsdale Gallery from May 26- June 27, 2010, with an artist’s reception this coming Saturday.

He says: “A photographic image made without a camera explores the materials themselves rather than the outside world seen through the camera. Utilizing photograms, enlargergrams, light drawings and cliche verre, what is seen through my work is the process of making and the interaction of light with photographic paper. These are often manifested through the shadows of our world, but sometimes through the direct action of light. While these images are not necessarily the recording of the outside world, the paper still records – photography always records – the moment of its own creation.”

The work on view at the show is from his Light Abstractions series, but from what we see on his website, we much prefer some of his other work, like the pieces shown here:

Photogram: Produced by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material, such as photographic paper, and then exposing it to light. The varying tonality of the resulting silhouetted image is determined by the transparent, translucent and opaque qualities of the object photogramed.

He also describes some of his other processes:

Enlargergram: Similar to a photogram, however the object is not placed directly on the photographic paper but projected directly upon it through an enlarger as one would work with film in an enlarger.

Light drawing: An image made through the direct action of light on the photographic paper, often utilizing a beam of light to effectively draw on the photographic paper.

Cliche Verre: An image is drawn or etched onto a glass plate or film and photogramed, the resulting image is a highly textured rendering of the original drawing.

Check out Ryan Van Der Hout’s website, HERE.

The Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival is an interesting experience altogether, taking photography to a whole new and captivating level. The open exhibitions, lectures and Live Spatial Projections have made staring at images so much more thrilling.

Taking the Organik, Alembic, Abstrakts by Blaine Speigel, for instance, a presentation set in a Live Spatial Projection at 918 Bathurst Venue - a centre supporting Culture, Arts, Media and Education.

I arrived for the opening at 7PM to be welcomed by colourful images in a magical, almost surreal environment. More pictures after the jump.

The exhibition was set in a large cathedral like room, thrust in complete obscurity, with the only light coming from multiple projections of film-based images made through a variety of photographic and alchemical processes, which Speigel later explained during our conversation. A DJ playing live ambient sounds, added to the surreal and magical experience as beautiful and colourful images succeeded each other.

One fashion mind couldn’t help but think about a potential collaboration between the photographer and a Fashion designer, to create fabulous prints, using Speigel’s stunning chemically altered images, for an avant-garde take on the current gardenia trend.

Speigel then introduced me to fellow photographer Osheen Harruthoonyan, who was opening his Nocturna Artificialia exhibition of sumptuous photographic prints in a separate room. Osheen’s work presented a meditation on mortality, employing a diverse vocabulary of imagery. Quite impressive for a self-taught who combines traditional large-format photography with a variety of analog photo manipulation techniques.

The countless hours spent in the darkroom clearly paid off. Sepia, gold selenium toned gelatin silver prints reigned supreme. Powerful yet minimalist, modern with something nostalgic, ideal for a chic and modern interior decoration. Admirers strolling through the gallery clearly pleased, congratulated Osheen.

What a sensory satisfaction this photography moment was, from the avant-garde Speigel to the classic Osheen, it was something worth experimenting. A stop at LONSDALE GALLERY for more on their work is highly recommended.

Osheen Harruthoonyan’s Nocturna Artificialia pays homage to the creative process. Each atmospheric print was created by spending up to 8 hours with a 4” x 5” exposed negative, treating them with an array of tools including paintbrushes, make-up remover pads, q-tips and dental tools. The intimacy of his fingerprints can be found in the chemical spray and scratched surfaces of the darkly lit images. Harruthoonian describes his work as “science and art” and compares his methods to early artists who used different pigments and emulsion to achieve their colour palette. By painting to the photographic medium, he creates a world of detail and curiosity within every print.

Inspired by Dutch still life paintings, the subjects of the exhibit are flowers and pomegranates distorted by a post-mortem environment. The black and white photography is printed on gelatin silver and creates a canvas of contrasting textures that give Harruthoonyan a scientific playground to work with. Excitedly describing his alchemist bent, he explains the process of toning the prints with sepia, gold and selenium to alter the natural metallic make-up of the gelatin and emphasize each light range.

Harruthoonyan is represented by Lonsdale Gallery and Nocturna Artificialia is showing until May 30th at 918 Bathurst: Culture, Arts, Media & Education Centre.

More about Osheen: http://osheen.ca/

The exhibition has been extended until May 9, 2010.

Nocturnia Artificialia is being presented by Lonsdale Gallery in partnership with the 918 Bathurst Culture, Arts, Media and Education Centre and will run from May 1 -30, 2010. Artist reception Saturday, May 15 from 7-10 p.m.

http://www.appliedartsmag.com/blog/?p=1259

Applied Arts: Osheen Harruthonyan

Published on Friday, April 2nd, 2010 by Osheen Harruthoonyan

For the month of May, the streets of Toronto will overflow with people attending the photography festival CONTACT. In the lead-up to the festival we’ll be featuring journal entries from a couple exhibiting groups, providing a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their preparations. Once the festival itself takes places, a feature article will be written for the website, tying together the various groups plus the festival as a whole. This post is fromOsheen Harruthoonyan, a fine art and experimental photographer. Osheen will be exhibiting at 918 Bathurst.

Chemical Baths + Carnations

The Venue: Solo exhibit at 918 Bathurst presented by Lonsdale Gallery
The Mission: To create large tri-toned gelatin silver prints inspired by Dutch still life paintings of the 19th century and scientific microscope photography by using a large format camera alongside hand and chemical manipulation of negatives. I am interested in taking the medium of both painting and photography and merging them to create my final works, showing the very process of image making laid bare.

I spent the last week visiting the city’s florists, peacocks and zebras. I brought them (maybe not all of them) back to my apartment and spent 4 hours trying to keep them still for a photo shoot on top my print drawers in my living room. Armed with a 4×5 camera, Ilford FP4, two 75w light bulbs and two very curious cats I attempt to etch image onto film.

Round two!

My bathroom sink is covered in caustic chemistry, my negatives are taking an afternoon dip in a pool of my special formula 4000 and I have no ventilation. Ten minutes later I remove them from their leisurely bath and begin to gently massage their backs with dental tools and make up remover pads. A quick dry and its time to walk over to the darkroom, and make my first print!

This on is called ‘Drip.’

Sepia, Gold & Selenium split toned gelatin silver print.

Featuring works by: Ruth Adler, Jamie Bradbury, Ray Caesar, Steve Fleury, William Mokrynski, Julie Oakes, Mabel Odessey, Peggy Taylor-Reid, Ilan Wolff, Pedie Wolfond and more!