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/

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.

Genesis is the Biblical version of the beginning of the world. Stories like Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah’s Ark, stream through kindergartens replete with talking snakes. Western culture is imbued with medieval attitudes towards race, sex, gender and the animals that stem from accepting the Bible either literally or metaphorically. Even the theory of evolution follows the religious paradigm and hypothesizes a linear ascent of humans.

The centerpiece of Julie Oakes’ latest exhibition is a spectacular reinterpretation of Biblical mythology through the medium of an art installation. The artist is preeminently a storyteller who uses the mythology as a vehicle for expressing contemporary issues. There are several other paintings in the exhibition that explore Buddhist mythologies.

The landing of Noah’s Ark, and subsequent dispersal of species across the earth, represents a point of redemption for humanity. The savage God has made a covenant promising not to destroy humanity again. Thus Oakes’ choice of this age-old story is particularly apposite in the present environmental crises. Indeed, with the glaciers melting, many places will experience flooding again.

A huge grey painting of the ark’s prow is set against a troubled lilac sky. Below, brilliant green grass waves in the wind. Streams of camels, elephants and monkeys are painted in lines that follow the boat’s timber construction. At the centre, a coiled serpent presents an oval exit point. It’s significant that the much-maligned snake is the doorway. Ever since Adam fell from grace, the snake has been the personification of evil.

Lilac plinths coil outward and spiral into the gallery space. A procession of animal feet marchesalong the ramp, representing 30 species ranging from exotic forms like the Aye Aye, Chinchilla, Flying Frogs to wolves and zebras. Each foot seems hollow and ends at the top in a ragged area of skin. The inside is painted scarlet, rimmed with a gold line, echoing Victorian porcelain. It’s reminiscent of both flowers and raw flesh. Toenails, hooves and claws are all painted in gold leaf as a feminine touch. These cartoon-ish and decorative qualities ameliorate the macabre vision of severed feet. Significantly, the last foot leaving the ark is black. The interior foot os ;o;ac. suggesting that scarlet tones accrue over time.

It’s a sad feature of the effect these stories have on our culture that racism was for some, endorsed by the Bible. Noah had planted vineyards and drank wine until he passed out. His son, Ham, observed him naked, and because of this incurred a curse from Noah on his 4th offspring, Canaan, who was doomed to serve other men for eternity. The deeply conservative and religious Afrikaners in South Africa used these stories to justify Apartheid and designated Africans to be ‘drawers of water and hewers of wood’. Thus they were deprived of education for decades.

The gorilla’s hand and the elephant’s foot also remind me of African curios like ashtrays made from severed animal parts. It is indicative of a flawed relationship with animals and the environment that religion seems to foster by valuing humanity more than animals and suggesting there is a heaven or nirvana separate from this world.

Julie Oakes’ treatment of the theme is extremely feminine and embracing. Her love of embellishment and floral line is in stark contrast to the dour patriarchal outcome these stories have had upon our culture. THere is strength in the fragile beauty of this work that confronts the emergency we face to reevaluate our relationships with each other, animals and the environment. In a sense, this installation is a visual prayer.

Group Show ‘Looking Ahead’ til Dec. 13.

I like the artist’s commitment to explore his medium. I love that Wilson’s chosen medium is beautiful in its own right but, rarely used to make art, and in general, has little respect – the lowly toothpick. A tool most often used to unwedge food caught between one’s teeth.

Common indeed, but in Jay Wilson’s hands the toothpick is dressed up and ready to go to the ball in a pinkburgundydress! Making the toothpick his own, Wilson’s pieces are not only labour intensive to create, these works are sometimes made with the help of friends, but they also speak to the intricacies of design, engineering and construction.

Read the rest of the article at flight + hotel.

Group show ‘Looking Ahead’ til Dec. 13

Iíve been thinking of them as light collages using the medium of photography as a base. Scratched negatives, both personal and found, and old-fashioned burning and dodging make up his methods of reconstruction.

Read the rest of the article at flight + hotel

For full article, please visit akimblog at: http://www.akimbo.ca/akimblog/?id=315

Lonsdale Gallery ushers in a new wave of playfully experimental artists this summer with ‘Peep Show.’ This media-diverse exhibition includes works by Jamie Bradbury, Bogdan Luca, Osheen Harruthoonyan, Amanda McCavour and Alex McLeod that share a spirit of creative inventiveness. Photo-based artist Osheen Harruthoonyan, for instance, poetically explores memory dissolution by altering found and personal photographs through unique analog printing processes, while Amanda McCavour specializes in intricate thread drawings that add warm tactility to an otherwise removed viewing experience. Bogdan Lucaís figurative practice weaves in ‘concepts of distortion, repetition, perspective and even complete disintegration of the form’ to create paintings that tingle with colour, motion and feeling, vividly capturing subjective impressions of moments in time. Ultimately, the works in this exhibition are suffused with enough ingenuity and insight to warrant more than just a peep. (410 Spadina Rd, Toronto ON)

For Full Article:
http://www.canadianart.ca/online/see-it/2009/08/27/peep-show/