Janis & Tate @ Toronto’s Sandra Ainsley Gallery

Michael Janis & Tim Tate at Toronto’s Sandra Ainsley Gallery June 4 – July 30, 2022

Toronto, Canada’s famed Sandra Ainsley Gallery present the narrative glass artworks by WGS Co-Directors Tim Tate and Michael Janis. The show, titled “One Story is Not Enough” featured works by each artist as a solo, and a number of their collaborative wall murals.

Michael Janis’ imagery in frit powder is reflected in the gallery’s piano surface.

When Michael Janis and Tim Tate met, almost 20 years ago, they discovered a shared fascination of narrative sculpture- one that seeks to arrive at an image that is both unflinchingly candid in physical representation and psychologically evasive. Working together, they are interested in the simultaneous read of an immediately recognizable image that asks the viewer to linger over history and meanings that unfurl more slowly. Mark, line and material become an extension of touch in the act of representation. The relationship of hand to subject, negotiated through the material, can elicit a response of both visual and tactile.

“The Poetry of Everyday Objects” by Michael Janis & Tim Tate, 2021; Size:6H x 6W’; Cast Glass

With these confines they create work in many techniques, but if you stand slightly back and see their history a huge thread of interconnected stories weave through their work from day one. The beauty comes into focus and the viewer sees the edges of a world not dissimilar to this one, but so much more thoughtful.

Detail – “The Poetry of Everyday Objects”, Michael Janis & Tim Tate

They present this glimpse into that alternative world, seemingly unstuck in time somewhere between past and future.

Tim Tate, Lenticular series, 2022, each panel 41″H x 41″W, lenticular prints

Sandra Ainsley Gallery
The Warehouse
100 Sunrise Avenue, Unit 150
Toronto, Ontario Canada M4A 1B3

CLICK-IT Exhibition Opens June 16th @ WGS Contemporary

WGS Contemporary hosts CLICK-IT and Artists for Racial Justice

WGS Contemporary hosts CLICK-IT! and Artists for Racial Justice

With much of the physical art world closing because of Covid-19, artists, galleries and museums have turned to technology and social media to stay open (albeit virtually), allowing visitors from anywhere in the world to interact with and view art.

WGS Contemporary Gallery (located in the DMV’s Gateway Arts District) had to get creative with how to bring art to the world. With so much changing so quickly, artists and arts organizations are still in the process of finding their footing. “With everyone in isolation, art is needed now more than ever to help remind people that we are not alone. Art helps us to dream, escape our current realities, and engage our imaginations in building a better world for tomorrow,” said Gallery Director Teri Swinhart (Bailey). “With this show, we all stand united (six feet apart, of course) and ready to take on these challenges and the new opportunities they present.” 

"Spilt Perfume Set", Artist:  Carmen Lozar

“Spilt Perfume Set”, Artist: Carmen Lozar

"Sea Through The Looking Glass" Artists: Jennifer Caldwell and Jason Chakravarty

“Sea Through The Looking Glass”, Artists: Jennifer Caldwell and Jason Chakravarty

Opening June 16th, WGS Contemporary presents “Click-It!” featuring works by some of the most exciting and inspiring artists, with a broad spectrum of works that showcase the current trends in art and the media specific works.

"Patterns of Containment", Artist: Erwin Timmers

“Patterns of Containment”, Artist: Erwin Timmers

Artists in the show include:

Teri Swinhart (Bailey)
F. Lennox Campello
Jennifer Caldwell
Jason Chakravarty
Cheryl P. Derricotte
Sean Donlon
Sean Hennessey
Joseph Ivacic
Michael Janis
Carmen Lozar
Tim Tate
Erwin Timmers
Steve Wanna
Jeff Zimmer

“By placing artworks of different materials, mediums, and styles in direct conversation, there is opportunity for new dialogues and perspectives,” adds Swinhart. Click-It! will highlight the many parallel and interesting artistic directions these artists bring creating a dynamic environment of exchange online.
“We will be using our online platforms to introduce exciting new art programming that aims to enrich, entertain and inspire during this challenging time.”
A special fundraising event “Artists for Racial Justice” is also scheduled online as a companion show, with the-proceeds for these special works to be donated to the non-profit organizations “Color of Change ” and the “NAACP”.

"Deja Vu" Artist Sean Dolon

“DejaVu”, Artist Sean Donlon

 

WGS Contemporary is a Washington, DC area art and special projects fine arts gallery. WGS Contemporary’s mission is to contribute to thinking about art, new media, technology, and social issues through an open access forum which we hope will facilitate contemporary and innovative projects worldwide. In that process, WGSC will expose the cutting edge work of artists pushing the new media frontiers of art. Projects using robotics, sensory perception, holographic imaging, self-contained video sculptures and others will offer an intelligent and fresh set of artwork that marries technology and art into a new creative dialogue in the visual arts.

 

 

 
Want more than just visual …stimulation? click on link below and get the official “Click It” themesong – music by Donovan Lessard.

James Renwick Alliance Presents Artist Sibylle Peretti @ Smithsonian Renwick Gallery

Sibylle Peretti; "Land Mine"; slumped, engraved, painted and silvered glass, paper; 60" x 80" x 0.5"; 2015

Sibylle Peretti; “Land Mine”; slumped, engraved, painted and silvered glass, paper; 60″ x 80″ x 0.5″; 2015

The James Renwick Alliance (JRA) was created as an independent national nonprofit organization to celebrate the achievements of America’s craft artists and to foster scholarship, education and public appreciation of their art.  Founded in 1982, the Alliance helps support our nation’s showcase of 20th century American craft, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC. 

 figurative glass art, feminist art

Sibylle Peretti; “Twins” cast glass, 18″ x 24″ x 10″; 2010

As part of the JRA Distinguished Artist Series, on  the JRA will welcomes glass sculptor Sibylle Peretti to speak about her work and inspirations at the Renwick Gallery – home to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection of contemporary craft and decorative art.

Sibylle Peretti at work.

Sibylle Peretti at work.

Sibylle Peretti is an artist who grew up surrounded by traditional glassmaking. Trained as a glass designer at the State School for Glass Making in Zwiesel Germany, she learned techniques of enameling, engraving, cutting and designing glass. She expanded the range of her artistic voice as she received an MFA from the Academy of Fine Art in Cologne and was trained as a Glass Designer at the School for Glassmaking in Zwiesel, Germany. Sibylle Peretti lives and works in both New Orleans, LA and Cologne, Germany. Sibylle often works collaboratively with her husband – artist Stephen Paul Day

Sibylle Peretti; "To Know A Hawk" cast glass, 16" x 17" x 13", 2013

Sibylle Peretti; “To Know A Hawk” cast glass, 16″ x 17″ x 13″, 2013

Her work has won numerous awards and endorsements, including grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Joan Mitchell Foundation as well as the 2013 United States Artist Fellowship for her glass sculptures and multimedia collages, which combine photography & drawing with surface interventions such as engraving, mirroring and glass slumping. Children and nature, as symbols of innocence and promise, are the central themes in Sibylle’s work.

Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY; Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PA), Museum of American Glass (Milleville, NJ), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Canada), Museum für Kunsthandwerk (Frankfurt, Germany), Hunter Museum (Chattanooga TN), Speed Museum (Louisville,KY), and 21c Museum (Louisville, KY).

The JRA invites the public to join Sibylle Peretti at the newly renovated Smithsonian Renwick Gallery as she talks about her work and career.

Lecture Date: Sunday, May 22, 2016
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Lecture Venue: Grand Salon, Renwick Gallery

The JRA’s mission is to promote education, support and appreciation of craft. If you’d like to learn more about the group, please see the JRA website.