Barbara Rehus & Thelma Rosner @ Loop Gallery (Toronto), April 4-26 April 4, 2009

Loop Gallery is pleased to announce exhibitions by Loop Gallery members Barbara Rehus entitled Fly By and Thelma Rosner entitled Elisabeth's Book.

Fly By began to form when, dealing with health issues, Barbara Rehus often found herself alternating between hope for change and the desire to run away. In this exhibit, crows are painted on glass and kiln-fired, resulting in delicate translucent images. Wires running through layers of glass add to the sense of movement and grace. But when fastened into small sculptural boxes, the paintings’ wire becomes rough and twisted; the birds seem to struggle against it. Yet, placed against a background of sky and cloud, they remain airborne – hope is not entirely lost. An installation work depicts the crows as they come together in flight, swooping their way around a corner of the gallery. Sreenprinted onto hundreds of small glass tiles, kiln-fired and hung in strands from the ceiling, it is hard it know if the flock is coming together, or breaking apart. Still, each individual finds a sense of community and support.

Barbara Rehus is an Oakville-based painter and sculptor. She holds two undergraduate degrees from Cleveland State University, as well as accreditation from Toronto School of Art. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in public institutions, artist-run centres and commercial galleries throughout Canada, the UK, The Netherlands, Australia, and the United States. Her work is included in numerous private collections.

Thelma Rosner's exhibition Elisabeth's Book is based on the following historical account:

In December 1944 Eszter Schwartz gave Elisabeth Raab a homemade gift. It was a small book made of black felt pages (about 2” square) onto which she had sewn tiny metal cut-outs, one on each page.
At the time, the two Hungarian women were slaves in an Auschwitz munitions factory. It was Eszter’s ‘job’ to cut a small piece of superfluous metal from hand grenades. Out of these scraps, she fashioned simple shapes – a heart, a boat, a flower – for her book.
Both women survived Auschwitz.They lost touch shortly after the war’s end.

Elisabeth’s Book is a suite of archival digital prints that pays homage to the power of human creativity and courage, despite situations of unimaginable horror.

Thelma Rosner is an artist, whose practice combines the meanings and metaphors of traditional still life, with subjects arising from her own Jewish heritage. She works as both a painter and printmaker, and often presents her work in the form of installations. She has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the USA and England. She has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and has been the recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council. Thelma Rosner is grateful for recent support from the Ontario Arts Council.

Please join the artists in celebrating the opening reception on Saturday April 4th from 2-5 pm.

The exhibition runs from April 4 - 26th 2009. Gallery hours are Wed-Sat 1-5pm and Sun 1-4pm.

Official Website: http://www.loopgallery.ca