Captive Visions: Contemporary Canadian Art January 19, 2008

Eli Klein Fine Art presents a major gallery exhibition of important contemporary Canadian art. This show includes a selection of some of the most prominent Canadian artists such as Cathy Daley, Marcel Dzama, Tony Scherman and Max Streicher--several of whom will be showing in New York for the first time--in addition to the work of emerging artists who are beginning to gain recognition such as Talia Shipman, Elena Willis and Christopher Ross. Reflecting Canada itself, the artists present a multiplicity of aesthetics and perspectives and present painting, sculpture, photography and drawing. This exhibition is titled Captive Visions. Captive is defined as held in bondage, enslaved and also as enraptured, as by beauty; captivated. Ideas are unleashed from captivity, and beauty is revealed; Canadian art is discovered.

Canada is a mosaic, a result of many different cultures, two national languages and increasing levels of immigration. In a state of constant flux, exactly what constitutes Canadian identity often becomes a contentious issue. Canadian culture is influenced strongly by the United States, yet maintains its own distinct set of values. Although there may be disagreements as to how much in common there is between the two countries, there most certainly is something that can be deemed uniquely Canadian. However, many Canadians tend to identify more closely with their local community or region than with a wider national culture. Canadian art often reflects this dispersion by looking at what bonds people beyond national identity, beyond distance.
Tony Scherman and Tom Hopkins, two of the most prominent Canadian painters, refer back to traditional ideas in art history as well as important historical moments. Scherman uses encaustic to create thick, lush paintings that reference history with poignant imagery. Hopkins, influenced by the great masters of the Italian renaissance and a classic approach to painting, creates beautiful layered canvases that tell timeless stories. Christopher Ross, a younger artist, has roots in graffiti art, a particularly important component of Montreals urban landscape. His style references graffiti, but by combining aerosol with watercolor, he has developed a unique medium to create imagery that blends human, animal and fantasy to create landscapes that are at once surreal and familiar, playful and elegant.
Cathy Daley and Sophie DeFrancescas art playfully acknowledges the seduction and glamour of the perpetual fantasy played out in cultural imagery while slyly questioning the notion of woman as a spectacle. Sophie DeFrancesca creates wire mesh sculptures which, while immediately enticing, are also a literal cage for the plastic body propagated by the media. Cathy Daley makes velvety drawings with pastel that are constructed with nostalgia for the vintage Hollywood icon while presenting a post-feminist critique.
Theresa Sapergia presents large scale drawings populated with women, wolves, and sentinels exploring sexuality, identity and representation that hover between pagan mythology and fantasy. Her drawings are na