Looking Forward | Curated Exhibition
January 14-28, 2023
340 & 350 Dundas Street West, Toronto
As we look forward to this upcoming year, Bau-Xi Gallery and Bau-Xi Photo in Toronto present a curated selection from gallery artists scheduled for exhibition in 2023. We invite you to explore featured works by Kyle Scheurmann, Alex Cameron, Janna Watson , Martin Klimas and Barbara Cole, among other gallery artists.
Bau-Xi Photo | 2022 A Year In Review
350 Dundas Street West, Toronto
December 3-17, 2022
This December, Bau-Xi Photo presents Year In Review, a curated selection of photographic artworks exhibited throughout the course of 2022. Featuring works by David Leventi, Whitney Lewis-Smith, Chris Shepherd, Virginia Mak, Joshua Jensen-Nagle and Barbara Cole, among other gallery artists!
We are proud to celebrate the close of a wonderful year by revisiting some of the inspiring photographs which graced our walls in 2022. Pease join us this December to view these beautiful works together in this curated exhibition.
Holiday | New Works by Gallery Artists
December 3-17, 2022
3045 Granville Street, Vancouver
Main Gallery
Bau-Xi Vancouver is pleased to present our annual holiday group exhibition, featuring beautiful new painting and photography in the spirit of the season.
The exhibition includes works by artists including David Alexander, Vicky Christou, Cori Creed, Jamie Evrard, Anne Griffiths, Nicole Katsuras, Gavin Lynch, Andre Petterson and more.
Darlene Cole | Reverie
December 3-17, 2022
340 Dundas St West, Toronto
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 3 2022 | 1-3 PM - Artist in attendance
Bau-Xi is thrilled to present Reverie, a stunning collection of new paintings by Canadian artist Darlene Cole.
Gary Michael Dault once wrote, “Darlene Cole’s paintings are filled with the very fragrance of paradox. They feel immediate, for example, as if they have been painted rapidly from life, on the fly, as notations rather than deliberations, all the while crystallizing and enshrining the innocence of a dreamtime that shimmers in the haze of Cole’s effulgence light like memory.”
On her latest collection, the artist writes:
"Tapping into the deeper theme of ‘reverie’, this cycle of paintings are unforced but unforgettably layered in a time when moments that feel like a dream might help carry us through the shadows…walking in the forest, sitting by the pond or lake, listening to live music, or the burst of a new season.
In the studio, the gesture, light, and mystery were forefront for me along with the intensity of emotion. I approached each canvas in a way that I hadn’t before…thinking of the darkest areas first and allowing the paint and subject matter to emerge from the unknown. In some paintings the figure is present and in another, the figure pivots to be the viewer and encounters a bear…then a swan. I wanted to coax (with paint) the complexity of emotion and sensitivity from nature as a means of solace."
Cole's work is extensively collected across Canada and internationally. Notable public collections include: The Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, the K.F. Preueter Collection of Canadian Art, Royal Bank of Canada, CIBC, OCAD University, Fairmont Hotels (Toronto, Montreal, Banff), and Manulife Financial.
Jill Greenberg | Paintings 2
November 19-30, 2022
350 Dundas St West, Toronto
Bau-Xi Photo presents Paintings 2, an exhibition of new works by New York-based photographer, Jill Greenberg. In this continuation of the artist’s Paintings series, Greenberg captures the lustrous and wonderful surface of paintings made by her own hand.
“I set out to make a body of work that commented on the idea of artists painting from photographs. Yet ultimately, as with all of my work, I aim for the work itself to not only have meaning but also be luscious and compelling, vivid and emotional. I combine acrylic, tempera, oils, and water, usually on a glass painter’s palette. By manipulating the paint with brushes and palette knives, allowing it to dry, adding water back, and rotating the glass to change the reflections, as I capture images remotely from my laptop, each sequential capture is slightly different as the water flows and the pigment dissolves, the surface of the paint reflects light differently.”
Describing her work as, “lens-based, 100-megapixel paintings” Greenberg marries two art forms. “The photograph is the culmination of the work, a new hybrid medium made with a mastery of both light and paint, time and the hand, not a mere painting.”
Born in Montreal and raised in Detroit, Greenberg began her artistic career as a student of illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design but soon switched her focus to photography, graduating with Honours in 1989 alongside a generation of artists who looked to the medium as a platform for political and social commentary. Decorated with awards for both her commercial and fine art photography, Greenberg has since been exhibited worldwide, with her work collected by both private collectors and public institutions, including the Portland Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Greenberg currently lives and works from her studio in New York, NY.
Nicole Katsuras | Antidote
November 19-30
Opening Reception November 19, 1-3 PM | Artist in Attendance
340 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Bau-Xi Gallery is thrilled to present Antidote, a stunning exhibition of new abstract paintings by Toronto-born artist Nicole Katsuras.
On her latest collection, Katsuras writes;
“Art is the antidote for our times. Personally, the act and the object can be a carrier of positivity, joy and light. These new paintings are a continuation of my ongoing study and experimentation with paint; focusing on the natural world but always synthesizing my inward reflections, personal memories, emotions, and history to create gravity free dreamland state, flora and intuitive landscapes.
Embracing the freedom and endless possibilities oil paint has to offer with my commitment to colour, texture, line and movement. I hope to create an antidote to life’s malaise."
The artist is renowned for her creative approach of embracing past traditions of art history while presenting her unique visual language in her paintings. Informed by the nuances of the oil medium and a cascade of visual stimuli, Katsuras paints a bold yet intricate extruded technique to compose lively, elegant and playful abstracted scenes.
Nicole Katsuras has exhibited her paintings internationally, with noted solo shows in Toronto, Vancouver, London, Seoul and Paris. Her artwork is part of several public collections and countless private collections across the globe.
Steven Nederveen | The Ocean In Us
3045 Granville Street, Vancouver
November 19-30, 2022
Steven Nederveen’s work deals with the passage of time, a theme stemming from his own practice of meditation. Moments of peaceful clarity lead the artist to draw connections between our natural environment and aspects of spirituality through an artistic process that combines painting and photography. In this new exhibition, he focuses on the drama of crashing waves, paying homage to the historic seascape paintings of shipwrecks by old Dutch masters, referencing dark black skies, turbulent waters and fine detail.
Artist statement:
As a waterman and the son of a sailor, I’ve spent a lot of time on the waters of the west coast. I know these waters, and yet I can never really know them. The ocean is an endless variety of movement, light and feeling. We can see ourselves in its vastness and depths, its calm and its torrents. Water reflects back to us our inner worlds and emotions.
In my latest depictions of the sea, I have re-cast the ocean as subject and zoomed in on one small section of turbulent water, using contemporary techniques to distill ocean crashes into gesture and form so that we can feel the full impact and chaos of the untamed sea. I use a golden glow to represent the human spirit, depicting it as an extension of nature itself, inseparable from the beautiful chaos of these waves. The vastness of the water reflects the vastness of ourselves - these pieces are both inner and outer landscape.
-Steven Nederveen 2022
Bradley Wood | Gilded Daze
November 3-16, 2022
Opening Reception November 3, 6-8PM | Artist in Attendance
340 Dundas Street, Toronto
Bau-Xi is thrilled to present Gilded Daze, the inaugural exhibition for Canadian-born, New York-based artist Bradley Wood with the gallery.
Known for his expressive and chromatically charged paintings, Bradley Wood is renowned for his depictions of opulent, abundant environments and intriguing figures. In this exhibition, Wood contemplates the passage of time and the thematic undercurrent of excessive wealth masking the personal grappling of introspective conflicts. The artist stages dramatic scenes of days passed, while connecting with our current reality of crafted personas within digital and social media.
On the inspirations informing his latest collection, the artist writes;
“I've always grappled with notions of time -- as an artist and, these days, as an aging father. It prompted me to weave these blending timelines into my usual oeuvre of figurative interiors and fictional seated portraits, creating narratives about the contrast between outer appearance and internal mindsets.
In this body of work, many references are found at its core: medieval pictorial flatness, 17-century figuration, the surreal movement of the early 20s, decorative interiors like those painted by Les Nabis, abstract expressionist mark-making, along with the subject matter with current-day cues. All are meaningful approaches mashed up intentionally to achieve timelessness in my work.”
Through his intricate brushwork and bold palettes, Wood’s intimate oil paintings on linen present his stylized figures in his signature visual language. Like a seasoned playwright, the artist weaves elaborate narratives and imagined backstories for his fascinating subjects.
Born in Regina in 1970, Bradley Wood completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2006. Prior to studying at RISD, Wood completed studies at Art Center Europe, Vevey, Switzerland (1995-1996) and California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, USA (2000-2001). The artist has been featured in over 15 editorials and publications, including The Globe and Mail (2021, 2011); The New York Times (2013); Artsy (2016); The Irish Times (2018); among others. He is part of countless private collections across the globe.
Bradley Wood has been represented by Bau-Xi Gallery since 2021.
Michelle Nguyen | Horror Vacui
November 5-16, 2022
3045 Granville Street, Vancouver
Opening Reception: Saturday November 5, 2-4pm - Artist in attendance
Michelle Nguyen uses oil, pastel, and vivid colours to illustrate worlds dense with mythology, symbolism, and narrative. In her current work, Nguyen looks to encourage viewers to think and speak openly about human mortality and acknowledge death as an inevitable reality - she believes that contemporary Western society has created a culture of death denial and fear that is detrimental to the emotional and spiritual well being of the individual and the communities to which they belong. She infuses her images with important commentary on inherited trauma and ancestral grief through her lens as part of a Vietnamese Canadian family.
In her new show, Nguyen explores themes of mortality through the Victorian aesthetic horror vacui (Latin for ‘fear of empty space’) as a way to talk about the unknowns of the future and the afterlife.
Jeffrey Milstein | Autumn
October 13-29
350 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Bau-Xi Gallery is pleased to present, Autumn, a collection of photographs captured over the Hudson River Valley and New York City in the richness of the season. As the gold and crimson hues of Autumn blanket the horizon, the artist takes to the skies, "a view unavailable from the ground opens up. From here you have grand vistas, yet you are close enough to see intimate detail."
Milstein takes his aerial photographs from the cockpit of light aircraft or small, agile helicopters, always flying at sunset, when the low light makes shadows longer and suffuses everything with a golden glow. From this vantage point, Milstein brings his architect’s training, and his graphic designer’s eye, to bear on the world below. His preoccupation with pattern and colour transforms even the most banal sites into works of abstract beauty.
Erin Armstrong | A Glitch in Utopia
October 13-29
Opening Reception: Thursday October 13, 6-8 pm - Artist in Attendance
340 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Bau-Xi Gallery is thrilled to present A Glitch in Utopia, a collection of new paintings by Toronto-based artist Erin Armstrong.
In her latest series, Armstrong builds a dream-like world exploring themes of self-reflection, survival and resilience. Her surreal and distorted figures evoke moments of contemplation, touching on the complexities within ourselves and the ways we contort to face challenges both real and imagined.
On her subjects within her works, the artist writes;
"Many figures in the paintings are replicas/twins of each other, representing the halves that make up our whole; the head and the heart, the rational and the anxious mind. We rely on these dualities to hold ourselves up over troubled waters.
Most of the subjects are surrounded by water and beach scenes, they are tense and contemplative as stormy weather is rolling in, signifying the calm before the internal storm. Some are wrangling wild animals as a nod to wrestling our own anxieties. Some are sitting in silence, lost in their own thoughts, as vases and tables crash around them."
Lush environments and brilliantly patterned clothing feature heavily in the artist's foray into a world of both familiarity and curious wonder. Drawing from personal experience, and identifying the collective conscience associated with modern anxieties, the artist carries forth strength gained from being present and looks forward with optimism.
Erin has created work for clients such as Nike, The Drake Hotel, Anthropologie, and General Public Art. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Nylon Magazine, House and Home Magazine, NUVO, Domino, ShopBop, Cultured Mag, Yahoo! News, and others. She is part of countless private collections across the globe.
Sheri Bakes | The Company of Stars
October 15-29, 2022
3045 Granville Street, Vancouver
Opening Reception: Saturday October 15, 2-4pm - Artist in attendance
In her signature stippled style with a continuing focus on nature, Sheri Bakes presents a collection of landscapes inspired by a dear friend’s experience hiking from California to BC. Bakes captures the characteristic vegetation along this long route, depicting the changes in landscape, weather and atmosphere evident in the received photos taken along the journey northward. Bakes’ ever-present indication of movement, breath and life-force - the unseen made visible - connects all her images, inviting quiet contemplation and offering momentary sanctuary from a busy and relentless world.
Artist Statement:
This recent body of work is inspired by a friend’s six-month solo thru-hike along the Pacific Crest Trail and the photos she shared with friends and family along the way.
Jennifer Szabo entered the Pacific Crest Trail on April 8, 2022, at Mile 0 in Campo, California, and by the time this show opens, she will have finished in Manning Park in BC, sometime in September.
The Pacific Crest Trail is approximately 2,650 miles and is listed as one of the top five most challenging thru-hikes in the world. Wildfires prevented Jennifer from hiking two sections of the trail, approximately 362.6 miles.
Building this show was challenging and also gratifying from the start of the process to the finish. It provided a way for me to accompany my friend on her journey from the studio, and to accompany her mom (who is also a good friend) on her own journey of emotions while her daughter was out on the trail, while simultaneously experiencing my own paint-focused journey through the work.
This show is in celebration of my friend Jennifer, her incredible accomplishment in solo thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, and also in celebration of her wonderful, very dedicated and supportive family, Peter, Nancy and Emily.
-Sheri Bakes 2022