June 1st to July 4th, 2019

The Portraits North of 17 June 1st – July 4th, 2018

This exhibition displays the “characters” of Northern Ontario and will feature a group show of paintings, prints and photographs by eight artists from across Northeastern Ontario. Co-curators, Bruce Cull and Dermot Wilson reached out to a very select group of artists in the communities of Timmins, Kirkland Lake, the Tri-Towns and North Bay. It was, in many ways, an artistic experiment that would challenge the chosen artists and would perhaps be important as an expression of what it is to be a Northerner. The result of this experiment is a wonderful selection of works depicting many different folks from many communities across Northeastern Ontario. It includes eight self-portraits by the artists, portraits of friends and a Northern Ontario “take” on the finest of all portrait artists, a selection of “collaborative portraits” and a nod by each artist to the greatest portrait painter of them all, Rembrandt van Rijn. The curators say the beautiful lands to the north of Highway 17 are populated by some very fascinating characters and this exhibition focuses on “folks we’ve known or know and on artistic tradition of the portrait.”