Ewa Monika Zebrowski: Time and its absence

Time has been a prevailing theme throughout the past year. We share in the experience of time passing by strangely, where social isolation and physical limitations yield a time that feels dense and murky, refusing to flow with its usual consistency and clarity. Yet even in this viscous temporality, there is an urgency about the present moment which hints at time running out. Perhaps this shared contradictory experience is why Montreal-based artist Ewa Monika Zebrowski’s a tangled time (2020) so fittingly encapsulates the present moment in all its universality, and why its inclusion in the Canada Day Auction is so cherished.

In her photograph, a black and white composition of untamed growth, thorny and entangled, stretches out and across in a blurred foreground as white fog rolls gently across the pastures afar. The veil of the mist delicately holds back space, shrinking and folding perception into the latticed, unpruned hedges before us. A breath of air, however fleeting, is offered in this fog, a space framed by reaching branches of plants above and below as if yearning to join and to snuff out the distant expanse that beckons us. They mimic the webs and weaves of our networked lives, which have become increasingly interconnected as time stretches and thins out, flattening and entangling time in our shared present reality.

This photograph is one of an edition of five and is accompanied in the auction by 24 Hours in Somerset, A Winter’s Tale (2017), a limited edition artist's book - an accordion book of photographs and poetry by the artist that is edition twenty-nine out of thirty. Both artwork and book were created in response to her 2016 residency at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, where its grounds offered the contemplative respite from which these quietly powerful images and words emerged. Both have been exhibited at Occurrence: espace d’art et d’essai contemporain in Montréal in 2021, whilst the book has also been exhibited at Corden|Potts Gallery in San Francisco and is included in several esteemed Canadian and international collections, including Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec, Columbia University, McGill University and National Poetry Library London.

One of the most exciting lots in the Canada-UK Foundation’s Canada Day Auction, this artwork and art book pairing will sit handsomely in private collections and the collections of renowned arts institutions alike. For both the seasoned collector and for those looking for a strong start in collecting, a tangled time and 24 Hours in Somerset, A Winter’s Tale will make an auspicious addition to any ambitious art collection.

Other noteworthy artworks in the auction include Restless, a mixed media oil painting by Toronto-born artist Kate Lowe who is currently a resident and trustee at Kindred Studios in West London, and a drawing by Oona Grimes from her 2018 series The children, featuring mesmerising portraits of non-professional child extras from Italian Neorealist films.

Time may be still and nebulous, but time is also running out for the Canada Day Auction. With less than a week to bid on a phenomenal array of valuable art, unique experiences, fashion and food items, we encourage you to place your bids before 9 pm on Monday, July 1st. Head to the Canada Day Auction here, scroll down to the lot you want to bid on, click on the image, then scroll to the bottom and comment with the amount of your bid. We thank you for your participation that helps us to continue our mission of funding important scholarships and to promote the vast variety of Canadian talent in the UK, and wish you happy bidding!

– words by Sandy Di Yu

What's on in London this coming week?

On June 29 live from Canada House, we will showcase exciting Canadian performers sharing insights about what it means to be a Canadian creative performer. Our Canadians are a mix of breakthrough artists, such as Storry, the recently Juno nominated singer/songwriter, early career performers, such as Sarah Parkin, award winning soprano, and more established artists such as Cecilia Livingston and Cesar Corrales, respectively artist-in-residence at Glyndebourne and principal dancer Royal Opera House. Register here

What the Ocean Remembers

A new exhibit opened (virtually) June 21 at the Canada House art gallery, on the occasion of National Indigenous Peoples' Day. What the Ocean Remembers features new work from artists of Atlantic Canada, curated by the Grenfell Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Works on display include Jordan Bennett, Kym Greeley, Thaddeus Holownia, Meagan Musseau with Jenelle Duvall, Jerry Ropson, and Camille Turner. Although there is something special about actually being in the physical space of the gallery, we have found that the virtual offerings are incredibly easy to access, thus broadening the audience that will see them, and the impact is still significant and moving. No registration is required, one just clicks through to the artist name and then through to the work of that artist. Check it out here, very easy to view, and well worth a visit.

al’taqiaq: it spirals
2020
Digital photograph printed on lustre paper, edition of 30, 2 APs
Courtesy of the Artist
Commissioned by Capture Photography Festival, and Curated by Kate Henderson for the 2021 Dal Grauer Public Art Project. On display April 2, 2021 – March 1, 2022.

Candlelight Walk, Vigil for Turtle Island Solidarity

Setting out from Trafalgar Square at dusk, 9 pm, on Wednesday June 30, Canadian Amanda May Daly and group "Turtle Island Solidarity" will lead a Candlelight Walk as a vigil for residential school victims, survivors and their families as well as MMIWg2s+. The group is called Turtle Island Solidarity because, as Professor David Stirrup, Professor of American Literature and Indigenous Studies at University of Kent explains "Turtle Island is a name some Native Americans use for North America", and in homage to some Indigenous folklore revering the turtle . Amanda also added "the term Turtle Island means the World in Indigenous folklore but is also how activists refer as some of Canada is unceded territory."

Amanda, an accomplished photographer who identifies as being of mixed Anishinaabe and Western Europe descent, said "the route we have chosen, from Canada Square (sic), down Pall Mall, past Buckingham Palace, Westminster Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament, is a route of significance to Indigenous people present in the UK. We will also be distributing information from Beyond the Spectacle, by Professor Thrush of Kent University, which explains more about the significance of these landmarks to First Nations People.". Information from Kent University is available here. Information about the Candlelight Solidarity walk is available on Facebook here.