Ted Rettig
Selected Work: New & Recent
North Gallery
October 29 – November 19

Reception: Saturday, November 5 (please note)
Artist Present: 2-5pm

Ted Rettig Untitled assemblage #2 2011 mixed media 16 X 48 X 15 inches

Ted Rettig Kindness and graciousness 2003 ink on paper 10 X 15 inches

We are pleased to present a show of new and recent works by Ted Rettig. The work in this exhibition represents Rettig’s interest in the history of Chinese art and his contemporary practice in sculpture, drawing and assemblage.

He draws upon elements of his repertoire of finely carved stones, found objects, drawing, text and three dimensional and wall mounted assemblages. As well, Rettig has included intimate drawings on paper and clay.

For several decades Rettig has occasionally worked with the materials of Chinese painting, brushes, ink and Xuan paper. He has also collaborated with artists of Chinese heritage on curatorial projects. For a project of works on paper and Chinese scrolls, included in this exhibition, Rettig has collaborated with Tien T. Chang, who has added his fine cursive Chinese calligraphy.

Gary Michael Dault wrote about a recent Rettig exhibition in the Globe and Mail; “On the one hand, he makes remarkably gnomic and indeed almost mute works often involving, say, the light carving of runic marks, often botanically derived, into surfaces of smooth rocks. On the other hand, he fashions sculptural works from jangles of found materials, bringing his unlikely elements together in poetic but puzzling three-dimensional collages.----- What’s it about? Who Knows. The pleasure afforded by agglomeration? The mystical, quasi-surrealistic pleasure of assemblage.”

Artist Present Series
Ted Rettig presents:
Sharon Cook
The Pool Garden

Recent Work
October 29- November 19, 2011
South Gallery

Sharon Cook In the Valley 2009 17 x 20inches ink and colour on xuan paper, acrylic on canvas

Rettig is also presenting the work of Sharon Cook as part of the Artist Present Series. Cook combines her long study of Chinese painting, her interest in performance work and her expertise as a competitive pool professional player. The result in this exhibition is very fine traditional Chinese painting with a contemporary western slant. Cook’s traditional Chinese landscape painting includes a western insertion in the form of a pool table/game.

Rettig says of Cook’s work in the exhibitions wall text;

“Sharon Cook’s practice in the techniques and theory of Chinese painting of recent decades is extraordinary. It is very rare for Euro-Canadian visual artists to cross over into another artistic tradition to the degree that she has done. It is more common for musicians to intensively study another classical tradition, such as the music of Southern Idea or the Balinese Gamelan, and develop expertise in the understanding and performance. They often go on to create hybrid compositions.

Sharon Cook has been studying and practicing within the context of Chinese painting for several decades. She is highly respected for her accomplished works which remain virtually unknown to a larger audience. She brings aspects of her life and interests into her works and creates a lyrical hybridity.”

In the 1980’s she made large nature-themed installations. She has made performance pieces and experimental film works. She is a founding member of Red Head Gallery. She is an expert fly-fisher and has taught the tying of fly fishing lure. She is also an expert at pool and competes professionally.

David Askevold

Askevold’s major work, Love Mansion, is now installed in our Project Room to coincide with the major retrospective of Askevold’s work, Once Upon a Time in the East, now on view at the National Gallery of Canada. A fully illustrated catalogue is available.