“Urban Edge”
Featuring artists Rhonda Abrams, Jim Bourke, Bruce Cochrane & Janice Kovar
November 24, 2022 – January 7, 2023
Opening Reception | Thurs. Nov. 24, 2022 7 – 9 pm
[Hamilton, ON, October 25, 2022]- Earls Court Gallery is excited to present “Urban Edge” beginning Thursday, November 24, 2022, showcasing new artworks in various media by artists Rhonda Abrams (Hamilton), Jim Bourke (Toronto), Bruce Cochrane (Toronto) and Janice Kovar (Dundas).
“Urban Edge” showcases the affects one’s surroundings can have on their creative process and focus. Each artist lives in or on the edge of an urban centre and have taken the time to look harder and slower than most of us. They have witnessed the cutting shapes of industrialism, the close interactions of humans and the ergonomic characteristics of materials that are found at every turn.
Through their visual practice in a variety of media —pastel, paint, ceramic, found objects— these artists have come to highlight the dismissed and bring forth a gravitating analysis of the urban effects on visual arts.
Viewers of “Urban Edge” will see pastels of Hamilton industrial landscapes, paintings of informal human interactions in a city, exploration of architectural form through clay, and found materials elevated into abstract paintings.
Join us on Thursday, November 24, 2022 at 7 pm for the celebration of “Urban Edge” featuring artworks by Rhonda Abrams, Jim Bourke, Bruce Cochrane and Janice Kovar.
“Urban Edge” exhibition can be viewed in person at 215 Ottawa Street North, Hamilton. Earls Court Gallery is open Tuesday – Friday 10 am to 5 pm and Saturday 10 am to 4 pm. The artworks will be featured in the main gallery. All artworks will be featured online upon installation.
Entry is free | Family Friendly | Fully Accessible | Groups Welcomed
CONTACT:
Curator Andrea Jackman
Earls Court Gallery, 215 Ottawa St. N, Hamilton
905-527-6685 andrea.jackman@bellnet.ca
@earlscourtgallery earlscourtart.com https://www.earlscourtart.com/collections/urban-edge
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Rhonda Abrams works in diverse media across painting, drawing, performance, video, and film, but currently focusing on pastel. Her work takes her to distinct locations, and she prefers to paint en plein air, to observe the unique combinations of light, and weather in every season and to find inspiration from the immersive, non-digital, experience. Abrams has mentored hundreds of artists through her teaching at Ryerson University, and the Durham Art School. She currently resides and creates in Hamilton, Ontario.
Jim Bourke is a painter who values the aesthetic and emotional potential of a rich and varied material surface left as a trace of the process of creation. He uses the encaustic medium because its working properties support transparency of process and amplify physical presence. He has studied fine art at York University, graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design, and completed a course of computer animation at Sheridan College.
Bruce Cochrane is an internationally acclaimed ceramic artist and recently retired Professor Emeritus of Ceramics at Sheridan College. The work in this exhibition reveals his ongoing interest in the structure of pottery form as it has evolved from a more traditional background. The surface motif consists of flat shapes that become 3D projections integral to the structure of the form. This process has offered exploration into less familiar territory, thus sustaining the excitement of discovery and innovation.
Janice Kovar is a visual artist from Dundas, Ontario. Her work is about the transformation and juxtaposition of materials. She am interested in showing surfaces, passages of time, edges, textures, and mark-making. Through a process of removal, contrast of materials, re-purposing and reconstruction, Kovar creates sculptural forms and paintings that speak to the notion of our environment and our relationship to it.
