Join us on June 8th at 1pm for an artist walk-through of Proof 26, featuring artists Fehn Foss, Claude Labréche-Lemay, Cameron Lamothe, Ryan Mathieson and Semira Selman.
Proof is Gallery 44's annual exhibition of work by emerging Canadian Artists that reflects a range of current concerns and practices in contemporary lens-based media. Proof is often one of the first exhibitions in a professional context for an emerging artist.
This year's Proof exhibition includes an essay by Vince Rozario, an emerging Toronto based writer and critic.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:
Fehn Foss is an artist working in Hamilton, ON. In her work Foss looks at process and gesture. Oscillating between consideration and statement, she takes an idea and works it over with kinetic investigation. She has exhibited works in Hamilton, Toronto, and Montreal.
Rooting herself in the eld of photography, Claude Labrèche- Lemay explores the possibilities of the medium within different elds, embracing a material approach. Her work interrogates our perception of time, the liminal space occupied by a xed image and studies translation and systems of communication. She is currently completing her BFA in Photography at Concordia University. She exhibited her work in both Montreal and Sweden.
Cameron Lamothe is an emerging interdisciplinary artist hailing from the woods and lakes of Northern Ontario. A mild- mannered rural-ite with a penchant for disasters, his work is as much informed by the lasting effects of Cold War Era politics on Canadian communities as it is by out-of-control barn res and the endless network of logging roads carved through the Northern landscape. A recent OCAD University undergraduate, he has had works published within Canada and Internationally, and most recently was an artist-in-residence at Pre x ICA.
Ryan Mathieson is an interdisciplinary artist who folds modes of collecting, foraging, and documentation into his practice. His images are intended to show a balance of tension and visibility for a viewer, suggesting that elements existing just below the surface are as vital to elements closest to plain sight. Mathieson engages varieties of media, often blending the object and subject to bring about slower phases of looking and closer reading. He holds a Bachelor of Design from the Alberta College of Art + Design and an MFA of Interdisciplinary Studies, Simon Fraser University. He is currently living and working in Powell River BC.
Semira Selman is a photo-based artist living in Ottawa. Her work addresses themes of identity, belonging, and post-war memory. For Semira, photography is a means of self-discovery and self-expression; it is an opportunity to re ect on how she experiences herself and the factors and conditions that have impacted her identity. Semira’s work, directly and indirectly, re ects on her experience of coming of age during wartime in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, being a refugee, and adapting to Canada. Through her work, Semira is examining these experiences and relating them to a broader sociopolitical context.
Vince Rozario is an independent curator, critic, writer, arts administrator, and community organizer focusing on issues of decolonizing the canon, multiple modernities, queer diasporas, and transnational futures. Their writing deals with issues around community accountability, representation, and equity in the Canadian contemporary art sphere. They were the recipient of the 2018 C New Critics Award and their writing has been published by C Magazine, Momus, Whippersnapper Gallery, and Xpace Cultural Center.
