WoodNCanvas
LOVES Wooden Canoes
Searching for Tom — Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks at THEMUSEUM…Feb. 3 through May 8.
SEARCHING FOR TOM | Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks is an original exhibition in collaboration with the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound with Virginia Eichhorn, Director & Curator, as guest Curator.
SEARCHING FOR TOM will make use of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery’s important collection of objects, photos, documents and artworks by Thomson as well as additional supporting work by his contemporaries and by artists working in diverse media who have been influenced by Thomson’s work or inspired by his story.
There is perhaps no other artist in Canadian history who has inspired other artists and permeated our national consciousness in the way that Thomson has. *This cross-disciplinary exhibition will examine Thomson’s work, life and mythic death, and his influence, both direct and indirect, on Canadian art, literature and culture.
Information and hours available at 519-749-9387 or online at http://www.themuseum.ca/
Or see http://www.themuseum.ca/searching-for-tom.htm.
Speaker Series:
Robert Reid, Arts Reporter, Waterloo Region Record
Searching for Tom in the Canadian Cultural Landscape
February 13th at 1:30pm
This talk will be a highly personal exploration of how Tom Thomson relates to various themes in Canadian culture and beyond. It will also examine how Thomson has influenced a broad range of visual, literary and performing arts.
Matthew Teitelbaum, Michael and Sonja Koerner Director, and CEO, Art Gallery of Ontario
Presenting Canada: a new narrative at the Art Gallery of Ontario
March 6th at 1:30pm
In 2008 the transformed AGO opened to wide acclaim. At its centre the remarkable collection of Ken Thomson with its incomparable works by Canadian artists. What is the narrative of Canada that the AGO presented in its reinstallation of more than 30 galleries and what does it say about the Canada in which we live?
Virginia Eichhorn, Curator, Tom Thomson Art Gallery
Tom Thomson: The Man, His Art & Why He Means So Much to Us
March 13th at 1:30pm
Almost a century after his untimely death Tom Thomson’s continual appeal lies in his strength as an artist but also in the images left behind of a handsome and rugged young man. *Like other talented individuals who died too young, from Percy Bysshe Shelley to Jim Morrison to Kurt Cobain, he remains always an attractive, alluring but ultimately elusive figure – his artwork remains and elements of his story are known and we find ourselves compelled to remember and to search him out. *This talk will investigate not only his personal and artistic appeal but the myriad of ways that people choose to remember him and honour his legacy and story.
Marcel O’Gorman, artist
Tom Thomson in Cyberspace, or How to Build a Ghost Canoe
March 20th at 1:30pm
In this spirited presentation, Marcel O’Gorman describes the process of creating “Myth of the Steersman,” his art installation/web project that explores the myth of Tom Thomson from a digital culture perspective. The canoe’s final appearance as an art installation is only a small portion of “Myth of the Steersman,” which involved an epic journey to locate the canoe, and a ritual baptism at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. O’Gorman will examine the project’s genesis from multiple angles, touching on everything from contemporary media theory to the music of Canadian rock band, The Tragically Hip.
Phil the Forecaster Chadwick
Tom Thomson was a Weatherman
March 27th at 1:30pm
Phil the Forecaster Chadwick invokes CSI (“Creative Scene Investigation”) to investigate Tom Thomson’s passion for weather. Forensic meteorology applied through CSI uncovers secrets that Tom recorded on the canvas. To attempt to appreciate Tom’s art without first trying to appreciate his inspiration would be missing the point. Tom was a weatherman and Phil Chadwick will prove it!
Mike Ormsby, heritage canoe expert
Tom Thomson: The Artist and The Canoe
April 3rd at 1:30pm
When one thinks of canoeing and Canadian art, what readily comes to mind is Tom Thomson. Tom first visited Algonquin Park in 1912 and spent time there over the next five years of his life, often in a canoe. He became known for his skill with a paddle as well as with a brush. Many of his paintings, especially the sketches, are done from the perspective of a paddler, as if from a canoe. *In July 1917, a very distinctive blue-grey canoe was found floating upside down in Canoe Lake. A week later, the body of Tom Thomson was also discovered. As in life, a canoe figured in his demise, maybe even in more than one way. *Tom Thomson’s death is a mystery. Suggestions range from accidental drowning, to foul play and even suicide. A canoe is part of the tale, whether through the name of the lake where he died or stories of a ghostly canoeist. *But for all of the intrigue involved, Tom’s art speaks for itself. And his canoe is part of that too.
Roy MacGregor, Author
Canoe Lake CSI: the Remarkable Investigation into the Whereabouts of Tom Thomson
April 10th at 1:30pm
Roy MacGregor will give a slide presentation and talk on the various scientific and news discoveries found in his national bestselling book, Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him. The book, which gained wonderful reviews this past winter, is considered the definitive word on the great art mystery.
*date may be subject to change.
Sandu Sindile, Curator, Homer Watson House & Gallery
The Canadian Landscape before Tom - *Homer Watson, the Man of Doon.
April 17th at 1:30pm
This lecture will follow the life and career of Homer Ransford Watson, one of the most famous Canadian landscape painters and the first who was internationally recognized. Primarily self-taught, Homer Watson defied all the odds and became an acclaimed artist, a Canadian icon and a men well ahead of his time.
Neil J. Lehto, Author
Algonquin Elegy
May 1st at 1:30pm
Immediate news of his disappearance on July 8, 1917, didn’t draw her back but when they found his body, she came from home in Huntsville in the middle of the night. When she arrived, the men refused her insistence against burying his body and sent her away before the Coroner come from North Bay could ask her any questions. She frantically arranged for his body’s exhumation from the Mowat Cemetery at midnight and its shipment to Owen Sound to his family. *Having done so, George Thomson, a lawyer, on who she relied, *gathered up painting that had left behind for her before taking the body and paintings home. Winnifred Trainor is the survivor who best represents how we all might know how and why Tom Thomson died alone on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park.
Ross King, Author and Curator
Defiant Spirits: Modernism, Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven
May 8th at 1:30pm
This illustrated lecture will place Tom Thomson and the members of the Group of Seven within the context of international modernism, showing how they worked in an eclectic blend of avant-garde styles during a turbulent and innovative period in the history of art.
This is a great line-up of speakers….which includes Roy MacGregor, Phil Chadwick, Neil Lehto, and Marcel O’Gorman….truly an outstanding list of speakers….except maybe for the ‘heritage canoe expert’ (I‘m not sure about the EXPERT designation….maybe it should be EX-SPURT or a former drip under pressure LOL LOL)….any way yours truly despite the ‘tag’ given will also be included. Seriously though check out one of these great speakers….and who knows I may see you there on April 3rd.
Paddles up until later then.
SEARCHING FOR TOM | Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks is an original exhibition in collaboration with the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound with Virginia Eichhorn, Director & Curator, as guest Curator.
SEARCHING FOR TOM will make use of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery’s important collection of objects, photos, documents and artworks by Thomson as well as additional supporting work by his contemporaries and by artists working in diverse media who have been influenced by Thomson’s work or inspired by his story.
There is perhaps no other artist in Canadian history who has inspired other artists and permeated our national consciousness in the way that Thomson has. *This cross-disciplinary exhibition will examine Thomson’s work, life and mythic death, and his influence, both direct and indirect, on Canadian art, literature and culture.
Information and hours available at 519-749-9387 or online at http://www.themuseum.ca/
Or see http://www.themuseum.ca/searching-for-tom.htm.
Speaker Series:
Robert Reid, Arts Reporter, Waterloo Region Record
Searching for Tom in the Canadian Cultural Landscape
February 13th at 1:30pm
This talk will be a highly personal exploration of how Tom Thomson relates to various themes in Canadian culture and beyond. It will also examine how Thomson has influenced a broad range of visual, literary and performing arts.
Matthew Teitelbaum, Michael and Sonja Koerner Director, and CEO, Art Gallery of Ontario
Presenting Canada: a new narrative at the Art Gallery of Ontario
March 6th at 1:30pm
In 2008 the transformed AGO opened to wide acclaim. At its centre the remarkable collection of Ken Thomson with its incomparable works by Canadian artists. What is the narrative of Canada that the AGO presented in its reinstallation of more than 30 galleries and what does it say about the Canada in which we live?
Virginia Eichhorn, Curator, Tom Thomson Art Gallery
Tom Thomson: The Man, His Art & Why He Means So Much to Us
March 13th at 1:30pm
Almost a century after his untimely death Tom Thomson’s continual appeal lies in his strength as an artist but also in the images left behind of a handsome and rugged young man. *Like other talented individuals who died too young, from Percy Bysshe Shelley to Jim Morrison to Kurt Cobain, he remains always an attractive, alluring but ultimately elusive figure – his artwork remains and elements of his story are known and we find ourselves compelled to remember and to search him out. *This talk will investigate not only his personal and artistic appeal but the myriad of ways that people choose to remember him and honour his legacy and story.
Marcel O’Gorman, artist
Tom Thomson in Cyberspace, or How to Build a Ghost Canoe
March 20th at 1:30pm
In this spirited presentation, Marcel O’Gorman describes the process of creating “Myth of the Steersman,” his art installation/web project that explores the myth of Tom Thomson from a digital culture perspective. The canoe’s final appearance as an art installation is only a small portion of “Myth of the Steersman,” which involved an epic journey to locate the canoe, and a ritual baptism at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. O’Gorman will examine the project’s genesis from multiple angles, touching on everything from contemporary media theory to the music of Canadian rock band, The Tragically Hip.
Phil the Forecaster Chadwick
Tom Thomson was a Weatherman
March 27th at 1:30pm
Phil the Forecaster Chadwick invokes CSI (“Creative Scene Investigation”) to investigate Tom Thomson’s passion for weather. Forensic meteorology applied through CSI uncovers secrets that Tom recorded on the canvas. To attempt to appreciate Tom’s art without first trying to appreciate his inspiration would be missing the point. Tom was a weatherman and Phil Chadwick will prove it!
Mike Ormsby, heritage canoe expert
Tom Thomson: The Artist and The Canoe
April 3rd at 1:30pm
When one thinks of canoeing and Canadian art, what readily comes to mind is Tom Thomson. Tom first visited Algonquin Park in 1912 and spent time there over the next five years of his life, often in a canoe. He became known for his skill with a paddle as well as with a brush. Many of his paintings, especially the sketches, are done from the perspective of a paddler, as if from a canoe. *In July 1917, a very distinctive blue-grey canoe was found floating upside down in Canoe Lake. A week later, the body of Tom Thomson was also discovered. As in life, a canoe figured in his demise, maybe even in more than one way. *Tom Thomson’s death is a mystery. Suggestions range from accidental drowning, to foul play and even suicide. A canoe is part of the tale, whether through the name of the lake where he died or stories of a ghostly canoeist. *But for all of the intrigue involved, Tom’s art speaks for itself. And his canoe is part of that too.
Roy MacGregor, Author
Canoe Lake CSI: the Remarkable Investigation into the Whereabouts of Tom Thomson
April 10th at 1:30pm
Roy MacGregor will give a slide presentation and talk on the various scientific and news discoveries found in his national bestselling book, Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him. The book, which gained wonderful reviews this past winter, is considered the definitive word on the great art mystery.
*date may be subject to change.
Sandu Sindile, Curator, Homer Watson House & Gallery
The Canadian Landscape before Tom - *Homer Watson, the Man of Doon.
April 17th at 1:30pm
This lecture will follow the life and career of Homer Ransford Watson, one of the most famous Canadian landscape painters and the first who was internationally recognized. Primarily self-taught, Homer Watson defied all the odds and became an acclaimed artist, a Canadian icon and a men well ahead of his time.
Neil J. Lehto, Author
Algonquin Elegy
May 1st at 1:30pm
Immediate news of his disappearance on July 8, 1917, didn’t draw her back but when they found his body, she came from home in Huntsville in the middle of the night. When she arrived, the men refused her insistence against burying his body and sent her away before the Coroner come from North Bay could ask her any questions. She frantically arranged for his body’s exhumation from the Mowat Cemetery at midnight and its shipment to Owen Sound to his family. *Having done so, George Thomson, a lawyer, on who she relied, *gathered up painting that had left behind for her before taking the body and paintings home. Winnifred Trainor is the survivor who best represents how we all might know how and why Tom Thomson died alone on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park.
Ross King, Author and Curator
Defiant Spirits: Modernism, Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven
May 8th at 1:30pm
This illustrated lecture will place Tom Thomson and the members of the Group of Seven within the context of international modernism, showing how they worked in an eclectic blend of avant-garde styles during a turbulent and innovative period in the history of art.
This is a great line-up of speakers….which includes Roy MacGregor, Phil Chadwick, Neil Lehto, and Marcel O’Gorman….truly an outstanding list of speakers….except maybe for the ‘heritage canoe expert’ (I‘m not sure about the EXPERT designation….maybe it should be EX-SPURT or a former drip under pressure LOL LOL)….any way yours truly despite the ‘tag’ given will also be included. Seriously though check out one of these great speakers….and who knows I may see you there on April 3rd.
Paddles up until later then.
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