The Birthing of Gallery Ingenue

Welcome to Gallery Ingenue's first post! To give you a little background on who I am, my name is Gillian King and I am in my final year of Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba doing my thesis in painting. I founded Gallery Ingenue just last month after having curated a sister restaurant to Stella's Cafe and Bakery, that being the Students of Fine Arts (SOFA) Gallery at Edna Fedya Restaurant, for the past six months. Gallery Ingenue came into being with the management of Stella's deciding that their wall space could have a better use than ten year old Toulouse Lautrec prints and thus Gallery Ingenue was birthed. 

The vision for Gallery Ingenue is to be a gallery where emerging local artists can show their work to the community in a heavily trafficked comfortable setting where a dialogue can be created about the work. One of the many great things about this gallery is its location. It's located in the heart of Osborne Village, an area of Winnipeg rich with art and culture, and it's actually inside one of Winnipeg's staple cafes providing a comfortable atmosphere where people can hang out and enjoy the art. The calibre of art will also set it apart from other art hung in restaurants. Unlike the aged Toulouse Lautrec paintings that used to hang on the walls, the walls are now home to some of the newest up and coming artists in Winnipeg. 

Every month, the art will change to either a solo or group show curated by myself through a submission process. Each month there will be an opening night where anyone can drop in, meet the artists, and have dinner and drinks while enjoying the art. I think using these gatherings as a fundraising opportunity is important so at each opening will be an opportunity to support a charitable cause in our community. At our first opening last week, if visitors brought two non-perishable food items for Winnipeg Harvest, they received 10% off their meal. This little incentive went a long way and I left with a hefty bin of food for the charity.

This brings us to our show, 'Faces of the City: Selected Works by Dee Barsy and Rick Rosario'. Dee and Rick are both current U of M students in the Fine Arts Faculty with focuses on painting. Here are words from the artists themselves and  a taste of the work they currently have up in the Gallery until January.

Rick Rosario

Melanie by Rick Rosario 4x5ft

"Born and raised in Manitoba, Rick Rosario is currently completing his Art History degree with a studio component focusing on painting at the University of Manitoba. Prior to this venture he has devoted over 10 years as a Graphic Designer and Art Director for various magazines throughout Canada.

“I continue to focus on portraiture and figurative paintings to explore the human condition. I hope to capture an aesthetic that creates psychological tension between the viewer and the subject. There is a mirror experience when people are experiencing portrait and figurative paintings... hopefully the observer connects with the work and is provoked by questions of the self, absurdity of existence and the irony and beauty of life experiences.”

Most works are oil on canvas, however aerosol and acrylic paint can be found integrated in his work. The choice of medium, dimension and subject matter focus on connecting the observer to communal states of consciousness and the collective unconscious."

Dee Barsy

16 Selkirk #1 by Dee Barsy 4x5ft

"As a young, emerging artist, Dee Barsy is currently preparing for her thesis year of the Fine Arts ‘Honours Degree Program’ at the University of Manitoba. Inspired by the young people she instructs, Dee finds community involvement integral to her creative practice. Over the past four years, her experience as an ‘Instructor’ at Graffiti Art Programming has served as a valuable entry into visual art and the arts community in Winnipeg.

At the onset of her practice, Dee is focused on oil painting, seeing it as a means to engage her thoughts and process her surroundings. With the use of complex geometric patterns, her paintings form a flux of streetscapes. To secure these often overwhelming spaces, specific personalities are placed in the center of the compositions. These paintings become records of her commute through a city that bustles with energy, where the only static image found, is a familiar face. She titles her paintings after bus routes that she regularly commutes on.

Dee makes use of a small palette, limiting herself to mixing one colour at a time. Intrigued by the idea that a given mixture can never be sincerely replicated, and that no two people will experience a colour in the same way, she finds optimism in the possibilities of paint. Through both building up and veiling layers, Dee invests her canvases with histories of colour. Her paintings become maps; often inspired by personal routine, particularly by the paths she regularly takes throughout the city. While these experiences concerning Winnipeg’s unique cityscape are transient, paint affords her the possibility of fixing such impressions. In developing receding and advancing forms, Dee finds a language to convey mobility, communicating her daily patterns and activity of the city."

Dee Barsy was also recently awarded the Manitoba Aboriginal Youth Achievement Award in the Visual Arts Category.

Here are some fun photos of Dee, Rick and I setting up for Galley Ingenue's first show:

Entrance to Stella's

Rick and I hanging his paintings

Dee with her painting

I also just found out today that Dee and I will be guest artists on Eat Your Arts and Vegetables Thursday Dec.30 from 5:30-6pm on CKUW 95.9fm to talk about our art and Gallery Ingenue so tune in  or listen to the podcast for up to six weeks afterwards!

Gallery Ingenue is always looking for new artists to feature so anyone interested can complete the submission requirements and send them to myself at a.gillian.king@gmail.com to be considered:

Artist Name(s)Bio(s)
Artist Statement(s)
Images, dimensions, and materials of all works to be shown

Don't forget to check out 'Faces of the City' for the remaining month of December and stay tuned for the upcoming January artists!