FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2013, KLEINBURG ON – Following a sold-out show at Mike Weiss Gallery in New York, Toronto-based artist Kim Dorland will unveil dramatic new works at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection on October 26, 2013. For his first major exhibition at a public institution, Dorland—who uses heavy impasto, fluorescent hues, and spray paint to push the boundaries of landscape painting—is creating a series of works in response to his study of the McMichael’s permanent collection and the lush forests of the Humber River Valley which encompass the gallery grounds. You Are Here: Kim Dorland and the Return to Painting runs from October 26, 2013 to January 5, 2014.
Media are invited to a special exhibition preview at the gallery on Thursday, October 24. To attend, please RSVP to Rachel Weiner, Communications Coordinator, 905.893.1121 ext. 2210 or by email rweiner@mcmichael.com.
The exhibition will span five gallery spaces and feature over one hundred works, including approximately thirty freshly painted canvases by Dorland. One particularly stunning work—a triptych of the French River—measures eighteen feet long and eight feet high. Dorland’s paintings will hang in the company of works by Canadian art icons Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven, David Milne, Emily Carr, Goodridge Roberts, and Thoreau MacDonald. Selected by Dorland and McMichael Chief Curator Katerina Atanassova, the works in the exhibition will trace the evolution of the Canadian landscape tradition, culminating in Dorland’s fresh, modern interpretations.
“Working with the McMichael has offered me the unique opportunity to step inside history and surround myself with some of the influences and traditions I respect the most while simultaneously pushing the bounds of my own contemporary practice,” said Dorland. “My paintings have evolved in exciting and unexpected ways as a result and now I get to show them alongside the work of my heroes.”
One of the exhibition’s most original features is its focus on the artistic process. In one of the gallery spaces, artifacts and other historical materials will be used to recreate Tom Thomson’s original Toronto painting studio. Dorland will also set up what he refers to as an “ideas room”, consisting of wall panels from his studio covered in photographs, drawings, small paintings, pages from books, and other research materials.
“Over the past few years, we have witnessed a slow yet steady resurgence of the painting medium in Canada—both in terms of its presence in the public eye and its appeal to young artists,” said Atanassova. “Kim Dorland is among those whose work has contributed to the renewed power of the medium. While his work is deeply rooted in the tradition of landscape painting, his vibrant, heavily textured canvases portraying the untamed Canadian wilderness are fresh and contemporary.”
Born in 1974 in Wainwright, Alberta, Kim Dorland has exhibited across Canada and internationally, including in Milan, Los Angeles, and in New York. His work is featured in The Sander Collection (Berlin); Montréal Museum of Fine Arts; The Glenbow Museum (Calgary); Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and numerous private collections.
On Saturday, December 14, 2013 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the McMichael will hold a moderated discussion panel entitled You Are Here: A Sense of Place in Canadian Contemporary Art that will consider the renewed interest of young artists in the practice of oil painting. Dorland, Atanassova, and guests including renowned cultural journalist Robert Enright and David Silcox of Sotheby’s Canada, will participate in the panel. A public discussion will be held in the exhibition spaces from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
About the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. It is the foremost venue in the country showcasing the Group of Seven and their contemporaries. In addition to touring exhibitions, its permanent collection consists of almost 6,000 artworks by Canadian artists, including paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, as well as First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists. The gallery is located on 100 acres of northern landscape and hiking trails at 10365 Islington Avenue, Kleinburg, north of Major Mackenzie Drive in the City of Vaughan.
For more information: www.mcmichael.com.
Media Contacts:
Wendy Campbell
Manager, Media Relations and Online Presence
905.893.1121 ext. 2201
wcampbell@mcmichael.com
Rachel Weiner
Communications Coordinator
905.893.1121 ext. 2210
rweiner@mcmichael.com