IntoThis

In Episode #31 Marx has a conversation with Canadian artist David Elliott

David Elliott is a staple of the Canadian community of painters, he has been associated with the late seventies and early eighties return to figuration. David was born in Niagara on the Lake and grew up in several towns in Ontario. In this interview he shares the story that he calls the “Eureka moment”, when he discovered a painting in the London (Ontario) library and everything happened in the arts after that.

David moved to Montreal to pursue his BFA and MFA degrees at Concordia University where he also was part of the faculty until he retired recently.

In this interview he describes his work and being a professor, he is able to elegantly place his work around many historical references including the music of the moment (Beetles, etc.) and also he shared a long list of artists both Canadian and international that played an important role in his artistic development.

His work is collected in prestigious private and public collections around Canada

I am very pleased to be able to share this conversation with David Elliott, it’s one of those that is packed with great insights and information that artists specifically may not want to miss.

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In Episode #30Yam Lau talks to Marx about his views on what is to be an artist. He also shared the incredible story of getting to meet his biological father during his 40s, this story involves a very enthusiastic group of young artists in china and the secret Chinese police!

Yam Lau is a Toronto based artist, professor and community organizer. He was born in Hong Kong and moved to Canada when he was 15 years old. He completed his MFA at the university of Alberta in 1997 and then moved to Toronto where he has been working and living since then. He is represented by Christie contemporary in Toronto

As an artist, Yam explores new expressions and qualities of space, time and the image through the application of painting, computer-animation and digital video. In this conversation he talks about the concept of trying to make the world lighter with his art, this comes through in his work as the space being one of the major characters in his pieces.

Yam teaches at York University just north of Toronto in the department of visual art and art history, throughout this conversation we talk about his reading on how the relationship between students and art degrees have evolved and become more “professionalized”

Finally Yam is also a community organizer, he leads an ongoing art space hosted in his home, he invites artists to create an exhibition responding to his house architecture and he sees this project as an empowering activity for himself and his artists friends given that it lays outside of any commercial endeavour. Another of his projects in collaboration with artist Michal Yuan was called Donkey Institute of Contemporary Arts, this project was realized in Beijing China around and the premise of adapt to the convention of the street peddler who meanders through Beijing neighbourhoods with a donkey selling products. In this case the donkey was dragging a cart with an retrofitted series of wooden modules or boxes that served as a mobile display in which the texts, works and videos displayed, were accessible to passers-by.

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In Episode #29 artist Nicolas Fleming talks about his development as an artist and his continuous cross-pollination between his work as an artist and art installer.

Nicolas Fleming is an artist who works and lives in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He received his BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada and his Masters in Visual Arts from the University of Quebec in Montreal also in Montreal, Canada.

Nicolas’s work relies on construction materials and building techniques developed in daily work, adapting construction site aesthetics to art-dedicated spaces.By diverting the primary functions of commercial building materials, especially drywall and plaster, he elevates these materials and techniques through the fine arts of sculpture and painting.He re-purposes construction materials to create compelling aesthetic combinations for the viewer to discover.

Nicolas Fleming’s cross-disciplinary artistic practice spans over 15 years. Since 2018, Fleming has been instrumental in presenting ambitious exhibition projects notably at Evans Contemporary, Koffler Centre for the Arts, Art Gallery of Burlington, Patel Brown Gallery, Musée d’art de Joliette and Visual Arts Centre of Clarington. Rooted in his personal experience as an art handler, he attempts to expand the initiatives of contributors to these projects by asking them to not limit themselves to their initially attributed roles. This is an acknowledgment of his preference for the shared experience of multiple perspectives brought forth within these exhibitions.

Nicolas Fleming’s work can be found in Patel-Brown Gallery’s website

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In Episode #28 Brian Alfred shares with Marx his thoughts on being an artist, podcaster, curator and professor.

Brian Alfred is originally from Pittsburgh PA, he grew up painting the buildings he could see from his porch and he is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. In this conversation, Brian shares his experiences in the art world as well as his many other interests and projects such as podcasting, teaching and making music.

Brian Alfred has been showing his work for over 20 years. He graduated with a BFA from Pennsylvania State University and completed his MFA from Yale University. His paintings can be found in renowned collections such as the Guggenheim museum, the Whitney Museum among others. Find more information in Brian’s website.

Brian Alfred is the host of Sound & Vision Podcast a show featuring conversations with Artists and musicians, you can find Sound & Vision wherever you listen to podcasts.

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In Episode #27 Rebecca Davison-Mora shares with Marx her non-traditional path to arts management.

Rebecca is an Arts Manager and emerging researcher with a focus on cultural relations and de colonial institutional practice. Interested in hybridity and crossing of boundaries/borders, her work originates from her interrogation of the self and position as a mixed researcher and arts worker.

She holds a BA from York University and is currently completing her MA in Arts and Cultural Management at King’s College London. Previous positions include Gallery Manager at Patel Brown, and Director of Samuel J Zacks Gallery at York University, both in Toronto. She is currently based in London UK and is working on research using the British Museum’s archives and holdings of Mexican objects to reveal insights into constructions of Mexican national identity in the European context.

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In Episode #26 Marx has a conversation with Carla Rojas. Carla Rojas is a Marketing and Communications professional specialized in developing strategies to promote Art & Entertainment.

She has worked in multiple capacities for various films, festivals, live concerts and T.V. shows in Mexico and Canada, such as Canada's Walk of Fame, Banff World Media Festival, and the Canadian National Exhibition, alongside industry leaders and top talent from companies such as Netflix, NBC Universal, Bell Media, YouTube, Canada Media Fund, National Film Board of Canada and CBC, among others.

In 2019 she launched Artifier.net, a platform created with the mission to help make art more accessible and to serve as a hub for the local art scene. In addition to running Artifier, she currently works as a social media manager and content strategist for documentary films.

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In Episode #25 New York based artist David Kramer shares stories from New York City in the late 80’s and 90’s where he developed his career.

David Kramer’s work draws from all-things America to create pieces influenced by the meme-era combining painting and hook-rug techniques to create aesthetics that seem suspended in the late 70’s or 80’s. His work has always been a conduit for sharing his take on contemporary culture.

David Kramer lives and work in New York City, he has a BFA from George Washington University and an MFA from Pratt Institute. We meet up over zoom to have this great conversation where we dive into politics, family history, all-things art world, COVID and more.

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In Episode #24 Marx has a conversation with abstract painting Trevor Kiernander.

After about a one and a half years hiatus, IntoThis is back with a conversation with Trevor about his development as an artist from the time when he used to draw comics in high school to his masters in fine arts training at Goldsmiths University of London. We met in a cold night at the garage in Montreal where TAP Art Space used to be hosted to have this great personal conversation. In this conversation there is a lot of great food for thought for all members of the contemporary art from casual viewers to artists.

Trevor is one of the main organizer of Pictura, a city-wide painting initiative happening in Montreal, Canada. For more information please visit the website picturamtl.com

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In Episode 23 Marx has a conversation with artists Pier-Anne Mercier and David Bellemare about their latest exhibition at TAP Art Space in Montreal, Canada.

Reflecting on their current state as post-BFA artists, Pier-Anne and David pose a question that delicately balances hopeful thoughts with realistic perspectives, where do we go from here? As a drafted response, they create an engaging painting-installation. Honouring his long-time held painting style, David Bellemare uses a single-large canvas as a base for his creations, rolling it along as the collage-painting evolves. His use of figurative and referential imagery creates his personal language; through this collage, the artist reveals humor, cynicism, fear, dreams, etc. allowing the viewer to dive into his psyche in a vulnerable-honest manner. The painting acquires a three-dimensional form via the intervention of Pier-Anne’s wood-based installation, occupying most of the wall area at TAP. Over this most-intimate conversation, the artists create space for reflection that can be as personal or as global as the viewer desires.

Check out the photo documentation at www.tapmontreal.com

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In Episode 22 Marx has a conversation with BOSNY. He is a Montreal based graffiti artist and student of print media at Concordia University. In this conversation BOSNY talks about how he started in the graffiti community, the influence his parents had in his creativity explorations, the importance of getting an arts degree and a lot more.

Graffiti is one of the artistic expressions that most people consume sometimes willingly and most of the time as part of the landscape. In Episode 22, BOSNY shares his experiences being part of the graffiti community in Montreal and how that feeds into his practice in the visual arts.

It was a great pleasure to have had the chance to talk to BOSNY and we hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we have enjoyed producing it.

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