Embellish: A Group Show in Memory of Jeannie Thib

Claudia Bernal, Sleepwalker I (detail), 2014, digital print on moulin du gué, 24” x 36”

Doug Guildford, Requiem (detail), 2009, screenprint on 18 hinged sheets of washi, 1/1, 17” x 18” (folded), 17” x 306” (fully opened).

Denise Hawrysio, Embellishment in Bright Colours I (detail), 2015, relief print and watercolour, 1/1, 20” x 26”.

Marlene MacCallum, with text by Jessica Grant, Wall Stories (detail), 2014, handbound accordion book with dust jacket, inkjet on digital Aya paper.

Liz Parkinson, With Emphasis (Morphology) (detail), 2003-14, drypoint with flocking, 35.5”x 47.75”.

Jeannie Thib, Archive #13 (detail), 1995, screenprint on Washi, 36”x 28”

Meichen Waxer, Untitled (detail), 2014, waxed carbon paper, 2' x 8'.


Main Gallery
Embellish: A Group Show in Memory of Jeannie Thib

April 10, 2015 – May 9, 2015

In memory of Jeannie Thib, Embellish features work by Thib and eight additional artists who utilize pattern and graphic motif, which were the foundation of Thib’s aesthetic and conceptual practice. Jeannie Thib was a talented artist and cherished member of the Open Studio community, who passed away in 2013. She approached ornament as both strategy and process, not merely as superfluous detail, but rather as an end in itself.

For this exhibition, artists were invited to submit work focusing on the theme of “embellishment.” To embellish is to enhance something through the use of decorative elements (graphic design, ornamentation, repetitive patterns etc.), but may also imply a narrative exaggeration through the addition of fictitious details. The work presented spans a wide range of print media-based works from traditional to more experimental.

Artists include Barbara Balfour, Claudia Bernal, Doug Guildford, Denise Hawrysio, Marlene MacCallum, Monique Martin, Liz Parkinson, Jeannie Thib and Meichen Waxer.

Click below to download the accompanying brochure, with an essay by Patrick Mahon.

Medallion Portfolio & The Jeannie Thib Memorial Fund
In the spirit of Jeannie Thib’s remarkable contributions to Canadian art, Katzman Contemporary has released Medallion, a portfolio collection of editioned multiples, inspired by the artist’s last unfinished work of the same name. Thirteen of Thib’s close friends and artists from Canada, Australia and the Netherlands contributed to this portfolio. In conjunction with Embellish, and in partnership with Katzman Contemporary, the Medallion portfolio is now available at Open Studio. Proceeds from the sale of the portfolio will go towards the Jeannie Thib Memorial Fund at Open Studio, which has been established to fund future print media opportunities for artists through Open Studio. Click here and select “Jeannie Thib Memorial Fund” from the drop-down menu if you would like to contribute to this fund.

Panel Discussion – May 7, 2015, 6:00 pm
Hosted by Katzman Contemporary
86 Miller Street, Toronto, ON M6N 2Z9
info@katzmancontemporary.com | 416-654-9515

In conjunction with Embellish, a panel discussion will take place May 7 at Katzman Contemporary, looking at the broad themes of embellishment, graphic patterning and ornamentation that lay at the core of Jeannie Thib’s and other print-based artists’ practice. The panel will also address print-based and graphic strategies across a variety of media, just as Jeannie’s practice itself ventured into sculptural and installation-based work.

Exhibition Brochure: Download Brochure Here