Zavitz Gallery

Zavitz Gallery is housed in Zavitz Hall, built in 1914 for Field Husbandry, now home to the School of Fine Art and Music.

The gallery hosts 12 shows per semester in the fall and winter, which are chosen through a juried application process with the current Gallery Coordinator and Faculty Supervisor. Applications are accepted twice a year (once per semester) and unsolicited applications are not considered. The e-mail address is zavgall@uoguelph.ca.

Winter 2014

Money, Silk and Gold Cloth
January 6th - 10th
Shannon Adams, Devon Brock, Stephanie Farriss, Alexa Gargoum, Erika Holst, Jordan Pedersen

"Money, Silk and Gold Cloth" is a reference from Hans Christian Andersen’s "Emperors New Clothes." The parallel comes with the idea of value. Textiles and the domestic arts have been unfairly considered a lesser art form, which we look to address in our exhibition. The works in this exhibition either target the sumptuous and sensual qualities of textiles, the value-hierarchy associated with fine art versus craft, or the way the domestic influences other mediums.

This is a significant issue, and has been since the beginning of art history with theorists such as Wincklemann and Vasari, because the divide between high and low art forms is unjustified. This can be seen in the fluctuating definition of fine art, once only encompassing sculpture and painting, it now includes found objects, performance and more. Why have traditionally domestic arts had such a struggle to be included in contemporary fine art? With this exhibition we will attempt to raise this question, and through it we will be able to provide an answer to what value art within the traditional realm of the domestic should have.

Stock Selection
January 13th - 17th
Jazmyn Pettigrew and Elise Puddy

The Awkward Truce
January 20th - 24th
Brody Johnston and Evelyn Sorochan-Ruland

DuelDuelDuel
January 27th - 31st
Mariah Hamilton, Rachel Kopacki, Susannah Van Der Zaag

HYGGE
February 3rd - 7th
Dana Deming-Watson, Kayla Krische, Olivia Simpson

2nd Annual Juried Photo Show
February 10th - 14th
Curated by Laurel Barr, River Roy, Jessie Sawyers

One thing after another after another...
February 17th - 21st
Jasmine Reimer

The Lamp & the Laboratory
February 24th - 28th
Sam de Lange

Collective Progression
March 3rd - 7th
SART*4410/4470 Experimental/Advanced Printmaking. Instructed by Myles Calvert

CYBORG 3.4
March 10th - 14th
SART*4300/4330 Sculpture III/IV. Instructed by FASTWURMS

Juried Art Show Top Ten Winners
March 17th - 21st
Curated by Katie Holmes and River Roy

Untitled
March 24th - 28th
SART*4810/4880 Extended Practives III/IV. Instructed by Derek Sullivan

GOOSNARGH
April 1st - 4th
Specialized Studio class. Instructed by Monica Tap

Fall 2013

Biggie Smalls
September 9th - 13th 
University of Guelph MFA

Architectonic
September 16th - 20th
Jazmyn Pettigrew

Dual Phenomenology
September 23rd - 27th
Susannah Van Der Zaag and Mariah Hamilton

Grok Blok
September 30th - October 4th
Rachel Crawford, Victoria Day, Celine Atienza

Untitled
October 7th - 11th
Jen Aitken and Matt Schust

Lepidoptera
October 14th - 18th
Victoria Day

Pixels and Paint
October 21st - 25th
Sam de Lange, Steph Garas, Sally Harrison, Nadine Maher, Duncan McEwen, Tyler Muzzin, Nadine Maher. Curated by Angel Callander

“As the pattern gets more intricate and subtle, being swept along is no longer enough.” This one-liner from Richard Linklater’s 2001 film Waking Life is one that has stuck with me for years. Its ambivalence allows for its meaning to take on various forms, but upon shifting my attention to how digital culture has affected aesthetics and art-making, I’ve realised how potent this statement is. As the fabric of digital culture becomes discretely and elaborately woven into the workings of everyday life, it is not enough to passively accept its prevalence. Digital culture demands that we engage with it, because we now exist alongside it.

Contemporary art-making has embraced this concept very heavily. A change in materials, such as a shift towards new digital media, is generally evident in contemporary art practices. Additionally, the importance of reference material from digital sources (namely the Internet, and our own digital photography) is a very dominant part of how artists create their work as well. Pixels and Paint assembles a collection of works that call to attention the vast field of influence from the digital world on contemporary art. Aside from the obvious realm of digital art and digital image manipulation, traditionally made art objects, such as paintings, begin to show an interest in the aesthetics of the digital image: pixilation, video stills, referencing digital photography, etc. We also begin to see an interest in appropriating well-known images and memes from Internet sources.

The artists in Pixels and Paint are tied to the impacts of digital culture, whether it is intentional or not. Each artist’s work has been selected for the way it fits into a critique of the effects of digital culture on contemporary art-making. In this way, we can begin to look at the different ways in which artists engage with the digital in their respective practices. 

R + D
October 28th - November 1st
University of Guelph MFA. Curated by Jen Aitken

Untitled
November 4th - 8th
SART*2460 Introductory Prinkmaking I. Instructed by Alison Judd

Untitled
November 11th - 15th
SART*4660 Special Topics in Extended Practices. Instructed by Nestor Kruger

TMSIOR: Too Much Stuff in One Room
November 18th - 22nd
SART*4300/4330 Sculpture III/IV. Instruced by James Carl

S.T.A.S.H.: Special Things Are Stored Here
November 24th - 29th
Specialized Studio class. Instructed by FASTWURMS