Sublime Rage

Spruce, Bat Lake, 2021, gouache on paper,15” X 11.25”, © Sandra Meig

May 20 to November 19, 2023
$7 (Free for Members)
Location: The McMichael Canadian Art Collection
10365 Islington Ave., Kleinburg, ON, Canada

For her exhibition at the McMichael, leading contemporary Canadian artist Sandra Meigs takes inspiration from the wilds of Ontario. Over the course of the various pandemic lockdowns, Meigs retreated from her home in Dundas, Ontario to the woods of Algonquin Park and Lake Calabogie. Compelled by this time in nature, Meigs created a series of vibrant and penetrating gouache studies, works that recall the legacies of such notable women modernists as Emily Carr and Georgia O’Keeffe. Many of these reflect the artist’s concerns regarding climate change and species loss, observed at first hand. Several of Meigs’ electrifying paintings will be blown up and printed on canvas banners suspended from the ceiling, creating a forest of fierce painterly gesture and vibrant colour. Guest curated by Jessica Bradley.

Sandra Meigs with Christopher Butterfield “The Warblers”

The Warblers

February 26 – April 14, 2022
Viviane Art
1114 11th Street SW, Calgary, AB T2R 1P1

Sandra Meigs + Christopher Butterfield, "luv u", from The Warblers, 2021, enamel on panel, wood, piano wire, audio box with motorized bells, 24" x 20"

“In the Warblers we join a group of small demurely anthropomorphized paintings, with jingling red alter egos that draw us into an interpretive spin cycle. They look simple but they are quietly disassembling both our expectations of an artwork and how we perceive it.” – Helen Marzolf

VIVIANEART is pleased to present The Warblers, a collaborative series of works by visual artist Sandra Meigs and musician/composer Christopher Butterfield.  This installation of art and sound continues a collaborative history for the duo that spans more than a decade. Meigs and Butterfield describe these playful, colourful paintings as beings with flirty eyes, broad flat faces, and voices in the form of jingles and words: PLEASE, HOLD ME, STAY, ASK ME OUT, LUV U.

These paintings continue Meigs’  use of slapstick and her generously transparent exploration of yearning for contact and connection, a consistent theme throughout her lengthy career. Butterfield’s compositions in the form of ringing bells, set Meigs’ captions to music.  In the words of the artists, “The Warblers were born in a pandemic, when we were all in our little cocoons full of mournful yearning for contact with others. The bells are ringing. Do stay and take the call.”

The Little Lost Operas

The Little Lost Operas 

March 12 to 18 April 18, 2020 
Susan Hobbs, 137 Tecumseth Street, Toronto M6J 2H2
Opening Thursday, March 12, from 6 – 8 pm

Her Deathbed

The Little Lost Operas explore how sentiment can implode through emotional pathways, into the subconscious mind. In the vein of Meigs’ earlier explorations on the theme of the Tragicomedy (Scenes for My Affection, Scenes on a Sea of Joy and Sorrow, JOYJOYSORROW) the works portray invented operatic scenes each with a puppet in the midst of their Aria, and paper dolls as the supporting actors.  Activated by detailed handiwork, fabric frames that move with air circulation, roughly recognizable stage settings, theatrical and musical references, the viewer is drawn in through intimate visual engagement. Each puppet is hand made by whittling, sewing, or clay sculpting. The use of dramatic gestural devices brings a sudden recognition that something palpable is happening within the painting; perhaps it is love, despair, arousal, or impending death.
 
Each is silent yet vocal and orchestrated, plotted yet absurd, rich in detail yet lacking all the information.

Written texts accompanying each painting contain excerpts from Playbill notes, opera synopses and music album reviews clumped together in Meigs’ enigmatic style.

Danlie Acebuque, Baritone, will perform Mein Sehnen, Mein Wähnen from Die Tote Stadt by Korngold and Largo al factotum from Barber of Seville by Rossini during the opening.

For more information please contact the gallery or visit our website. www.susanhobbs.com

Southern Alberta Art Gallery

TERRE VERTE

September 28, 2019 – November 17, 2019
601 3 Avenue South, Lethbridge, AB T1J 0H5
Opening Saturday, September 28, 8 pm

The paintings in TERRE VERTE reflect upon the ecology and spirit of the vast grasslands of Southern Alberta. Sandra Meigs painted and studied these landscapes en plein air, over a period of twenty-eight years. Each of these works portrays an encounter with the synergist system of life in this diverse habitat.

Returning to visit the same terrain, Meigs’ gouache studies and paintings refer to McIntyre Ranch: a 55,000 acre ranch established in 1898 and in operation today. Meigs was included in two iterations of the McIntyre Ranch Project in 1991 and 2004, wherein the Thrall family hosted a research project between the artists, curators and biologists at the ranch and each residency resulted in an exhibition of new works at the SAAG in 1992 and 2005 respectively. Meigs has continued with recent research there, 2017 through 2019, creating representations of the distinctive rough fescue, flora, wildlife and fowl of the region are rendered in her enigmatic and vivid style.

Sandra Meigs describes her experience in residencies in Southern Alberta and its impact upon her work as follows:

One day I was observing a far-off eagle nest with my binoculars. The nest was on the side of the cliff, built into the clinging remnant of a tree that had tried to grow there. During this drawing session the sky darkened and it became very windy. A rainstorm began. Under my rain jacket I watched the eagle and her chicks, the mother gliding high in the dark sky, swooping low and hunting prey for her babies, then dropping the food in the nest. It was one of the most profound experiences I remember ever having in nature.

Curated by Kristy Trinier

Janet Werner & Sandra Meigs at VIVIANEART

I Feel Real

March 1 – April 6, 2019
1114 11th Street SW, Calgary, AB T2R 1P1
Opening Friday, March 1, 6 – 9 pm. Artists in attendance

VIVIANEART is pleased to present I Feel Real; a two-person exhibition featuring accomplished Canadian artists, Janet Werner and Sandra Meigs. A powerhouse pairing, this exhibition realizes the artists’ long-held desire to work together, each admiring the work of the other for its honesty and rigor. Enticed by the quirky combination of their respective voices, when they first sat down to discuss the show Werner and Meigs talked about dolls, mannequins, vintage toys, the construction of characters and scale. They then returned to their studios, each taking her own unique path, to create these works.

For Sandra Meigs, the process began with her memories of the paper dolls she used to play with as a child. She created 3-dimensional miniature models using fruits and vegetables and painted them “from life” onto gessoed paper. These were then cut out. For Meigs, this was a very exciting part of the process, “I like them because as soon as you cut them out they seem to come to life”. She then set them against painted backdrops borrowed from various art historical references.

In her paintings, Janet Werner continues her exploration of what she calls, “the fictional female portrait”. Mining imagery from magazines and catalogues she uses collage to create characters that she then recreates in paint. Her pared down backdrops often include evidence of this process with overlapping pages and post it notes.

Taken together the paintings for I Feel Real effectively challenge traditional ideals of beauty and display in art history and popular culture with distinctive humor and intellect.

Janet Werner’s work appears courtesy of Parisian Laundry, Montreal