Final Weekend to see the Exhibitions by Tara Cooper and Yael Brotman at loop Gallery

Campbell south of Grant, Mnemonic Stoop series, Mixed Media by Yael Brotman, Photography by Peter Legris

This is the last weekend to see Yael Brotman's and Tara Cooper's work at loop Gallery. There will be a Question & Answer session with the artists moderated by Rebecca Diederichs at 3 pm on Sunday, March 25th. The exhibition closes tomorrow at 4 pm.

If you missed the Globe & Mail review of the exhibition by R.M. Vaughan, the link is here.

Gallery hours this weekend are: Saturday 12 - 5 pm and Sunday 1 - 4 pm.

Photos from the Opening for Yael Brotman and Tara Cooper

Photos by Patricia Njovu, Loop Gallery Administrator

Tara Cooper at loop

Tara Cooper's current exhibition entitled Weather Wise is now on at loop Gallery.

With forecasts we’re told to heed warnings—hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Tara Cooper’s Weather Wise assembles a compendium of weather lore and superstitions from cloud nines to fair weather friends to silver linings. It is the next chapter in her ongoing series/alter ego Weather Girl, a project that mixes an amateur’s enthusiasm for meteorology with found objects, video and print.

Beneath the rubric of Canadian Nature, Cooper’s observations combine fieldwork and footwork moving from the amateur ornithologist, to the idea of north, to her most recent study involving the language of weather—the statistical forecast versus the personal encounter. This interest in fieldwork has led Cooper to participate in many national and international artist residencies including: Kloster Bentlage in Rheine, Germany, Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California, Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, The Frans Masereel Center in Kasterlee Belgium and Malaspina in Vancouver.

Tara Cooper received her Master of Fine Arts from Cornell University in 2008, specializing in the disciplines of print, film and installation. She also holds a Bachelor of Fine Art and a Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo.

Learn more about Tara Coopers’s work during a Question and Answer Session at loop on Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 2PM. To see more of her work, visit Tara's website at www.taracooper.com.

Yael Brotman and Tara Cooper at loop

loop Gallery is pleased to announce exhibitions by loop members Yael Brotman entitled Shipping and Receiving, and Tara Cooper entitled Weather Wise.

Yael Brotman, 'Airstream', 17" L x 10" W x 7" D, etched Japanese paper, graphite, foamcore, wire, 2012.

Shipping and Receiving showcases the continuation of a body of work in which Yael Brotman explores the reconstruction, from memory, of houses that she inhabited in two countries. In these new works, the permanence of a house has given way to the transitory nature of the impermanent home. The model-sized caravans and trailers constructed by Brotman are based on those her family rented to travel long distances across Canada, completing the summer migration from cities to provincial and national parks that is a quintessential Canadian experience.

Most recently Brotman has exhibited at Monash University, Melbourne, AUS, Purdue University, University of Minnesota, and University of Colorado at Boulder. Forthcoming exhibitions include Zweigstelle Berlin, the German Consulate in Toronto, The Rooms in St. John’s and the Printmaking Biennial of Douro in Alijo, Portugal. She has been invited to undertake an artist residency at the Áras Éanna Art Centre, Aran Islands, Ireland this summer.

Tara Cooper, "Clear as Bell", screen print, 2012.

With forecasts we’re told to heed warnings—hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Tara Cooper’s Weather Wise assembles a compendium of weather lore and superstitions from cloud nines to fair weather friends to silver linings. It is the next chapter in her ongoing series/alter ego Weather Girl, a project that mixes an amateur’s enthusiasm for meteorology with found objects, video and print.

Beneath the rubric of Canadian Nature, Cooper’s observations combine fieldwork and footwork moving from the amateur ornithologist, to the idea of north, to her most recent study involving the language of weather—the statistical forecast versus the personal encounter. Cooper received her Master of Fine Arts from Cornell University in 2008, specializing in the disciplines of print, film and installation. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo.


Reception: Saturday, March 3, 2012, 2-5 PM 
Q&A Session, moderated by Rebecca Diederichs: Sunday, March 25, 2012, 3 PM

Art School (Dismissed)

Loop Members Yael Brotman and Tara Cooper are among a group of art school instructors showing at this weekend's exhibition Art School (Dismissed) at The (decommissioned) Shaw Street School, 180 Shaw Street, Toronto. This exhibition was curated by Heather Nicol.

Friday, May 14th to Sunday, May 16th
Noon to 8 pm daily

For further information visit www.artschooldismissed.com.

Tara Cooper and Elizabeth D'Agostino

There are only four days left to see the current exhibition of work by Tara Cooper and Elizabeth D'Agnostino at LOOP Gallery. The show will close on Sunday, March 22, 2010. Not to be missed are these tall drinks by Tara Cooper!

LOOP Gallery is located at 1273 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Gallery Hours: 12-5 pm

A Conversation with Tara Cooper

Tara Cooper is currently exhibiting "Off-Season" at LOOP Gallery until March 21, 2010. Our conversation was based on a preview of her work during installation.

Ingrid Mida: Based on what you wrote for your blog post, I almost expected to see a portrait of your very hip 95 year old grandmother. Is she on the video by any chance?

Tara Cooper:  My grandmother is featured on the video. Essentially, it is a 3-channel split screen, extremely close-up image of her with very little movement. I think of it as a time-based portrait.


Ingrid Mida:  Was your grandmother at the opening? If not, have you shown her any of these images? If so, what did she say?


Tara Cooper: My grandmother couldn’t make it for the opening, as she is still in Florida. She had some concerns over showing her “wrinkly face”, but she was also very excited to be the protagonist of the show. I think it really lifted her spirits, and gave us a chance to reconnect. Nothing beats being the star of the show!


Ingrid:  What is your first memory of your grandmother?

Tara:  My first memories of my grandmother are visiting her at her house/cottage on Lake Huron, near Point Clark, Ontario during the summers. I often spent two weeks or more with her at the lake. There were few children around—most of the properties in that area were owned by retired couples. As a result, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and by myself. My grandfather was still employed at the Bank of Commerce. Sometimes we would pick wild raspberries and make jam, but I also helped her in the garden (she definitely has a “green thumb”). She also taught me how to knit and sew. One of our projects involved making a teddy bear with moving appendages (a real classic “teddy”). Other memories include a set of brown ceramic dishes that were reserved for using down at the beach, and eating pan-fried yellow zucchini from the garden with lots of butter.

Ingrid: For some reason, I was surprised at the size of the drawings/paintings along the back wall. I sort of imagined them as much bigger than they were. What medium did you use? Ink with watercolour? Or perhaps acrylic on paper?

Tara: The drawings on the back wall are all water-based media with a combination of digital printing. Some of the drawings are printed digitally (using the 9800 Epson/same as the bungalows), and others are shown more directly with the medium on frosted mylar. The drawings that I wanted to change and alter were scanned and then re-worked using Photoshop. The ones on mylar include a mix of Caran d’Ache crayons, watercolour, graphite and gouache. 

Ingrid Mida: The photographs of the Florida houses have a sense of loneliness or isolation in them. I suppose I felt that because there is an absence of the human figure in them. Am I reading that correctly? Is that the feeling you intended to evoke?

Tara Cooper: Your reading of the bungalows is correct! I was interested in depicting the notion of “off-season” within the framework of these small cottages. Once printed large, I was surprised by the subtle differences between absent and abandoned. Although the occupants of the houses are not at home, the cottages are clearly well cared for and maintained. There is a kind of held suspension and/or waiting as the structures sit, closed-up and empty for the winter season. They are as you observed both lonely and isolated in time, but I think there is still an element of hope. Tidy and clean they simply need someone to re-inhabit them.

Ingrid Mida: Your art practice encompasses a broad range of media - drawing, photography, printmaking and video. How do you decide which medium to pursue at any given time? If you could pursue only one, which one is your preferred choice of expression?

Tara Cooper: In terms of deciding which medium to employ, I often work with several all at once. There is an element of collecting and gathering at the beginning of any project, where I take pictures, collect sound bytes, short video clips, draw and write. I tend to move back and forth between whatever I have collected, as I am both curious and motivated by translations—how one medium compared with another resolves a certain set of questions. For example: at first I tried to work on some drawings based on the photographs of the bungalows. The photographs however, were much more successful. The drawings quite simply could not compete. If I had to pick only one medium, I would most likely choose drawing. Not only is at a foundation, but I love how accessible and portable it is.

Ingrid Mida: What artist living or dead would you most like to have a conversation with?  What question would you ask them?

Tara Cooper: I would pick Sophie Calle. I’m curious about her process in terms of navigating and developing a project. I would also love to hear her comments regarding the position of women within contemporary art practices. She really did not receive any kind of international recognition and attention until quite recently.

Ingrid Mida: Is there an artwork/artist that makes you really angry?

Tara Cooper: There isn’t really any artist that makes me angry. Of course there are certain works that I don’t engage with, but I honestly believe we are all part of the same chain—any support at any level is productive in maintaining the overall vitality and longevity for the arts (from “Sunday painters” to the Venice Biennale). I’m more interested in finding affiliations and nurturing those.  

Ingrid Mida:  Which are the most common words you use to describe (1) work you like and (2) work you dislike?

Tara Cooper: I like humour and work that makes you think, which doesn't negate an interest in beauty. I would most likely substitute the word disappoint for dislike. I’m especially disappointed when I recognize a missed opportunity.

Ingrid Mida: Who is your best critic?

Tara Cooper: Without any hesitation, my best critic is my husband Terry (who also worked on the video with me). He is a fierce critic who keeps me accountable at every turn.

Ingrid Mida: What colour do you most frequently use?

Tara Cooper: I definitely tend towards a blues and greens. Purple is a tough colour for me.


Ingrid Mida: What frame of mind do you have to be in to produce art?

Tara Cooper: I find producing artwork is more about the steady accumulation of effort. There are times that I feel everything is approaching disaster and wonder about throwing in the towel, but I usually forge ahead as I often return the next day, only to discover what works. In an article from the New Yorker Malcolm Gladwell talks about 2 kinds of creative people. The first is affiliated with precocity—where genius comes at a young age, everything clicking at a particular moment in time (i.e. Orson Welles makes Citizen Kane at 25). He defines the second as “Late Bloomers”. The practices of the late bloomers are rooted in experimentation. Thus it is only with energy and time that a question is solved. Cezanne exemplifies this latter group—producing his most accomplished paintings at the end of his life. I’m hoping that I’m a late bloomer…  (here’s a link to the article)


Ingrid Mida : What book are you currently reading?

Tara Cooper: I am currently reading “The Case For Books: Past, Present and Future” by Robert Darnton (a fascinating read by the director of Harvard’s libraries about the history of books and the potential impact of digital technologies) and Alice Munro’s “My Best Stories”.

Ingrid Mida: If you were not an artist, what would you do?

Tara Cooper: If I wasn’t an artist or affiliated with any kind of art (including dance, music, design, film, fashion etc), which is almost impossible to imagine as it defines so much of my life, I think I would work in the health industry—perhaps as a midwife.

Ingrid Mida: What is your earliest memory as an artist? 

Tara Cooper: A funny story, which might not be my earliest memory, but definitely highlights my capacity and interest for visual culture as a child involves my mother and the mall. I should probably preface this with my suburban upbringing that consisted of almost no trips to any local galleries or arts events. Wanting to complete all of her errands efficiently, my mother would often drop me off at the card shop only to fetch me an hour or so later. I distinctly remember going through all of the greeting cards, critically looking at the images on the outside and the text inside, only to rate how successful they were and subsequently imagine who might buy the card and who might receive it. I’m still fascinated by the relationship between text and image and the idea of narrative. Every used greeting card without question is a residual marker of some narrative and for me the store was a kind of gallery at the mall. 

Upcoming Show: Tara Cooper and Elizabeth D'Agostino

LOOP  Gallery is pleased to announce exhibitions by members Tara Cooper entitled Off-Season, and Elizabeth D’Agostino entitled Artifacts of the Self-Made.

Off-Season, Tara Cooper’s first exhibition at LOOP, traces the route that 95 year old Doris Rittinger has taken for the past 40 years, from Southern Ontario to Panama City Beach, Florida. Looking at the migratory habits of the retired along with the impact of aging, the installation combines film, photography and drawing:

"I am 95 years old today. But I do not feel 95 years old, I feel I am a healthy 75, that is called my body age. Sometimes I think our bodies age more slowly than our minds. My mind feels like 200, pilled and worn transparent like an old sheet.”

Working within a narrative framework, Tara Cooper’s practice considers the conditions of desire, both the murmurings of regret and the longing for the future. As a Toronto based artist, her expression is often Canadian in nature, from the habits of the snowbird, to the idea of north and the language of weather. Tara received her MFA from Cornell University in 2008, specializing in the disciplines of print, film and installation. She currently teaches at the Ontario College of Art and Design. To see more of Tara's work, please visit her website here.

In Elizabeth D'Agostino's Artifacts of the Self-Made, the artist is reminded of familial sites and surroundings she encountered growing up.  It embodies a sense of individual desire to recapture and restore memories and fragments of historical passages, which influence daily life. D'Agostino is concerned with the notion of acclimation and how the environment begins to inform each other.
The images take the form of the human body, human artifacts, vegetable and animal life. These images are displayed within complex settings as delicate curiosities in D'Agostino's drawings and prints; the natural world connects the human-made world. This work furthers her investigations of the transitional place, and the various stages that surround the transformations and adaptations of an object and the rooted structures that have formed their environment displayed as objects of curiosity.

Elizabeth D'Agostino received her BFA from the University of Windsor and her MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL. She has exhibited in Canada and internationally and was selected as the 2008 Visiting Artist by the Fine Arts Department at the University of South Dakota. D'Agostino lives and works in Toronto and is a member of Open Studio.  She teaches printmaking at the Ontario College of Art & Design and is the Curriculum Coordinator at the Toronto School of Art.  To see more of Elizabeth D'Agostino's work, please visit her website here.

Please join the artists in celebrating the opening reception on Saturday, February 27th from 3-6 pm.

Learn more about Tara Cooper and Elizabeth D'Agostino's work during a Question and Answer session at the gallery on Saturday March 13 at 3pm.
 
Gallery Hours: Wed - Sat 1 to 5 pm, and Sun 1 to 4pm.
Artists will be in attendance on Sundays and for the reception.
For more information please contact the gallery director at (416) 516-2581 or loopgallery@primus.ca.

A Peek into Tara Cooper's Studio

Join Tara Cooper at LOOP Gallery on Saturday, February 27th the opening of her show "Off-Season". The reception will be that afternoon from 3-6 pm and the show will run until March 21, 2010.

Tara Cooper: Off-Season

My exhibition entitled "Off-Season" opens at LOOP in less than two weeks. There’s still a long “To Do” list, but I’m excited for the opening on Saturday February 27th. Here’s a little preliminary look and a little more information about my work.

My grandmother, Doris Rittinger, turns 95 this February. For the past 40 years, she has been making her way south during the winter, to stay in Panama City Beach, Florida. Doris is an anchor within our family, and she is strong and independent with a flair for fashion. Her last pair of glasses, worn for more than a decade, were bedazzled with pink cubic zirconias. She recently gave me some of her dresses from the 60’s, bought in Buffalo and signed Mr. Dino, along with a wide brim mint green hat with matching feathers along the trim and a white straw handbag with crocheted flowers. During the 80’s, many of her friends would meet annually in Panama City Beach, play bridge, golf, swim, attend dances at the club house, walk on the beach and shop. As the years recede, most of her friends have died.  She no longer makes the journey for the people, but for the temperate climate. 

At 95, time is limited. This past December, I decided to take advantage of my grandmother’s migratory habits and good health, travelling by car to visit her. My last trip to Florida was in 1987. I was sixteen—flip flops, bikinis and baby oil. On one of our outtings, I asked my grandmother what she attributes her longevity to; she replied ROMANCE.

Since my grandfather’s death (Reuben Rittinger) in 1983, Doris has had four steady boyfriends: John, Jed, Arthur and Tom. Except for Arthur, she stayed with each of them until they died.   

Panama City is located at the northern end of Florida on the gulf side. In December, the beach is nearly empty. Temperatures hover around 60 degrees. Accomodations are plenty, many offer special rates and discounts. Our intention this trip was to document not only my grandmother, but also the route south. Alabama had the best signage by far: SMOK”N BUTTS BBQ... NEW QUAIL DINNER, LET US CATER UR NEXT EVENT,   and Big Daddy’s BBQ, Fried CHICKEN, Fresh CATFISH...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS, DAILY BREAKFAST $2.99 and FIREWORKS IT’S PARTY TIME, SURVIVOR SHIRTS $10. Even with the economic downturn, the number of “For Sale” signs along Highway 98 (the route that runs along Florida’s coast) surprised me. I think half of “America’s  Sunshine State” might be For Sale.

 

I invite you to join me for the opening reception of my show on Saturday, February 27th from 3-6 pm at LOOP Gallery. You can also see more of my work on my website here.

Posted by: Tara Cooper