The Art Gallery of Sudbury is looking for artists to submit work they created during the pandemic for a chance to have it as a part of a new juried exhibition.
Emerging or established artists in Ontario are invited to be a part of the multimedia exhibition at the gallery under the theme of ‘Is this real life?’.
The gallery came to the decision of the theme after taking inspiration from the rock band Queen and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In Bohemian Rhapsody (1975), the rock band Queen posed the question: ‘Is this the real life?’ Two years into a global pandemic, what was a metaphysical question now inspires us to invite artists to submit artwork that riff off the theme, ‘Is this real life’,” a statement on the Art Gallery of Sudbury website reads.
Sudbury.com spoke with Demetra Christakos, the director of the Art Gallery of Sudbury, who said she is excited for the new project.
“For two years,we really missed that connection with the artist community. And this is a really exciting process,” Christakos said.
“Submissions should be original works of art created during the pandemic period, that is, in the past two years (after Jan. 1, 2020),” the website wrote.
The art can be 2D, 3D, video or digital media. The submissions will then be juried by Anik Glaude, curator at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham, Deanna Nebenionquit, and independent artist, and Aidan Ware, director and chief curator at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery – who will decide which pieces will be a part of the exhibition.
While there are no submission fees, artists whose work is selected will have to take on the costs that are normally associated with exhibiting art at a public venue. This may include framing, displaying and/or shipping the piece of work. However, selected artists will be paid an artist fee for their work displayed in the gallery. The works of art will not be for sale.
For those interested, the deadline to submit art is this March 18 (Friday) at 5 p.m. Alongside the piece of work, the artist should also include a short resume of of art-related activities, and artist's statement (no more than 100 words) on how the art work addresses the exhibition's theme, a good quality image of the artist’s complete art piece (up to three file images are allowed).
The Art Gallery of Sudbury is also located in the Bell Mansion. To preserve the historic building and to accommodate physical accessibility, there are a few size limitations to the artwork that is submitted.
The maximum physical size of an art work for this exhibition is 183 cm high x 183 cm wide x 76 cm deep (single object approximately 6 ft. high x 6 ft. wide x 30 in. deep). Maximum weight of artwork: 23 kg (50 lbs), information provided by the gallery states. Soil, potted plants and art pieces with fire elements are not allowed. Pieces with electrical components should be certified. On the other hand, the gallery supports time-based work that includes a digital projector and a digital projection screen, smart TV, or tablet.
Jury results will come out on March 30 and the delivery of selected works will be on May 11, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pick up of exhibited work will be on June 28, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For complete exhibit rules, click here. To submit art, please visit this weblink here. For more information, visit the Art Gallery of Sudbury website.
