Panel Discussion: Pandemic Paces
Wednesday December 8th 2021, 4-5:30pm
Online Event. Please register in advance here.
Join Adam Wolfond, a non-speaking autistic poet/writer with Dr. Estée Klar, director of dis assembly: a neurodiverse arts collective. They will be joined by artist Ellen Bleiwas a collaborator at dis assembly, and poets and mentors of neurodivergent poets at Unrestricted Interest Chris Martin and Aviv Nisinzweig, to discuss how processual artistic practices support conditions for neurodiverse ways of creation and being.
dis assembly is a collaborative and supportive arts collective dedicated to neurodiversity and affirmative, creative activity to shift the field of research creation, support conditions for neurodiversity, to rethink support and collaboration, and to create networks for mutual support, inventing our own ways for living.
CANVAS Compendium: Artists on Artists by Sam Mogelonsky
Sam Mogelonsky is a Toronto-based artist, curator, designer, and arts professional with an indefatigable enthusiasm for Canadian art and Jewish culture. As an artist, Sam uses embellishment to speak to notions of craft and decoration, while also engaging in the dialogue between the mass-produced and the handmade.
This week, Sam shares with us the artists who inspire her own creative work: “I am drawn to artists who consider the absence or presence of the body, like Eva Hesse and Louise Bourgeois. This selection from my own community — Jewish, Toronto-based artists — are working across sculpture, painting, performance, photography and video to challenge our experience of the body and the world around us.”
I Love You, Don’t Touch Me: Digital Exhibition and Artist Talk
Artist Talk: August 14th 2021, 4pm EST
“I Love You, Don’t Touch Me” is an art show designed collaboratively to hold space for visual objects to coexist with each other, and be in conversation in both physical and digital formats. Recognizing that the weekly digital dialogues that have been held since the outbreak of the pandemic have shaped and informed how each artist has been creating objects in isolation, “I Love You, Don’t Touch Me” presents an opportunity for the visual artifacts of our lived experiences (of being in digital conversation together) to act as proxies / symbols / totems / effigies of their creators and convene in physical space, in immaterial dialogue, sharing with each other, in the spirit of generosity, the visual oddities that have been accumulated in these strange times.
You’re invited to join us in dialogue on August 14th, 4pm EST, for an artist talk as we reflect upon the objects created.
Participating Artists: Saba Askari, Ellen Bleiwas, Steve Chiu, Becs Epstein, Clara Gross, Kristen Heritage, Rochelle Voyles
Poster by: Steve Chiu
Link to Artist Talk
Link to Digital Exhibition
NARS Foundation 2020 Virtual Benefit
Nov 12 - Dec 31, 2020
The 2020 NARS Virtual Benefit has started! We would like to ask for your support by acquiring original work from an amazing group of national and international artists.
As other cultural organizations, for NARS the year 2020 hasn't been what we dreamt it would be.
We left 2019 with the goal to continue nurturing and developing relationships with our community of artists, curators and educators, and to be a space of opportunities for the artists who walked through our doors. We had plans for 4 full Residency groups (48 artists approximately), a series of exhibitions in our Main Gallery and Project Space, monthly workshops with the community in Sunset Park, two Open Studios events and a lot more.
We all know how the story turned out.
After we had to make a full pause in all of our programs, we started questioning these goals and the ways in which we would be able to fulfill them, and more importantly, we were questioning the ways in which NARS could still exist during these times. We found and developed ways to be in the same space and to continue with our mission, and overall, we have found a lot of solidarity and support in our community.
We still have a lot to rebuild and we’re committed to our initial goal, and your contribution is vital to helping us provide creative support to artists.
Career Launcher Prize: Virtual Studio Tour + Panel Discussion
Wednesday July 15, 2020, 4-5pm
Celebrate the 401 Richmond Career Launcher Prize, while exploring the importance of fostering emerging voices through resource sharing and mentorship. Awarded annually by jury, the residency provides a pivotal opportunity to occupy a coveted 500 sq/ft studio for a full year at one of Canada’s most dynamic arts facilities.
2019/20 Recipient Miles Ingrassia Studio Tour & Talk
Panel Discussion, moderated by William Huffman, with Anahita Azrahimi (Toronto Online Art Fair), Ellen Bleiwas (2017/18 Career Launcher Recipient), and Anna Gaby-Trotz (Open Studio)
2020/21 Recipient Announcement and Introduction
Free! Zoom registration required. Please register here.
On Repetition and Depth
Digital Exhibition at NARS Foundation Virtual Gallery
May 1 - 14, 2020
Curated by Elisa Gutiérrez Eriksen
With works by Brigitta Varadi, Ellen Bleiwas & Ren Zi.
On Repetition and Depth presents the works of NARS Alumni Brigitta Varadi, Ellen Bleiwas and Ren Zi. The works of these artists are deeply rooted in an infinite search for interiorness, for the unseen, and the ritualistic. They exist in a permanent threshold –a constant tension between movement and stillness, between the inside and the outside, between the other and the self. Through repetitive, meditative gestures, these artists shape and create works that encourage slowness, sensory perception and the exploration of the various meanings of life. As our daily lives have become spaces of repetition and pause, the practices of these artists lead to a perspective in which our daily actions can become generative, even magical.
QuaranTonics: a series of artist spots for the socially distanced
March 28, 2020
Curated by Laura Hudspith @QuaranTonics
Today I bring you work from the Canadian globe trotter (currently isolating), and sculptor Ellen Bleiwas @ellenbleiwas, with...
👄 VISCERAL TREATS • TONIC • 👅
Ellen has just completed residencies at the NARS Foundation (New York) and the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa) with the support of the RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program and the Canada Council for the Arts.
I had the enormous pleasure of showing alongside Ellen during the 2019 exhibition ‘Cuties Who Are Nice’ @kontort_events curated by the @magentafoundation curatorial incubator project.
@QuaranTonics x @EllenBleiwas - Post 1
Source Matters
NARS 2020 Season I Residency Exhibition
February 28 - March 20, 2020
Opening Reception: February 28, 6-8pm
Curated by Elisa Gutiérrez Eriksen
Featuring Artists: Rusudan Melikishvili (Denmark) | Brian Napier (USA) | Ellen Bleiwas (Canada) | Joseph Moore (USA) | Laure Hocine (Belgium) | Sarah Williams (USA) | Lauren Cohen (US/UK) | Matthew Cronin (USA) | Joani Tremblay (Canada) | Sareh Imani (Iran/USA) | Sepideh Farzam (Iran/Australia) | Furen Dai (China/USA)
NARS is pleased to present ‘Source Matters’, an exhibition featuring the works of our 2020 Season I artists-in-residence.
Source plays an important role in the work of these artists. Whether it be images extracted from old catalogs, borrowed medical methodologies, over-viewed and mediatized images in postcards, naturally derived materials, data, taxidermied species, uncomfortable moments in American history, feelings of discomfort, the US national census, online cameras in the world, or future memories — all revolve around narratives, constructions and gestures that describe the importance of finding different ways to perceive, read, and interpret.
The way we interpret a source can determine a path, transcend time, reveal other narratives and very possibly, enter us into an endless loop — a constant search for the source, for what matters.
International Residency Artist at NARS Foundation
January - March 2020
Brooklyn, New York
The New York Art Residency and Studios (NARS) Foundation Artist in Residency Program supports emerging and mid-career artists and curators working across all disciplines through three and six-month residencies. The program is open to both International and US-Based artists, creating a shared space for artistic dialogue and international cultural exchange for an extended period of time.
2020 Season I Artists:
Rusudan Melikishvili (Denmark), Brian Napier (USA), Ellen Bleiwas (Canada), Joseph Moore (USA), Laure Hocine (Belgium), Sarah Williams (USA), Lauren Cohen (US/UK), Matthew Cronin (USA), Joani Tremblay (Canada), Sareh Imani (Iran/USA), Sepideh Farzam (Iran/Australia), Furen Dai (China/USA)
Introducing NARS Winter AIR Ellen Bleiwas (Canada)
Ellen Bleiwas’ sculptural practice is rooted in space, the body, slowness, and sensory perception. She draws upon tunnelling and interiority to create holey enclosures that can be gradually permeated, framing heightened experiences with self. She probes materials including latex, clay, beeswax, and industrial felt, repeating single actions until process generates form. Bleiwas holds an MFA from York University in Toronto (2017), and a Master of Architecture from McGill University in Montreal (2010).
Ellen’s residency is being supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Plastic Attic Visits: Ellen Bleiwas
Video and Essay by Plastic Attic
Published February 2020
Excerpt from Essay by Emily Austin:
“Inviting you into this space and into yourself, Bleiwas asks: do you know this place?" - rmg.on.ca/lithic-innards
No matter who you are, when you encounter the work of Toronto-based sculptor Ellen Bleiwas, you will have thoughts and feelings and they will be entirely your own because that’s the nature of the experience she’s creating: a confrontation with yourself. Drawing from her background in architecture and a couple formative experiences visiting ancient sacred architectural sites, Ellen utilizes space, material and a manipulation of the senses to create emotionally, psychologically and, if you’re open to it, perhaps even spiritually powerful experiences.
There’s too few artists making work today that genuinely affects its audience on such a visceral level, so it’s a pleasure to follow the success of one who does. At the time that we visited Ellen’s studio at 401 Richmond, she was completing her tenure there as the 2017 Career Launcher Prize Winner. Since then, she’s completed a residency with The RBC Artist Incubator Lab at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG), which produced a series of incredible clay sculptures - exhibited like an early Bronze-Age stone circle - AND she’s begun another residency with The New York Art Residency and Studios (NARS) Foundation.
Follow @ellenbleiwas and check out her website for art that will make you shriek with delight, squirm with discomfort and maybe reconsider your place in the universe?! It’s some of the best contemporary art coming out of Toronto right now and Ellen is definitely one to watch.
Lithic Innards at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery
Solo Exhibition: January 3 – February 2, 2020
Opening Reception: Friday, January 3, 2020, 7PM -10PM
Artist Talk: Friday, January 3, 2020 8:30PM
The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (72 Queen Street, Oshawa, ON)
Join us in Gallery A for the opening of Ellen Bleiwas’ exhibition, Lithic Innards. This exhibition presents work made by the artist during her residency in the RBC Artist Incubator Lab at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery.
This exhibition is supported by the RBC Foundation, the RBC Emerging Artist Project, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program at the RMG RBC Artist Incubator Lab
Residency Dates: September 23 - December 15, 2019
The RBC Artist Incubator Lab is an innovative studio space within The Robert McLaughlin Gallery that supports community activation and provides artists with professional development opportunities. The Artist Incubator Lab is a space for creativity and experimentation that strives to support the local arts ecosystem. The space provides artists with an opportunity to experiment, innovate, and grow their artistic practice. While in residence, artists are encouraged to create new work, generate bold ideas, have vision, and make meaningful connections with our visitors and our community.
The RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation and the RBC Emerging Artist Project.
The RMG welcomes Ellen Bleiwas to the Artist Incubator Lab. Ellen is in residence September 23 to December 15, 2019.
This residency is supported by the RBC Foundation, the RBC Emerging Artist Project, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
RBC Artist Incubator Lab Website
Cuties Who Are Nice
Presented by The Magenta Foundation in conjunction with KONTORT
Gallery Hours: October 4 to 5 and October 9 to 10 from 1pm to 6pm
Closing Reception: Thursday, October 10 from 7 to 10 pm
Location: KONTORT, 86 Miller Street, Toronto
THE MAGENTA FOUNDATION in conjunction with KONTORT present Cuties Who Are Nice, an exhibition featuring the work of four artists: Ellen Bleiwas, Laura Hudspith, Megan Ellen MacDonald, and Luca Soldovieri. This is the inaugural exhibition presented by the Magenta Foundation Incubator Curatorial Summer Workcamp.
This exhibition presents “pretty little art from pretty little women” to illustrate the charged weight of material and object. Engaging with organic and constructed materials, the artists in Cuties Who Are Nice explore the unfamiliarity into what we think we already know.
Overly Dedicated Podcast
Episode 30: Ellen Bleiwas
Ellen Bleiwas is on the podcast this week! Take a moment to download and listen via apple podcasts, itunes, or wherever you get podcasts!
Ellen and I met at 401 Richmond and then drove up to the Annex in Toronto where we had a snack and a chat in her lovely apartment and studio. We talked about her sculptural vocabulary, her professional practice, and what else? The most important thing: materiality! Yum!
Fibreworks 2018 at Idea Exchange, Cambridge Art Galleries
Exhibition: September 21 - November 4, 2018
Opening: Friday September 21, 7:00pm
Fibreworks, now in its 17th edition, is a biennial juried exhibition of contemporary Canadian fibre art. It is a showcase of the most current and versatile approaches to fibre as a medium. This exhibition is one of the largest group shows in Canada and serves as a survey of the artists currently working in the medium. This exhibitions offers the opportunity for us to evaluate the relevancy of our collection in relation to contemporary practices.
Fibreworks 2018 is juried by Melissa Bennett, Curator of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Hamilton (Hamilton, ON) and Meghan Price, Artist (Toronto, ON).
Selected artists include:
Ellen Bleiwas (Toronto, ON)
Mitchell Chalifoux (Leduc, AB)
Judy Duggan-McCormack (Hamilton, ON)
Stephanie Fortin (Toronto, ON)
Tricia C Johnson (London, ON)
Trish Johnson (Toronto, ON)
Helen Liene Dreifelds (Toronto, ON)
Fuzzy Mall (Dundas, ON)
April Martin (Toronto, ON)
Judy Martin (Sheguiandah, ON)
Colleen McCarten (Toronto, ON)
Robin Muller (Bedford, NS)
Trudy Perks (Barrie, ON)
Elycia SFA (Toronto, ON)
Lois Schklar (Toronto, ON)
St Marie φ Walker (Kitchener, ON)
Svetlana Swinimer (Ottawa, ON)
Negar Tajgardan (Saskatoon, SK)
Inter Views Podcast: Ellen Bleiwas
Inter Views is a podcast by Adam Wolfond.
What is the point of Adam Inter Views?
Adam: It is to make something and share it.
What do you hope people get from it?
A: I hope they like it and think about it.
What is the format and why?
A: It [the format] is interviews because i like learning about others.
What do your listeners need to know to help them understand your podcast?
A: I need to tell them that i am autistic and use an i pad to talk. i want to tell that i am sixteen and i like rubber bath toys and learning and nature. they need to know to always listen to the things that make them happy.
In this episode, I interview Ellen Bleiwas about her artwork.
Brick, Brink & a Space in Between
Nuit Blanche 2018
September 29 - September 30, 2018, Sundown to Sunrise
On September 29th at 6:59 pm, 401 Richmond transforms into a one-stop, high-energy artistic experience representing a synergy between on-site galleries, tenant artists, and the broader arts community – all under one roof!
This year we will be featuring engaging and entertaining, site-specific installations and performances that activate public sites throughout 401 Richmond, the Built for Art Nuit Blanche program includes contributions from Shuvinai Ashoona and Dorset Fine Arts, Erin MacKeen, Ellen Bleiwas, Ballet Jorgen, Carol Cheong, Nicholas Contrera and Bloom Transitional Gender Project, David Hannan, art students from Mayfield Secondary School, Jessie Sheng and OCADU / Career Launchers Program, Cheryl Rondeau, rzlbd’s +ve virus and the TAXED OUT exhibition by Ryerson University City Building Institute.
Review: Ouroboros at St. Anne’s Anglican Church by Terence Dick
October 3, 2018
If you were looking for an exhibition space as far from a white cube as you could get, a church might just be it. Neither cubic nor stripped of colour, a hall of worship comes laden with stories and symbols, fraught with beliefs and burdened by an overriding narrative that tends to elicit deep-seated reactions. My prejudices about religion have softened over the years and rather than dismiss it as a misguided and conservative doctrine, as I did in my youth, I can now see it as a potential forum for shared meaning, community, and the possibility of transcendence. St Anne’s Anglican Church in Toronto’s west end provides an excellent model for such a conception of spirituality with its regular exhibitions of contemporary art installed within the functional spaces of the building – from pews to alter – and its open arms approach to drawing in visitors. The afternoon I visited Ouroboros, the current exhibition, there was a singalong that I initially mistook for a choir practice happening. The massed voices made for a unique accompaniment to my viewing of the exhibition and I had to politely decline a couple invitations to join in.
This welcoming gesture was echoed by the integration of the assorted works within the space of the church. The congregation must be used to exercising tolerance for the unexpected and new, but I imagine even their receptivity was tested by some of the interventions. In particular, I would have loved to see the reactions of the Sunday regulars to Ellen Bleiwas’ rubbery beeswax and wire tubes distributed amongst the hymnbooks along the back of each pew. These alien objects are designed to be held and the tiny mirrors within serve as a handy tool to aid in the reflection of the praying adherents. […]
Ouroboros at Saint Anne’s Anglican Church
Opening Reception: Thursday September 27, 2018, 6-9pm
Artist Talk and Tour: October 14, 2pm
Ouroboros is an immersive group exhibit featuring the work of artists Ellen Bleiwas, Emily DiCarlo, Gunilla Josephson, Adrienne Trent, and Marian Wihak, with Exhibition Text by Jennifer Rudder. Located at St. Anne’s Anglican Church (270 Gladstone Ave., Toronto), the exhibition runs September 22-October 14, Friday-Sunday, noon-5pm.
Nuit Blanche extended hours: Sat Sept 29, 7pm-midnight. Musical performances by Turkwaz at 7:30pm, Darbazi at 8:30pm
the ratio of an earthworm
Sunday, September 2, 2018 from 3-7pm
14 Randolph Avenue, Toronto
the ratio of an earthworm is a one-day, outdoor exhibition and gathering, co-organized by Patrick Cruz and Larissa Tigglers. The participating artists directly and indirectly cultivate practices connected with labour, focused consciousness, and acts of care.
A crack into a world, oozing from a tunnel
401 Richmond Career Launcher Prize: End-of-Residency Open Studio and Exhibition
Studio 260, 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto
Thursday August 23, 2018 from 5:00 - 9:00 pm
Toast and Artist Talk at 6:00 pm
Ellen Bleiwas is the 401 Richmond Career Launcher Prize 2017 Recipient. Please join her as she opens her studio, to share a toast and explore the work developed during her year in residence at 401 - a world of sculptural probing in latex, beeswax, and industrial felt.
This body of work is produced with the support of 401 Richmond, and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.
Workshop: Body Sculpture with Industrial Felt at Contemporary Textile Studio Co-op
Instructor: Ellen Bleiwas
Date: Saturday July 14, 2018 from 11:00am - 5:00pm
Tuition: $130.00 + HST
Location: Contemporary Textile Studio Co-op, 401 Richmond St. West, Studio 109, Toronto
In this tactile workshop, participants will explore industrial felt as a sculptural medium. We will delve into its rich sensorial qualities and inherent material properties to create personal and experimental sculptural forms with a relationship to the body. Industrial felt is a non-woven textile composed of densely pressed wool fibres. It possesses unique sensorial qualities: muffling sound, exuding a subtle woolly scent, and being both irresistable and slightly rough to touch. We will draw upon these qualities in creating felt body sculptures.
Led by artist Ellen Bleiwas, students will explore the material’s properties and test out specific techniques while playing with form, scale, repetition, and contrast. Participants will then develop their own body sculptures, supported by the instructor. Students will receive a supply list upon registration.
401 Richmond Career Launcher Prize 2017-18 Recipient
401 Richmond is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2017 Career Launcher Prize is Ellen Bleiwas.
The 2017 Career Launcher jury remarked that this year’s recipient, Ellen Bleiwas, is inspired by both visual arts and architectural examinations – a combination that is central to 401 Richmond’s cultural philosophy. Her installations demonstrate a keen understanding of materiality while at the same time invoking a corporeal relationship to constructed space. Her work in felt, wood, aluminum, steel and concrete – a vocabulary generally associated with the built or industrial environment – becomes activated only by the touch and presence of a viewer. The Career Launcher jury is excited by what this opportunity provides Bleiwas and looks forward to how this residency will influence her practice.
Ellen will be joining the 401 Richmond community in Studio 260 from September 2017 – August 2018. We look forward to welcoming Ellen and watching how her work develops during her time with us.
Review: Passage No. 170424 at Angell Gallery by Emily Austin
October 4, 2017
Ellen Bleiwas’ exhibition Passage No. 170424 in Angell Gallery’s project space defies the clichés historically associated with “fibre art”. It is true that the work serves as a “softer” counterpart to Greg Haberny’s Rise Then Shine in the main gallery space, which also explores the psychological impact of materials and spaces. However, nothing about Bleiwas’ treatment of her material particularly suggests femininity, domesticity or craft. The installation, entitled Passage No. 170424, consists of thick strips of dark grey industrial wool felt hung in layers from a cube-shaped cedar frame, appears massive, heavy and austere. When viewed from the hallway outside the project space, it seems as if the room can barely contain it.
As you move closer, the formalist elements fall away as the more organic qualities of the material become evident: the strips of felt are not perfectly uniform in size, shape or in the way they hang. They shed fibres and give off a vaguely animal smell. The work invites visitors to feel the material, which is pliable and slightly itchy, and move through the layers to reach the open space in the center, just big enough for one person to stand. Once inside the work, the woolly smell is heightened, but the sounds from outside are dampened significantly. […]
Passage No. 170424 at Angell Gallery
Solo Exhibition: September 8–October 7, 2017
Opening: Friday September 8 from 7-9pm
Angell Gallery is pleased to present Passage No. 170424, an immersive sculptural installation that addresses themes around materiality and physical engagement, by Ellen Bleiwas in the gallery’s Project Space. In the back gallery, a selection of recent table-top and floor-based sculptures by the artist accompany the installation, as does a wearable artwork worn by a staff member during gallery hours.
Felt
noun: A cloth made by rolling and pressing wool or another suitable textile accompanied by the application of moisture or heat, which causes the constituent fibres to mat together to create a smooth surface.
verb: past and past participle of ‘to feel’.
The material matters in the sculptures and interactive installations of Toronto-based Ellen Bleiwas. In her work, Bleiwas takes a common utilitarian fabric – felt – and plays on the multiple definitions of the word, using it to explore how materials and environments shape our physical and psychological states of being. […]
felt/felt
MFA Thesis Exhibition by Ellen Bleiwas
Gales Gallery, York University (89 York Blvd.)
Exhibition Hours: April 24-28, 2017 from noon-5pm. Closed Wednesday.
Closing Reception: Friday April 28, 2017 from 6-9pm
Industrial felt sourced from The Felt Store