Juried exhibit presents best fine art from across the region

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Carla Mascioli was beaming after buying “Spring Whispers,” on opening night at the 68^th Annual Juried Exhibition of the Northern Ontario Art Association, on now at the Timmins Museum till Feb. 3.

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The small painting by Lynne Nyman, formerly of Timmins, depicts the play of sunlight on snow in the forest, and reminded Mascioli of the Group of Seven. It is this year’s winner of the Susan Zabel Mancantelli Memorial Award for Best Use of Colour.

“I do like the snowy aspect of it,” said the cross-country skier. “I like the vibrant colours, it reminds me of Lauren Harris.”

Mascioli attends the yearly exhibit with her mother and sister because of how well it represents artists from across northern Ontario.

“It’s interesting to see the talent, and the different mediums of artwork. I’m not an artist whatsoever, I can’t draw a straight line, but the talent that you see in the northern community is well presented in this exhibit,” said the practicing veterinarian.

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This year was the first time she has been able to make a purchase, since in other years her chosen painting was either sold or not for sale. But Mascioli will have to wait until the end of the tour before her painting is shipped back to her.

Nyman now lives in Haileybury and is a member of the Temiskaming Palette and Brush Club.

Every year in September at their annual general meeting, the Northern Ontario Art Association has two jurors select 35-40 paintings from their 15 member art clubs. The selections then go on tour for one year.

This year’s jurors were Janine Marson and Ingrid Rudnik-O’Gorman, and the opening show was hosted by the Burk’s Falls Art & Crafts Club.

The show visits the hometowns of 10 art clubs, starting with the host club. This year, after Burk’s Falls, it traveled to Sault Ste. Marie and Elliot Lake. After the Timmins show wraps up Feb. 3, it will continue on to Iroquois Falls, Temiskaming Shores, North Bay, and Moonbeam.

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“Nothing is guaranteed,” said Porcupine Art Club President Ted O’Connor, when asked if each art club is represented every year.

“Everything is anonymous, there’s no names. The only thing (the jurors) see is the painting, title, the size and the medium. They don’t see what club it’s from or the name of the artist. It’s pretty amazing how it gets spread out,” he said.

Paintings can’t be bigger than 33 x 38”, but there is no limit on subject matter. This year’s show depicted northern landscapes, but also sunflowers, portraits, and collage.

The Porcupine Art Club was represented this year by Nyman and Margo Cormier Splane.

Splane’s political piece is called “OMG Look Who Is In Charge,” and depicts a fox about to enter a henhouse. The henhouse, which features one rooster, has an earth decal on the door, and a rainbow-coloured floor.

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“It’s basically talking about the world today. I did it a year and a half ago, but there’s Putin, Trump, there’s all kinds of despots.

“The fox represents authoritarians and he’s licking his lips in front of the henhouse, but the chickens are not going to take it,” she said, adding the earth symbol points to the universality of the theme.

“The rainbow is for social justice issues. It’s standing up against the autocratic bullies,” said Splane, who has exhibited in juried shows around the world.

The artist’s chosen medium is hand pulled serigraphs, an ancient Chinese printmaking technique that involves building up an image in layers, by pulling ink across a screen, one colour at a time.

“It’s always an honour to get into an NOAA show,” she added.

O’Connor says the annual event is a chance for the public to see art from across the north.

“It’s really interesting and there’s a lot of very good artists in the north,” O’Connor said.

The Northern Ontario Art Association’s 68^th Annual Juried Art Exhibit runs until Feb. 3 at the Timmins Museum’s Grey Gallery, 325 2nd Ave. Opening hours are M-F 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and noon to 4:00 p.m. on weekends. Admission is free.

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