Curriculum, Biography and General Artist's Statement
RUSSELL BROHIER
B.A., M.A., M.S.W., PhD (ABD)
EXHIBITIONS: |
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| Solo Exhibitions: | |
| May 1 – 31, 2007 | THEATRICS. First Canadian Place Gallery (Contact 2007) |
| December 2005 | VISUAL EXCAVATIONS, The Dominion on Queen |
| DK Photo Group Exhibitions (founding member, 2005) | |
| May 1 – 31, 2007 | DKonstruction, art101. (Contact 2007) |
| Oct. 17 – Nov. 5, 2006 | ORPHANED. Hang Man Gallery |
| May, 2006 | FORGOTTEN: THE ART OF DECAY. Contact Photographic Festival 2006 |
| Juried Group Exhibitions: | |
| March 3, 2007 | SNAP! Live Curated Auction. (Benefit for ACT) |
| January 9 – 28, 2007 | LIGHT EFFECTS, Hang Man Gallery |
| October 26 – Nov. 2006 | ILLUMINATI: Gallery Artists, Sole Gallery |
| May 17 – 28, 2006 | WORKS AROUND PAPER, Eastern Front Gallery |
| March – May 2006 | TUEAM, The Charlotte Room |
| April 2005 | THE BLUE SHOW, Eastern Front Gallery |
| February 16 – 27, 2005 | FRAGILE BOUNDARIES. Eastern Front Gallery |
| May 2 – June 30, 2004 | NOW GALLERY |
| April 14 – May 2, 2004 | THE RED SHOW, Eastern Front Gallery |
| Juried Outdoor Art Shows and Sales: | |
| September 15 & 16, 2007 | QUEEN WEST ART CRAWL |
| September 7 – 9, 2007 | CABBAGETOWN FESTIVAL |
| July 6 – July 8, 2007 | TORONTO OUTDOOR ART EXHIBITION |
| June 28 – July 2, 2007 | FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL MONTREAL en ARTS |
| June 2 & 3, 2007 | RIVERDALE ART WALK |
| September 16 - 17, 2006 | QUEEN WEST ART CRAWL |
| September 8-10, 2006 | CABBAGETOWN FESTIVAL |
| June 4 - 5, 2006 | RIVERDALE ART WALK |
| June 5 – 6, 2005 | RIVERDALE ART WALK |
Honourable Mention, Cabbagetown Festival 2007 “Take Only Pictures, Leave Only Footprints”. in Riverside Quarterly Vol. 2, issue 3, Spring 2006 |
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EDUCATION: |
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| Ongoing | DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY: SOCIOLOGY. McMaster University Specialisation in Cultural Studies and Qualitative Research. |
| 1986 | MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK, University of Toronto.Specialisation in Policy development and analysis. |
| 1988 | MASTERS OF ARTS; SOCIOLOGY. University of Windsor. Specialisation in Visual Sociology, Cultural Studies, and Social Theory. |
EMPLOYMENT: |
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| July 2006 – Present | ARTISTS’ NETWORK. Director, Development and Planning |
| May 2004 – July 2006 | HANG MAN: Gallery for the Artist’s Network of Riverdale. Director/Curator |
| September 2003 – Present | UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO Instructor: STEPS to University Program. |
| July 2004 – Present | TEMPLE TREES MEDIA Owner (Producer, Photographer, and Artist) |
| May 2003 – December 2004 | FREEDOM STUDIOS General Manager and Line Producer |
COMMITTEES, BOARDS & VOLUNTEER POSITIONS
ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO, 1998 – Present,
Docent and Chair (2005 – 2007)
317 Dundas Street West. Toronto, Ontario. M5T 1G
A SPACE, 2004 – 2007,
Treasurer and President of the Board
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 110, Toronto, Ontario. M5V 3A8
ART WITH HEART, 2005, 2006, 2007
Docent
9 Huntley Street, Toronto, Ontario
FUSION: THE ONTARIO CLAY AND GLASS ASSOCIATION. 1993 – 1996,
Vice-President of Advocacy
80 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.
BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT:
I was trained in traditional photographic and darkroom techniques and methods while attending the University of Toronto, School of Architecture in the early 1980s. Since then I have taken various courses and seminars in photography that contributed to my development as a photographer over this past twenty-five years. As a Visual Sociologist I am called upon to exercise my skills as a photographer. I have built up a considerable body of work that I am working toward organising for exhibition. However, I do consider myself to be self taught in both photography and painting in terms of composition and the development of my esthetic.
Since the late 1990s I have taken various courses at the Ontario Collage of Art and Design for painting and drawing. These have honed my skills as an artist and carry over to my photographic work. I continue to take courses that will contribute to the self-development of my artistic life and career.
Though I have not formally studied art history, through my academic studies as a Visual Sociologist and in Cultural Studies, as well as through my natural interest in art, I have read extensively on the area. As a Docent at the Art Gallery of Ontario, I am continually challenged to expand my knowledge base, as well as surprised as to what I have already accumulated.
Though my interest in art has been life long, it has not been until three years ago that I embarked on making the practice of art a career. This has been a slow and often tentative process, but the desire and will is strong. To make such a change in one’s life is not a commitment that I have taken lightly.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT:
Though void of the human figure, the images I take are full of humanity and the stories of individuals through time. Where some photograph man-made and natural disasters, or landscapes that are manufactured, I capture light through the decay of time and neglect. Here is a beauty, a stillness, a timelessness in what many see as derelict and dirt. Forgotten and passed by, these edifices are a testament to the social past. In these capsules of brick and marble are encased the struggles of workers and industrialisation; the transformation of traditional ideologies and the stagnation of those institutions; where wealth and class are manifest and tangible. This is a process of Photographic Anthropology and compliments my work as a Visual Sociologist.