Narrative Fallacy
October 14 - December 11, 2022
Narrative Fallacy scatters unprompted memories and intense personal experiences amidst a shiftless, changing horizon. Each of the four photo-based artists dissect the troubling notion of impermanence and present a chaotic collision of past, present and future. Between the loss of one artist’s faith, and another artist’s exploration of the necessity of death, lies the shaky uncertainty of the future. And yet, between one artist’s interventions on sensory memory, and one artist’s predictions of the future, lies the reminder that change can lead to becoming. This exhibition alludes to the expressive potential of having the rug pulled from your feet, and the wool from your eyes,
This exhibition is the culmination of a six-month artist residency at the SPAO Centre, where each artist worked on personal passion projects. The artists negotiated between the challenges of ongoing pandemic restrictions, and staying true to their artistic pursuits. The result is a timely and thoughtful experience that pursues authenticity despite external pressures.
Sophisme Narratif éparpille souvenirs spontanés et expériences personnelles intenses au milieu d’un horizon inactif, changeant. Chacun des quatre artistes photographes décortique la notion troublante de l'impermanence et présente une collision chaotique du passé, du présent, et du futur. Entre la perte de foi d’un artiste, et l’exploration de la nécessité de la mort par un autre, réside la fragile incertitude du futur. Et pourtant, entre l'intervention d’un artiste sur la mémoire sensorielle, et les prédictions du futur par un autre, réside le rappel que le changement peut mener au devenir. Cette exposition fait allusion au potentiel expressif de vous faire couper l’herbe sous les pieds, et vous voir mener en bateau
Cette exposition est la culmination d’une résidence d’artistes de 6 mois au Centre SPAO, où chaque artiste a travaillé sur des projets personnels qui le passionnent. Les artistes ont négocié entre les défis liés aux restrictions de la pandémie en cours, et la volonté de rester fidèles à leurs activités artistiques. Le résultat est une expérience opportune et réfléchie qui aspire à l’authenticité malgré les pressions externes.
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Mario Cerroni
Victoria Laube
Leah Mowers
Christopher Schmitt -
12 - 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday
INSTALLATION VIEWS
THE ARTISTS
Mario Cerroni
Mario Cerroni is a photo-based artist who works with both digital and traditional analog photographic processes.
Cerroni’s photographs explore the analogies between constructed environments and the effects on the human psyche. This interaction sometimes reveals a complementary association while others speak to the dissonance of some public spaces where the structural elements are a metaphorical representation of the barriers we face. Within liminal spaces, Cerroni addresses the feeling of being in limbo while trying to push past the boundaries of the immediate environment.
Aspects of spirituality and/or identity are drawn from both natural and man-made spaces. These expressive elements frequently appear within the layers of Cerroni’s work. Cerroni has exhibited and sold his work through a variety of solo and group exhibitions in Ontario and Quebec since 2013.
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Mario Cerroni est un artiste-photographe qui travaille à la fois avec des procédés photographiques numériques et analogiques.
Les photographies de Cerroni explorent les analogies entre les environnements construits et les effets sur la psyché humaine. Cette interaction révèle parfois une association complémentaire pendant que d’autres permettent d’aborder la dissonance de certains espaces publiques où les éléments structurels constituent une représentation métaphorique des obstacles que nous devons surmonter. Dans des espaces liminaux, Cerroni aborde le sentiment d’être dans l’incertitude tandis qu’on essaye d’aller au-delà des limites de notre environnement immédiat.
Des aspects de spiritualité et/ou d’identité sont inspirés à la fois d’espaces naturels et artificiels. Ces éléments expressifs apparaissent fréquemment à différents niveaux de l'œuvre de Cerroni.
Depuis 2013, Cerroni a exposé et vendu son travail à travers une variété d’expositions individuelles et collectives en Ontario et au Québec. Plus de détails sont disponibles dans son CV sur mariocerroni.com
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E con il tuo spirito
Mario Cerroni was brought up Catholic and has struggled to reconcile church teaching with church practice and its effect on marginalized groups. This struggle has pushed him to return to the origins of his beliefs and face their increasingly constrictive boundaries. Cerroni explores the state of limbo that keeps him unable to identify with the beliefs he had embraced as a child and anchors him in the present moment, seemingly rudderless.
A heart attack in 2018, a visit in 2019 to his birthplace Priverno, Italy, and the loss of his younger sister in 2021 added to his sense of displacement.
The loss of a sister (Lucia) whom he never knew and the ravages of war lead his family to emigrate from Italy to Canada when he was 18 months old. Almost seven decades later, in the journey back to Priverno, walking his mother’s sorrow-filled footsteps in the cemetery, and exploring the now abandoned family home of his grandparents, all left a profound impression of loss and bewilderment.
Cerroni uses images of his wife Maureen as a metaphor for the struggle to push beyond the constraints of understanding and recognizing a sense of place and well-being. His self-portraits allude to the restlessness of a lapsed spirituality and a state of disorientation.
Images representing Cerroni’s Catholic upbringing combine with old family photos and documents and call to mind the parallel struggle of his family to push beyond the limits and boundaries imposed on them through loss, sorrow and war.
The cemetery, the church he was baptized in, and the now abandoned family home, inform the layers of the void through which Cerroni attempts to discover identity and reconcile his relationship to the faith he was brought up in.Item description
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Image of Mario Cerroni
Victoria Laube
Victoria Laube is an emerging multi-disciplinary artist working in photo-based and sculptural installations. Her practice touches on issues of death, degradation, and metamorphosis. She uses the photograph as her tool of exploration to delve into the quotidian and into the self. In an attempt to break through long held societal and personal biases and beliefs, she relies on her instinct and intuition to capture, and then choose, arrange and at times, manipulate images. In this way she is able to create insights, alternative view points and new possibilities within the fragile and mysterious realms of death, memory and aging.
A 2021 graduate of the SPAO College Diploma, her work has been recognized internationally – she placed in the Top 200 in Photolucida’s Critical Mass (2021) and received an Honourable Mention in the self -portrait category of the 18th Julia Margaret Cameron Award (2022).
She lives in Perth Ontario Canada.
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Victoria Laube est une artiste multidisciplinaire émergente qui travaille sur des installations sculpturales et photographiques. Sa pratique traite des questions de la mort, de la dégradation, et de la métamorphose. Elle utilise la photo comme un outil d'exploration pour plonger dans le quotidien et dans le soi. Dans une tentative de rupture avec des stéréotypes et des croyances personnelles et sociétales, elle se fie à son instinct et à son intuition pour capturer, et ensuite choisir, arranger, et parfois manipuler, des images. De cette manière, elle est capable de créer des regards, des points de vue alternatifs, ainsi que des nouvelles possibilités au sein du royaume fragile et mystérieux de la mort, de la mémoire, et du vieillissement.
Diplômée d’un program SPAO (École des Arts Photographiques d’Ottawa) en 2021, son travail a été reconnu au niveau international - elle figurait dans le top 200 dans Masse Critique de Photolucida (2021) et a obtenu la mention Honorable dans la catégorie auto-portrait lors de la 18ème édition du Prix Julia Margaret Cameron (2022)
Elle vit à Perth, Ontario, Canada.
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Place of Memory is a photo-based multi-sensory project that investigates various aspects of memory and its retrieval in response to the failure of the literal photograph-as-object to fully contain memory.
Drawn to the colour, and fascinated by the impermanent nature of graffiti, I took the opportunity to photograph some of it on a recent trip to Brooklyn, a trip to meet my newly-born grandson. I photographed during the ongoing flow of mental and material events that included sensory experiences as well as various feelings, perceptions, intentions, and thoughts relating to the past, present and future. Although memories of many of these simultaneous events faded, the current belief is that all memories are permanently stored in the subconscious, a bank with a virtually unlimited capacity.
In this work, using the photographed graffiti as my raw material, I applied algorithmic manipulations as a way of accessing my subconscious and retrieving a more emotionally authentic picture of the place and time photographed.
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Image of Victoria Laube
Leah Mowers
Leah Mowers is a photo-based artist living in Ottawa, Canada. Mowers' anthropological approach invites the viewer to pause and reflect as they peek into a world they may never have access to. Using genres of portraiture, landscape, and still life, she explores themes of spirituality and cultural stereotypes. Her multi-disciplinary practice includes image, video, and sound which enables viewers to gain a deeper and more personal understanding of these themes. Mowers has exhibited work at the Ottawa Art Gallery and Contact Photography Festival.
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Leah Mowers est une artiste photographe qui vit à Ottawa, Canada. L’approche anthropologique de Mowers invite le spectateur à faire une pause et à réfléchir pendant qu’il jette un coup d'œil sur un monde auquel il peut ne jamais avoir accès. En utilisant des genres de portraiture, de paysage, et de nature morte, elle explore les thèmes de spiritualité et de stéréotypes culturels. Sa pratique multidisciplinaire inclut image, vidéo, et son, ce qui permet aux spectateurs d'acquérir une compréhension plus profonde et plus personnelle de ces thèmes. Mowers a exposé son travail à la Galerie d’Art d’Ottawa et au Festival de Photo Contact.
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During COVID, I moved to a cabin in Quebec and became part of a rural community where I met new friends who were passionate hunters. Growing up in an urban world, I knew nothing about hunting.
I was forced to examine my beliefs, my biases, and my preconceived notions about hunting. In an attempt to understand, I spent time questioning, wondering, and photographing hunters in the field. I was surprised - the discussions centered around issues of identity, lineage, spirituality, and conservation. The descriptions of peace and connection with nature resonated with me. Moved me.
In this ongoing body of work, my goal is not to create personas or document narratives, but rather to integrate within communities and provide points of connection on a personal level. The process is long-term and requires the gradual building of trust, listening, observing, and hopefully finding my / their role in each story.
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Image of Leah Mowers
Christopher Schmitt
Christopher Schmitt is an emerging lens-based artist living and working in Ottawa, Canada. He has a Photographic Arts and Production Diploma from the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO). Before that, he worked in high-tech for over 30 years.
Schmitt's work explores the impact of disruptive technology on our minds and on our land. Through in depth research of the subjects he photographs, Schmitt examines how innovation simultaneously leads to both creation and destruction. The resulting images illustrate the growing chasm between techno-optimism and techno-pessimism.
Schmitt's most recent body of work, Convergence, has been selected by the City of Ottawa to exhibit at the Corridor 45/75 Gallery in 2023. In addition, one of the prints from the series, Rooftop Resort, was selected by the City of Ottawa for its 2021 Direct Purchase Program.
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Christopher Schmitt est un artiste-photographe émergent qui vit et travaille à Ottawa, Canada. Il a un diplôme en Arts et Production Photographiques du Centre SPAO. Auparavant, il a travaillé dans les high-tech pendant plus de 30 ans.
Le travail de Schmitt explore l’impact de la technologie perturbatrice sur nos esprits et sur nos terres. À travers une recherche approfondie des sujets qu’il photographie, Schmitt examine comment l’innovation mène simultanément à la création et à la destruction. Les images qui résultent illustrent le fossé grandissant entre le techno-optimisme et le techno-pessimisme.
L’ œuvre la plus récente de Schmit, Convergence, a été sélectionnée par la Ville d’Ottawa pour être exposée à la Galerie Corridor 45/75 en 2023. De plus, l’un des tirages de la série, Rooftop Resort, a été sélectionné par la Ville d’Ottawa pour son Programme d’Achats Directs de 2021
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During my artist-in-residency at SPAO, I experimented with post-production techniques that combine photographs of computer circuit boards with photographs of LeBreton Flats. These new images, bordering abstraction and realism, imagine a future in which people are confined to a virtual world, while “Mother Nature” slowly reclaims the Earth, thereby alleviating the impacts of climate change. My intent is for these images to help viewers navigate the contradiction between beauty and stagnation, wonder and fear, hopefulness and frustration, and techno-optimism and techno-pessimism, by providing visual clues to our uncertain future.
I will continue to evolve this work at the Ingenium Research Institute this Fall by photographing obsolete technology from their vast collection, and then looking for creative ways to visualize the impact of technology on society. For this opportunity, I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the City of Ottawa.
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Image of Christopher Schmitt
CURATOR
Darren Pottie
Darren Pottie is a queer curator of settler ancestry whose focus is the intersection between contemporary craft and lens-based media. Currently employed as the Gallery Manager and Artist Residency Coordinator at the SPAO Centre, his work is dedicated to presenting and raising the platform of photo-based artists across Canada and beyond.
Recent curatorial projects include In Keeping With Myself at the Portrait Gallery of Canada and DESCENDANCE at the SPAO Centre. Pottie holds a BA in Art History & Contemporary Culture from NSCAD University, and a post-graduate diploma in Museum Management and Curatorship from Fleming College. Pottie currently lives and works in Ottawa, on the unceded territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.
Image of Darren Pottie
