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propellergallery.bsky.social
Propeller Art Gallery
@propellergallery.bsky.social
140 followers 88 following 130 posts
An artist-run gallery in Toronto’s West Queen West Art + Design district. New exhibitions every three weeks.
https://propellerartgallery.com/
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propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Up Down Strange | Griffin & More Than Meets the I | Muscat | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
Up Down Strange | David Griffin | These drawings extend my fixation with geometry as an incredibly fruitful drawing method — reductive but expansive at the same time. The purpose for Art, the reason we do it, is understanding; understanding how language works as a sense conductor or understanding what we can say to each other, among other things. In a graphical search for understanding, I overload my paper with colour, and with compositions of growth and natural things. The constraints of geometric drawing are complicated by my love of water flowing, things growing, fire licking, and coils coiling. I view all the drawings as shallow piles where stories may be stored. | More Than Meets the I | Joseph Muscat: More than meets the I or Plusque ce que je vois is an intended pun, un jeu de mots. I wanted to visually explore the various hidden depths, situations and complexities of our realities in our day and age. We live in a time of Artificial Intelligence, Chat GPT and Deepfake, where reality is always on shaky ground and may never be what it seems. Each tableau is populated with images and markings which fall into the composition intuitively and which carry with them symbolic possibilities. It’s up to the viewer to negotiate their way through the work and to spin their own story and derive their own meaning.
November 19, 2025 at 3:10 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Nothing But Blue Skies | Karen Klee-Atlin | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/... |
I’ve lived in many parts of Canada and the US as well as in Peru, the Philippines and Mexico, teaching art in schools and universities as well as pursuing my own studio work. Much of my work depicts the natural world, and for close to 15 years, I have worked mainly in reductive woodcuts, linocuts and monoprints made from used plates. I began as a painter, but I have found my perfect medium with these techniques. The measured steps it takes to work in reduction relief allow me the time to consider line, shape and colour interactions. There is also the tension of, after making a cut, there’s no going back. In this series, Nothing But Blue Skies, I maintain that while skies may not always be blue and clear, we see the same things when we look up. In these prints, I explore the colours of sky, land, and water. Most of these prints depict Rabbit Lake, in Northern Ontario, where my family has a cabin. The area has been a touchstone for my work in the past. There are also a couple of nods to my love of Seattle in prints of boats moored at the Center for Wooden Boats. I am a member of Shift Gallery (Seattle) and Propeller Art Gallery (Toronto). You can view more of my work on my website www.kleeatlin.com, and on Instagram @kleeatlin.
November 19, 2025 at 2:54 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
At Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Opening Reception: Saturday, November 15, 1 – 6 pm | propellerartgallery.com |
David Griffin: These drawings extend my fixation with geometry as an incredibly fruitful drawing method — reductive but expansive at the same time. The purpose for Art, the reason we do it, is understanding; understanding how language works as a sense conductor or understanding what we can say to each other, among other things. | Joseph Muscat: More than meets the I or Plusque ce que je vois is an intended pun, un jeu de mots. I wanted to visually explore the various hidden depths, situations and complexities of our realities in our day and age. We live in a time of Artificial Intelligence, Chat GPT and Deepfake, where reality is always on shaky ground and may never be what it seems. | Karen Klee-Atlin: Much of my work depicts the natural world, and for close to 15 years, I have worked mainly in reductive woodcuts, linocuts and monoprints made from used plates. I began as a painter, but I have found my perfect medium with these techniques. The measured steps it takes to work in reduction relief allow me the time to consider line, shape and colour interactions. There is also the tension of, after making a cut, there’s no going back.
November 14, 2025 at 3:07 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Now at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Nothing But Blue Skies | Karen Klee-Atlin | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
I’ve lived in many parts of Canada and the US as well as in Peru, the Philippines and Mexico, teaching art in schools and universities as well as pursuing my own studio work. Much of my work depicts the natural world, and for close to 15 years, I have worked mainly in reductive woodcuts, linocuts and monoprints made from used plates. I began as a painter, but I have found my perfect medium with these techniques. The measured steps it takes to work in reduction relief allow me the time to consider line, shape and colour interactions. There is also the tension of, after making a cut, there’s no going back.In this series, Nothing But Blue Skies, I maintain that while skies may not always be blue and clear, we see the same things when we look up. In these prints, I explore the colours of sky, land, and water. Most of these prints depict Rabbit Lake, in Northern Ontario, where my family has a cabin. The area has been a touchstone for my work in the past. There are also a couple of nods to my love of Seattle in prints of boats moored at the Center for Wooden Boats. I am a member of Shift Gallery (Seattle) and Propeller Art Gallery (Toronto). You can view more of my work on my website www.kleeatlin.com, and on Instagram @kleeatlin.
November 12, 2025 at 3:12 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Now at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Up Down Strange | Griffin | & | More Than Meets the I | Muscat | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
Up Down Strange | David Griffin: These drawings extend my fixation with geometry as an incredibly fruitful drawing method — reductive but expansive at the same time. The purpose for Art, the reason we do it, is understanding; understanding how language works as a sense conductor or understanding what we can say to each other, among other things. In a graphical search for understanding, I overload my paper with colour, and with compositions of growth and natural things. The constraints of geometric drawing are complicated by my love of water flowing, things growing, fire licking, and coils coiling. I view all the drawings as shallow piles where stories may be stored. | More Than Meets the I | Joseph Muscat | More than meets the I or Plusque ce que je vois is an intended pun, un jeu de mots. I wanted to visually explore the various hidden depths, situations and complexities of our realities in our day and age. We live in a time of Artificial Intelligence, Chat GPT and Deepfake, where reality is always on shaky ground and may never be what it seems. Each tableau is populated with images and markings which fall into the composition intuitively and which carry with them symbolic possibilities. It’s up to the viewer to negotiate their way through the work and to spin their own story and derive their own meaning. This body of work stylistically follows my earlier work in its use of random images, some new and some repetitive, against various backdrops, executed primarily through an automatiste painting approach and the use of stencils. One common thread that weaves throughout my paintings is the ubiquitous presence of the cabin, which I have been including in my work for the last forty-plus years. This simple, isometric structure can conjure up a whole array of meanings from the warmth of home, family or country to the more sinister praxis of homelessness or domestic conflicts.
November 12, 2025 at 3:07 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Silent Revolution | Nahal Bahrman | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
In Silent Revolution, figures drift, dance, and float with their eyes closed, movements that suggest both intimacy and defiance. These bodies seem suspended between gravity and release, embodying a revolution that happens quietly, yet powerfully, within. Their closed eyes turn away from the external world, choosing instead an inward vision—one that whispers of freedom, resilience, and unseen transformation. In their weightless motion, silence itself becomes a form of expression, a space where resistance and renewal unfold beyond words.
November 8, 2025 at 4:20 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Silent Revolution | Nahal Bahrman | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
In Silent Revolution, figures drift, dance, and float with their eyes closed, movements that suggest both intimacy and defiance. These bodies seem suspended between gravity and release, embodying a revolution that happens quietly, yet powerfully, within. Their closed eyes turn away from the external world, choosing instead an inward vision—one that whispers of freedom, resilience, and unseen transformation. In their weightless motion, silence itself becomes a form of expression, a space where resistance and renewal unfold beyond words.
November 5, 2025 at 3:08 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Silent Revolution | Nahal Bahrman | October 22 – November 9, 2025 | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
In Silent Revolution, figures drift, dance, and float with their eyes closed, movements that suggest both intimacy and defiance. These bodies seem suspended between gravity and release, embodying a revolution that happens quietly, yet powerfully, within. Their closed eyes turn away from the external world, choosing instead an inward vision—one that whispers of freedom, resilience, and unseen transformation. In their weightless motion, silence itself becomes a form of expression, a space where resistance and renewal unfold beyond words.
October 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Silent Revolution | Nahal Bahrman | At Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
In Silent Revolution, figures drift, dance, and float with their eyes closed, movements that suggest both intimacy and defiance. These bodies seem suspended between gravity and release, embodying a revolution that happens quietly, yet powerfully, within. Their closed eyes turn away from the external world, choosing instead an inward vision—one that whispers of freedom, resilience, and unseen transformation. In their weightless motion, silence itself becomes a form of expression, a space where resistance and renewal unfold beyond words.
October 23, 2025 at 6:33 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Silent Revolution | Nahal Bahrman | Now on at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Opening Reception: Saturday, October 25: 5 – 9 pm | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
In Silent Revolution, figures drift, dance, and float with their eyes closed, movements that suggest both intimacy and defiance. These bodies seem suspended between gravity and release, embodying a revolution that happens quietly, yet powerfully, within. Their closed eyes turn away from the external world, choosing instead an inward vision—one that whispers of freedom, resilience, and unseen transformation. In their weightless motion, silence itself becomes a form of expression, a space where resistance and renewal unfold beyond words.
October 22, 2025 at 9:04 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Artist Talk: Sunday, October 19, 2 pm | Antigua, Muros de Arte | Michelle Letarte | Mariposa | Cesar Forero | propellerartgallery.com
Michelle Letarte is an experimental scientist, educator and a mixed media artist based in Toronto. Years of research with cells/ molecules give her a distinct and often very focused perspective, trying to unravel the secrets of ancient walls/ caves encountered in her numerous travels, or exploring unusual natural habitats. She is an experimentalist, working in different techniques and media. She sees every exhibition as a new project, to be explored and shared with the viewers. Her artworks are in private collections in many countries. Michelle has been at Propeller Art Gallery since 2009, has served as a board member for several years, including Chair during the pandemic, and is currently Chair of the Membership Committee. | Cesar Forero, Artist, Architect & Performer | Forero is a Colombian/Canadian, BIPOC and member of the LGBTQIA2S+ artist with a background in architecture, sculpture, painting, and public performance. He is currently the president of the Ontario Society of Artists. He is a member and exhibition coordinator of the International Academy of Ceramist AIC/IAC. He holds an MA from the Minnesota State University and an MFA from the University of Waterloo, Ontario. His artworks and performances are shown worldwide, stand in public and private collections and have been nationally and internationally awarded. His practice emphasizes social, humanitarian and environmental issues. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French and German. As a hobby, Forero cultivates a passion for bonsai. His artistic practice has focused on the protection of our society’s rights and the well-being of our planet, which go hand in hand. A big portion of his artwork is dedicated to creating opportunities to present the artwork nationally and around the globe for himself and his colleagues. He is an exhibition leader and facilitator at several national and international art organizations.
October 17, 2025 at 3:28 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | propellerartgallery.com
Antigua, Muros de Arte | Michelle Letarte | Totally enthralled by the arty and complex history beyond the ancient façades, I took hundreds of photos while walking the streets of Antigua and viewing as many nunneries, cathedrals, monasteries, schools, and colourful houses as possible. Selected photos were transferred to board and to recycled textured canvases to recreate the effects of aged walls and tell their stories. After painfully removing the paper layers and leaving behind the ink imprint, acrylic paint was applied to strengthen the vibrant and true colours of the walls and facades of La Antigua. Other images were directly collaged and highlighted with vivid acrylic. All the artworks bear the name of their original location and wish to convey to viewers the amazing history and hidden emotions rendered by the ancient walls of La Antigua. | Mariposa | Cesar Forero | Verbal insults are triggered by words that only have power if we allow them to affect us. This project begins by recalling the word “Mariposa” (“Butterfly”), which in Colombian culture is used dismissively to insult a man who has feminine mannerisms. By using this word, the intention is to humiliate the recipient as if it were an act of lowering their social status. The perpetrator’s goal is to imply that having a certain mannerism is a reason to insinuate that this person is less welcome or deserves mistreatment because of a personality trait. I have created a series of artworks depicting the different facets of evolution from caterpillar to butterfly. I have also created a butterfly costume with the intention of weakening this aggressive verbal act and social discrimination. I think the word, when referring to a lepidopteran, actually loses all its weight. The lepidopteran phase of some insects refers to the stage when these beings are most showy and colourful, with large, striking wings. It also reflects the success of a great metamorphic process and the adult phase that not all manage to reach.
October 15, 2025 at 2:20 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Mariposa | Cesar Forero | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
Verbal insults are triggered by words that only have power if we allow them to affect us. This project begins by recalling the word “Mariposa” (“Butterfly”), which in Colombian culture is used dismissively to insult a man who has feminine mannerisms. By using this word, the intention is to humiliate the recipient as if it were an act of lowering their social status. The perpetrator’s goal is to imply that having a certain mannerism is a reason to insinuate that this person is less welcome or deserves mistreatment because of a personality trait. I have created a series of artworks depicting the different facets of evolution from caterpillar to butterfly. I have also created a butterfly costume with the intention of weakening this aggressive verbal act and social discrimination. I think the word, when referring to a lepidopteran, actually loses all its weight. The lepidopteran phase of some insects refers to the stage when these beings are most showy and colourful, with large, striking wings. It also reflects the success of a great metamorphic process and the adult phase that not all manage to reach.This project, from a political and social perspective, reflects a mindset of moving forward toward the future of a more equitable and supportive society. This is contrary to what we are seeing in government policies in several countries, which seem to be going backwards in time with their policies of respect for all members of society. A mistaken dream presents a vision of the future that speaks of a better culture, reflecting on the past, where discrimination, racism, and lack of rights were valued. We also see government policies that only favour the economically powerful and undervalue intellectuality and social equality.
October 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Antigua, Muros de Arte | Michelle Letarte | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
A recent trip to Guatemala involved three days in La Antigua, the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala, which included most of the current countries of Central America, from 1543 through 1773. The architecture of Antigua reflects the Baroque influence of the Spanish colonial style and its importance during that period. Its unique characteristics, with its numerous significant buildings and still standing ruins led to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Three large volcanoes dominate the horizon around Antigua, the Volcán de Agua, Acatenango and the active Volcán de Fuego. Several religious orders, including Franciscans, Jesuits and Dominicans, took initiative in religious and educational matters and built churches, cloisters, schools and even a university. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and fires caused severe damage to many of the early buildings. Ruins abound, and limited restorations leave an intriguing mixture of old walls partially covered with ancient frescoes and invasive vegetation. Totally enthralled by the arty and complex history beyond the ancient façades, I took hundreds of photos while walking the streets of Antigua and viewing as many nunneries, cathedrals, monasteries, schools, and colourful houses as possible. Selected photos were transferred to board and to recycled textured canvases to recreate the effects of aged walls and tell their stories. After painfully removing the paper layers and leaving behind the ink imprint, acrylic paint was applied to strengthen the vibrant and true colours of the walls and facades of La Antigua. Other images were directly collaged and highlighted with vivid acrylic. All the artworks bear the name of their original location and wish to convey to viewers the amazing history and hidden emotions rendered by the ancient walls of La Antigua.
October 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | propellerartgallery.com
Antigua, Muros de Arte | Michelle Letarte | Michelle Letarte is an experimental scientist, educator and a mixed media artist based in Toronto. Years of research with cells/ molecules give her a distinct and often very focused perspective, trying to unravel the secrets of ancient walls/ caves encountered in her numerous travels, or exploring unusual natural habitats. She is an experimentalist, working in different techniques and media. She sees every exhibition as a new project, to be explored and shared with the viewers. Her artworks are in private collections in many countries. Michelle has been at Propeller Art Gallery since 2009, has served as a board member for several years, including Chair during the pandemic, and is currently Chair of the Membership Committee. | Mariposa | Cesar Forero, Artist, Architect & Performer Forero is a Colombian/Canadian, BIPOC and member of the LGBTQIA2S+ artist with a background in architecture, sculpture, painting, and public performance. He is currently the president of the Ontario Society of Artists. He is a member and exhibition coordinator of the International Academy of Ceramist AIC/IAC. He holds an MA from the Minnesota State University and an MFA from the University of Waterloo, Ontario. His artworks and performances are shown worldwide, stand in public and private collections and have been nationally and internationally awarded. His practice emphasizes social, humanitarian and environmental issues. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French and German. As a hobby, Forero cultivates a passion for bonsai. His artistic practice has focused on the protection of our society’s rights and the well-being of our planet, which go hand in hand. A big portion of his artwork is dedicated to creating opportunities to present the artwork nationally and around the globe for himself and his colleagues. He is an exhibition leader and facilitator at several national and international art organizations.
October 8, 2025 at 1:41 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 4, 2 – 5 pm | Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | propellerartgallery.com
Totally enthralled by the arty and complex history beyond the ancient façades, I took hundreds of photos while walking the streets of Antigua and viewing as many nunneries, cathedrals, monasteries, schools, and colourful houses as possible. Selected photos were transferred to board and to recycled textured canvases to recreate the effects of aged walls and tell their stories. After painfully removing the paper layers and leaving behind the ink imprint, acrylic paint was applied to strengthen the vibrant and true colours of the walls and facades of La Antigua. Other images were directly collaged and highlighted with vivid acrylic. All the artworks bear the name of their original location and wish to convey to viewers the amazing history and hidden emotions rendered by the ancient walls of La Antigua. - Michelle Letarte | Verbal insults are triggered by words that only have power if we allow them to affect us. This project begins by recalling the word “Mariposa” (“Butterfly”), which in Colombian culture is used dismissively to insult a man who has feminine mannerisms. By using this word, the intention is to humiliate the recipient as if it were an act of lowering their social status. The perpetrator’s goal is to imply that having a certain mannerism is a reason to insinuate that this person is less welcome or deserves mistreatment because of a personality trait. I have created a series of artworks depicting the different facets of evolution from caterpillar to butterfly. I have also created a butterfly costume with the intention of weakening this aggressive verbal act and social discrimination. I think the word, when referring to a lepidopteran, actually loses all its weight. The lepidopteran phase of some insects refers to the stage when these beings are most showy and colourful, with large, striking wings. It also reflects the success of a great metamorphic process and the adult phase that not all manage to reach. - Cesar Forero
October 3, 2025 at 2:55 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Antigua, Muros de Arte | Michelle Letarte | Opening today at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
Totally enthralled by the arty and complex history beyond the ancient façades, I took hundreds of photos while walking the streets of Antigua and viewing as many nunneries, cathedrals, monasteries, schools, and colourful houses as possible. Selected photos were transferred to board and to recycled textured canvases to recreate the effects of aged walls and tell their stories. After painfully removing the paper layers and leaving behind the ink imprint, acrylic paint was applied to strengthen the vibrant and true colours of walls and facades of La Antigua. Other images were directly collaged and highlighted with vivid acrylic. All the artworks bear the name of their original location and wish to convey to viewers the amazing history and hidden emotions rendered by the ancient walls of La Antigua.
October 1, 2025 at 1:51 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Mariposa | Cesar Forero | Opening today at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
Verbal insults are triggered by words that only have power if we allow them to affect us. This project begins by recalling the word “Mariposa” (“Butterfly”), which in Colombian culture is used dismissively to insult a man who has feminine mannerisms. By using this word, the intention is to humiliate the recipient as if it were an act of lowering their social status. The perpetrator’s goal is to imply that having a certain mannerism is a reason to insinuate that this person is less welcome or deserves mistreatment because of a personality trait. I have created a series of artworks depicting the different facets of evolution from caterpillar to butterfly. I have also created a butterfly costume with the intention of weakening this aggressive verbal act and social discrimination. I think the word, when referring to a lepidopteran, actually loses all its weight. The lepidopteran phase of some insects refers to the stage when these beings are most showy and colourful, with large, striking wings. It also reflects the success of a great metamorphic process and the adult phase that not all manage to reach.
October 1, 2025 at 1:46 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Artist Talk: Sunday, September 28, 2 pm, at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Shape Shift | Anne McAlear | Grids | Beverley Daniels| propellerartgallery.com
I have gravitated toward making grids for the past few years. In doing art, when I feel the nudge to go in a certain direction, I go there, but I have been wondering why this particular orientation of mine persists. I may not have answered this question, but in attempting to do so, I have come to appreciate better the effect of one’s environment on what one makes. Walking in a North American city with its insistent grids, its repetition of rectangles, is bound to inculcate a quadrilateral bias in one’s mental image bank. - Beverley Daniels | Making abstract art was not easy for me. My previous work was in realism. I chose to move to abstract because I fell in love with the work of the American abstract expressionists. I chose it because it challenges me. I love how colours play off of each other; I love texture and immediacy. The constant trial of getting this down on paper or panel that both satisfies and confounds me. - Anne McAlear
September 26, 2025 at 1:46 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Shape Shift | Anne McAlear | Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/... |
Making abstract art was not easy for me. My previous work was in realism. I chose to move to abstract because I fell in love with the work of the American abstract expressionists. I chose it because it challenges me. I love how colours play off of each other; I love texture and immediacy. The constant trial of getting this down on paper or panel that both satisfies and confounds me. I work in a variety of mediums, cold wax and oil, pastels or oil sticks. I like the unpredictable outcomes that usually usurp my vision of what the work was to be, but, usually, they can bring me better surprises. - Anne McAlear
September 24, 2025 at 2:07 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Grids | Beverley Daniels | Continuing at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
Artist Talk: Sunday, September 28, 2 pm | I have gravitated toward making grids for the past few years. In doing art, when I feel the nudge to go in a certain direction, I go there, but I have been wondering why this particular orientation of mine persists. I may not have answered this question, but in attempting to do so, I have come to appreciate better the effect of one’s environment on what one makes. Walking in a North American city with its insistent grids, its repetition of rectangles, is bound to inculcate a quadrilateral bias in one’s mental image bank. We live in grids of time and of space. Calendars are grids of time, useful things to help us organize ourselves. Grids of space are largely for organization as well: the street grid and the transit network that follows it, and the water main and power grids. In the built-up centre of the city, a grid is also aesthetic: fenestration gives each tall building a different face, making intensification enjoyable rather than monotonous. Like a calendar, a map can be a useful grid. The grids of maps can mislead, though, with their lines of latitude and longitude, which, close up look rectilinear but which we know are not. A map grid can be a claim of authority over a place, as in mapping a place that you are taking from others who already live there, naming it and dividing it into rectilinear lots, which you apportion to your fellow settlers. Small wonder, then, that I keep coming back to grids. To look at them is to try to understand the world. - Beverley Daniels
September 24, 2025 at 2:03 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Grids | Beverley Daniels | Shape Shift | Anne McAlear | September 10 – 28 | propellerartgallery.com
I have gravitated toward making grids for the past few years. In doing art, when I feel the nudge to go in a certain direction, I go there, but I have been wondering why this particular orientation of mine persists. I may not have answered this question, but in attempting to do so, I have come to appreciate better the effect of one’s environment on what one makes. Walking in a North American city with its insistent grids, its repetition of rectangles, is bound to inculcate a quadrilateral bias in one’s mental image bank. - Beverley Daniels | Making abstract art was not easy for me. My previous work was in realism. I chose to move to abstract because I fell in love with the work of the American abstract expressionists. I chose it because it challenges me. I love how colours play off of each other; I love texture and immediacy. The constant trial of getting this down on paper or panel that both satisfies and confounds me. - ANNE MCALEAR
September 19, 2025 at 2:56 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing today at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Shape Shift | Anne McAlear | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
Making abstract art was not easy for me. My previous work was in realism. I chose to move to abstract because I fell in love with the work of the American abstract expressionists. I chose it because it challenges me. I love how colours play off of each other; I love texture and immediacy. The constant trial of getting this down on paper or panel that both satisfies and confounds me. I work in a variety of mediums, cold wax and oil, pastels or oil sticks. I like the unpredictable outcomes that usually usurp my vision of what the work was to be, but, usually, they can bring me better surprises.
September 17, 2025 at 7:48 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Continuing today at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | Grids | Beverley Daniels | propellerartgallery.com/exhibitions/...
I have gravitated toward making grids for the past few years. In doing art, when I feel the nudge to go in a certain direction, I go there, but I have been wondering why this particular orientation of mine persists. I may not have answered this question, but in attempting to do so, I have come to appreciate better the effect of one’s environment on what one makes. Walking in a North American city with its insistent grids, its repetition of rectangles, is bound to inculcate a quadrilateral bias in one’s mental image bank. We live in grids of time and of space. Calendars are grids of time, useful things to help us organize ourselves. Grids of space are largely for organization as well: the street grid and the transit network that follows it, and the water main and power grids. In the built-up centre of the city, a grid is also aesthetic: fenestration gives each tall building a different face, making intensification enjoyable rather than monotonous. Like a calendar, a map can be a useful grid. The grids of maps can mislead, though, with their lines of latitude and longitude, which, close up look rectilinear but which we know are not. A map grid can be a claim of authority over a place, as in mapping a place that you are taking from others who already live there, naming it and dividing it into rectilinear lots, which you apportion to your fellow settlers. Small wonder, then, that I keep coming back to grids. To look at them is to try to understand the world.
September 17, 2025 at 7:44 PM
propellergallery.bsky.social
Opening Reception today, Saturday Sept. 13, at Propeller Art Gallery, one of the oldest artist-run galleries in Toronto, Canada | propellerartgallery.com
Making abstract art was not easy for me. My previous work was in realism. I chose to move to abstract because I fell in love with the work of the American abstract expressionists. I chose it because it challenges me. I love how colours play off of each other; I love texture and immediacy. The constant trial of getting this down on paper or panel that both satisfies and confounds me. I work in a variety of mediums, cold wax and oil, pastels or oil sticks. I like the unpredictable outcomes that usually usurp my vision of what the work was to be, but, usually, they can bring me better surprises. - ANNE MCALEAR | Walking in a North American city with its insistent grids, its repetition of rectangles, is bound to inculcate a quadrilateral bias in one’s mental image bank. We live in grids of time and of space. Calendars are grids of time, useful things to help us organize ourselves. Grids of space are largely for organization as well: the street grid and the transit network that follows it, and the water main and power grids. In the built-up centre of the city, a grid is also aesthetic: fenestration gives each tall building a different face, making intensification enjoyable rather than monotonous. Like a calendar, a map can be a useful grid. The grids of maps can mislead, though, with their lines of latitude and longitude, which, close up look rectilinear but which we know are not. A map grid can be a claim of authority over a place, as in mapping a place that you are taking from others who already live there, naming it and dividing it into rectilinear lots, which you apportion to your fellow settlers. Small wonder, then, that I keep coming back to grids. To look at them is to try to understand the world.
September 13, 2025 at 11:55 AM