Friday, May 31, 2019

Artist of the day, May 31: Angela Grossmann, Canadian artist, collage (#707)

While still a student at Emily Carr College (now Institute) of Art and Design in 1985, Angela Grossmann was introduced as one of the Vancouver Art Gallery's "Young Romantic" painters most likely to influence the course of painting in that decade.

Over the past 25 years, Grossmann has continued to be a significant force in the Canadian art world. In June 2006, she was included in a list of 100 artists who have most influenced students at eleven leading British art schools, including the Royal Academy, Slade and Royal College of Art.

Grossmann has devoted much of her career to examining themes of displacement and social margins through the use of collaged and transferred discarded materials. In an early series titled Affaires d'Enfants (1987), she painted on the insides of suitcases abandoned by an agency in Paris that once sponsored summer camp holidays for orphans. In 1991, she created (Sign)ifying the END of the (Second) 2nd World War using photographs of unknown European children found in second-hand shops.

Grossmann based her 1994 exhibition Scapegoats on mug shots taken of prisoners in the British Columbia Penitentiary during the 1940s. In a strange world hovering between fantasy and reality, she forced viewers to face the human side of criminals. Her 1999 exhibition, My Vocation, presented the human figure graphically sketched and enlarged. The images emerged through ephemeral layers of letters, photographs, addresses, envelopes, postage and cancellation marks.

In her recent work, Grossmann emphasizes coming-of-age themes. Alpha Girls (2004), a forceful narrative series, resonated with the emotional world of young teen girls. Paper Dolls continued the themes of social status, fashion and identity among the “paper dolls” of 2006.

Also in 2006, she joined forces once more to create a massive sculptural installation entitled Vancouver School. Grossmann collaborates with this group on a regular basis for special projects.

After earning an MFA at Concordia University and teaching at Ottawa University, Grossmann returned to Vancouver in 1997 to paint and to teach at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design and University of British Columbia.

Her work has been exhibited widely across Canada, the United States and Europe. It is in numerous public and private collections.

© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Angela Grossmann. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.



Ms Angela Grossmann

Suitcase, 1986

AG Correction- Fraud 1991

 Boy, 2003

 Boys Together, 2003

Sit Basement, 2003

Everygirl's Dream, 2005

 and Everygirl's Dream, 2005

Alpha Girls Gang, 2006

Alpha Girls, 2006

Shorts, 2006

Man and Three Dogs, 2007

Amsterdam, 2008

Black Forest, 2008

Three Girls, 2008

Two Girls, 2008

White Sandal, 2008

Looking, 2009

Three Thistles, 2009

Walking Away, 2009

Wounded Bird, 2009

Back to Front, 2010

Blonde, 2010

Outside Inside Outside, 2010

 Baby Doll, 2014

 Gloves, 2014

 Nylons, 2014

 Sandals, 2014

 Sweater, 2014

 Underwear, 2014

Back, 2014

Plaid Skirt, 2014

Man with Thinning Hair

Sorry Mother

Three-Thistles

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