Susan Hobbs

Photos:

The Giants: ha!, 2011, edition of 3,
archival ink jet print, 117 x 84 cm

The Giants: nap, 2011, edition of 3,
archival ink jet print, 99 x 76 cm

Three Places: The Reading Gaol, 2011,
video, wood, fabric, montior

Babe (Fold Heads outcast), 2009, acrylic on panel and silk, wire, 166 x 61.5 x 24 cm

installation view of The Fold Heads, 2009,

Go Down In, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 305 x 277 cm

The Distance of the Minute Hand, 2009, acrylic on linen
122 x 152.5 cm

Scenes for My Affection, 2007 (detail), 6 paintings, oil on panel with glass, plastic, felt, lighting gel, mylar, 61 x 61 cm each

belong together, 2006, oil and gesso on canvas, 61 x 61 cm

Ride. Boy with a Rabbit on His Head. Orange., 2004
oil and gesso on canvas on board, 112 x 91.5 cm

Ride. Girl Kissing Ducks. Blue., 2004, oil and gesso on canvas on board, 94 x 94 cm

Bump. Red, 2003, oil and gesso on canvas, 102 x 122 cm

Sandra Meigs

Meigs’ highly enigmatic, compelling paintings combine narrative density with a signature comic gestalt. The root of her unique formal approach is an exploration of certain psychological spaces and how the act of viewing is in itself an ontological state.

I anticipate … an explosion of colour, at first the colours will look ungainly, like blobby forms coughed onto the wall: minty green, cerulean blue, milk chocolate brown … within the ground there are hidden figures and things: a toe, a dog head, a breast, etc. The viewer’s exploration of these comes to fruition when close to the canvas. When stepping away to a distance, they are lost.

— Sandra Meigs

1953
Baltimore, Maryland
1992
Canadian Citizenship
1971-73
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island
1973-75
B.F.A., Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax
1977-80
M.A. (Philosophy), Dalhousie University, Halifax

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2010
The Fold Heads, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto

about the exhibition

2009
Strange Loop, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa
2007
Scenes for My Affection, Susan Hobbs Gallery,Toronto
2004
Ride, Susan Hobbs Gallery,Toronto
2003
Swoon, Susan Hobbs Gallery,Toronto
Swoon, Art Gallery of Richmond, Richmond, British Columbia
2002
Reverie, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria
2001
The Newborn, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
1999
Musée regional de Rimouski, Rimouski
JOYJOYSORROW, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
1998
Resin Heads, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
1997
Dummies, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver
Dummies, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
1995
Canadian, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
1994
Mary, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary
Baby, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
1993
The Room of 1,000 Paintings, Mercer Union, Toronto
1992
Dead Roads, Galerie Chantal Boulanger, Montréal
1991
The desert left her free to think., Cold City Gallery
1990
Orifaces, Sir Wilfred Grenfell Art Gallery, Cornerbrook
Sandra Meigs – Pas de deux, The Power Plant, Toronto
1989
Love Muscle, Galerie Chantal Boulanger, Montréal
1988
Creative Management, Galerie Chantal Boulanger, Montréal
1987
Get Happy, Stride Gallery, Calgary
1986
The Room of 1,000 Paintings, YYZ, Toronto
1984
The Scab Picker, The Ydessa Gallery, Toronto
1983
Heavens to Betsy, Art Gallery of the University of Lethbridge, Alberta
1982
Semi Wind-up Bout, The Ydessa Gallery, Toronto
1981-82
Purgatorio, A Drinkingbout, Centre for Art Tapes, Halifax; The Ydessa Gallery, Toronto
1980
The Maelstrom, Annie Leonowens Gallery, Halifax; 112 Workshop, New York; A Space, Toronto
1978
The Pale Omnipresent Persistence, Franklin Furnace, New York
1977-78
A Dense Fog, Eye Level Gallery, Halifax
1974-75
Dogwatch Works Series (performances), Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax
1974
20 Dresses (performance), Majestic Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island
48 Dresses (performance), Canadian Linen Supply Co., Halifax

Selected Group Exhibitions

2011
This is Paradise: From the National Gallery of Canada Collection, MOCCA, Toronto
The Most She Weighed/The Least She Weighed, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
Unreal, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
2010
Adaptation: Between Species, The Power Plant, Toronto
Monster, West Vancouver Museum, Vancouver
I don't know whether to laugh or cry, Museum London, London
2009
feelers, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
2008
Bureau de Change, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff
Comic Relief, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
2006
Trip-in: The Ontology of the Imaginative Realm, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto
Telling Stories, Secret Lives, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston
2005
The Shape of Colour: Excursions in Colour Field Art 1950-2005, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
2002
Identity II, Freedman Gallery, Reading, Pennsylvania
Officina America, Galleria d‘Arte Moderne, Bologna, Italy
2001
To Remain at a Distance, Open Space/ec4 galleries, Victoria
2000
Boxed, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff
1998
Realities, Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation, Toronto
Les lieux communs, Centre International d’art Contemporain, Montréal
1997
Musée régional de Rimouski, Rimouski
Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary
1996
Making Strange, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
1992
Le Dessin Rebelle, Saidye Bronfman Centre, Montréal
The McIntyre Ranch Project, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge
1990
Dangerous Goods, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton
1987
From Sea to Shining Sea, The Power Plant, Toronto
Written Images, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Trigger, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver
1986
Patio Lawn Slope, The Gallery, Scarborough College, Toronto
1985
Toronto Painting ‘84, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg; Glenbow Museum, Calgary; Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton; Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor; The Gallery/Stratford, Stratford
1984
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Theatre of the Imagination, Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, Montréal
Toronto/Amsterdam, Fodor Museum, Amsterdam
Subjects in Pictures, 49th Parallel, New York; YYZ, Toronto
Fifth Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
1982
Monumenta, Mercer Union, Toronto

Touching Animals

by Helena Reckitt (article)

C Magazine 107, Autumn 2010

Eminent Victorian: Sandra Meigs and the  sculpture of painting

by Sarah Milroy (article)

Canadian Art, Summer 2010

read (pdf)

A puppet show that veers into tragedy

by Gary Michael Dault (review)

The Globe and Mail, 20 February 2010

read (pdf)

Sandra Meigs at Carleton University Art Gallery

by Josée Drouin-Brisebois (review)

Border Crossings, December 2009

read (pdf)

Sandra Meigs: Strange Loop

by Diana Nemiroff (exhibition catalogue)

Ottawa: Carleton University Art Gallery, 2009

Lethbridge they have seen the wind

by Julia Dault (review)

National Post, 21 July 2005

Boom! Splash! Liking that colour

by Sarah Milroy (review)

The Globe and Mail, 25 June 2005

In The Shape of Colour: Excursions in Colour Field Art 1950-2005

by Ben Portis (exhibition catalogue)

Toronto: The Art Gallery of Ontario, 2005

Sandra Meigs: The Bump and Ride Paintings

by Chen Tamir (review)

C Magazine, Spring 2005

Simply deceptive

by Peter Goddard (review)

The Toronto Star, 4 November 2004

Officina America

by Renato Barilli (exhibition catalogue)

Milano: Edizioni Gabriele Mazzotta, 2002

Sandra Meigs

by Rosemary Heather (review)

tema celeste, November-December 2001

A nice afternoon’s journey into light

by Gary Michael Dault (review)

The Globe and Mail, 8 September 2001

The thinking person’s artist.

John Bentley Mays (article)

The National Post, 1 September 2001

The Newborn

by Nancy Tousley (exhibition catalogue)

Toronto: Susan Hobbs Gallery, 2001

JOYJOYSORROW

by Corinna Ghaznavi (review)

dArt International, Winter 2000

Putting a new face on painting

by Blake Gopnik (review)

The Globe and Mail, 18 September 1999

Sandra Meigs catches a wave

by Gary Michael Dault (review)

The Globe and Mail, 4 September 1999

Coming face to face with our paranoia

by Blake Gopnik (review)

The Globe and Mail, 12 September 1998

Picturing the real, and then some

by Christopher Hume (review)

The Toronto Star, 27 June 1998

Les lieux communs: culture populaire et art contemporain

by Gaston St. Pierre (exhibition catalogue)

Saint Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec: Centre de sculpture Est-Nord-Est, 1998

Chasing truth through the looking glass

by Gary Michael Dault (review)

The Globe and Mail, 6 June 1998

Sandra Meigs: Strange Enchantment

by Nancy Tousley (article)

Canadian Art, Winter 1997

Sandra Meigs: Dummies

by Barbara Fischer (exhibition catalogue)

Vancouver: Contemporary Art Gallery, 1997

Making Strange makes sense

by Betty Ann Jordan (review)

The Globe and Mail, 5 October 1996

Making Strange

by Jessica Bradley (exhibition brochure)

Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1996

Mary

by Nancy Tousley (review)

The Calgary Herald, June 1994

Orifaces

by Colleen O’Neill (exhibition catalogue)

St. John’s: Memorial University, 1991

Sandra Meigs: Le Saisissement du reel

by Claire Gravel (article)

Vie des Arts, September 1990

Sandra Meigs

by John K. Grande (review)

Artforum, April 1990

Sandra Meigs: Pas de deux

by Louise Dompierre (exhibition catalogue)

Toronto: The Power Plant, 1990

It’s a Strange World

by Elke Town (review)

Vanguard, April-May 1987

Sea to Shining Sea

ed. AA Bronson (exhibition catalogue)

Toronto: The Power Plant, 1987

Sandra Meigs

by William Wood (review)

C Magazine, Winter 1986/87

Theatre of the Imagination

by Jean Tourangeau (review)

Vanguard, April 1985

Subjects in Pictures

by Philip Monk (article)

Parachute, December/January/February 1984-85

Theatre of the Imagination

by Pierre Landry (exhibition catalogue)

Montreal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1984

80/1/2/3/4

by Tim Guest (review)

Vanguard, May 1984

Subjects in Pictures

by Philip Monk (exhibition catalogue)

New York and Toronto: 49th Parallel and YYZ, 1984

Toronto Painting ‘84

by David Burnett (exhibition catalogue)

Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1984

The Snakes in the Garden: The Self and the City in Contemporary Canadian Art

by John Bentley Mays (book)

in Visions: Contemporary Art in Canada; Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1983

Sandra Meigs

by Richard Rhoades (review)

Parachute, December-January-February 1982-83

A harrowing ride through
Sandra Meigs’ Maelstrom

by John Bentley Mays (review)

The Globe and Mail, 12 April 1980