Animalau Blog

Art Toronto is happening right now! I am so honoured to have a few pieces in the show this year with Mary Conover and  Patricia Avellan at Navillus Gallery’s booth, 432.

From the Ontario Art Gallery’s website: “As Canada’s premier fair for modern and contemporary art, Art Toronto is a celebration of some of the world’s best contemporary artists and an opportunity for new artists to be discovered. Art Toronto is one of the most successful art fairs in North America and the Opening Night Preview is a not-to-be-missed event on Toronto’s cultural calendar.”

Opening Night Preview is tonight and the show will run until Monday. Tickets can be bought at the door in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (North Building, Exhibit Hall A & B 255 Front Street West), or with a $2 discount online at the Art Toronto website and the Ontario Art Gallery website.

Hours:

-Christie

This past summer, I was commissioned to design a tattoo of the hedgehog from the beautiful Soviet/Russian animated film by Yurij Norshteyn. It is about a hedgehog going to visit his friend, the bear cub. They like to drink tea and count the stars, and today he is bringing bear some rasberry jam. I have attached a youtube link of the 1975 animation, it is really special!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhlW5pYv_lg

-Christie

Hello,

I wanted to thank all who came out on Thursday night to the opening reception at Navillus Gallery! I enjoyed meeting everyone and seeing old friends. To have a look at photos of opening night (and if you were there maybe see your photo too!), check out the album on the gallery’s facebook page.

The exhibition will be up until December 2nd, so please feel free to drop by the gallery to have a look at the two new series (swans and oil paintings), as well as the doe, king of speed and animal citizens series! The gallery did an amazing job condensing my descriptions onto the labels. If it interests you, I would be very happy to come in to talk more about the work and my process, inspirations and resources. Please e-mail the gallery or me to arrange it 🙂

The gallery hours are:

Tuesday-Saturday: 10:00AM to 6:00 PM

Number: +1 (416) 921-6467

E-mail: tsullivan@navillusgallery.com or mail@christielau.com

I also want to thank you for the flowers, encouraging messages and baked goods!

-Christie

From the “King of Speed” series.

As with all drawings in this series, I used a nib to draw the original cheetah. For IV, I burned the image of the cheetah onto a silkscreen and printed him until the ink started to clog the stencil. I especially like the last image, where the stencil clogged the area around his waist. His long, lean body looks exaggerated and sickly. Please click HERE to read my description of this series.

I recently became interested in King Charles II, the last of the Hapsburg Spanish line. The House of Hapsburg began in the 10th century, gradually gaining influence and territory via strategic marriages. The pinnacle of their empire came in the 1500s, with King Charles V, whose empire spanned across Europe, the Far East and the Americas. It was around this time that the Hapsburg family, the royal descendants of Spain, Austria and Bavaria, stopped outbreeding. Consequentially, King Charles II was the ultimate product of severe inbreeding. He suffered from many physical and mental disabilities, and was unfit to rule and produce offspring. He died in 1700 and the Hapsburg strategy of marriage to increase their power, in the end, became the reason for their extinction.

The silkscreen is the first printing method in which colour was an option, so I decided to mix a deep blue and silver, making a reference to the English idiom “blue blood” for royal lineage. I liked the idea of printing with imaginary blue blood because even though it is beautiful and iridescent, it succumbs to the physicality of the printing method, just like anything else.

The show opening at Navillus Gallery is tomorrow and this royal guy will be there! I am very excited and I’ll see you soon!

-Christie