Landed exhibition celebrates the landscape 100 years after the Group of Seven

BY DAWN HUDDLESTONE, MANAGING EDITOR ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 - HUNTSVILLE DOPPLER

One hundred years ago, the Group of Seven formed and changed the Canadian art landscape forever.

“It’s a big year in recognizing landscape art and how the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson changed the Canadian conversation in regard to landscape,” says local fibre artist Pam Carnochan.

The works of members Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Franz Johnston (when he resigned, A.J. Casson was made a member), Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, and F.H. Varley was maligned at the time. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, one review of their first exhibition compared the works to “the contents of a drunkard’s stomach.”

Fortunately, they persisted and their influence can be seen in the works of many of today’s landscape artists, including some based in the Huntsville area.

A collective of local artists whose works are inspired by the local landscape is presenting a gallery exhibition this Friday evening and Saturday. “It’s an homage to the Group of Seven,” says Carnochan. The exhibition features “artists of note in the area inspired by the same landscape.”

The two-day exhibition is being hosted at the Hillside Barn.

“We wanted to host it in a historic venue that rang true with the authenticity of their time. Farms and homesteaders were trying to eke out a living at the same time that these artists were trying to eke out a living doing paintings. It was a neat blending of purpose in the area,” notes Carnochan.

The exhibition features the works of fibre artist Pam Carnochan; painters John David Anderson, Elizabeth Johnson, Marike MacDonald, Janine Marson, Catherine O’Mara, and Helena Renwick; and photographers Elizabeth Siegfried and Rob Stimpson.

On Friday evening, an opening gala will start at about 7 p.m. The artists will be in attendance to discuss their process and works

Landed: A Gallery Exhibition Celebrating the Landscape runs Friday, September 11 from 6-9 p.m. and Saturday, September 12 from 10-5 at the Hillside Barn (2295 Hwy 60, just east of Limberlost Road).