A Sex Show Feb. 2 – 28

Lillian Chow

•  “Ecstasy”
• 30 x 30 inch
• Acrylic paint on wooden board
• 2022 
• $650

Sex is open to discussion. From hip-hop, rap and race in her past works. Lillian delves into another genre, the exploration of sex and her views on sex. Three pieces are presented by Lillian Chow, a package of artistic patronage to historical storylines of illustrated representations of scenes reflective to the exhibit, “A Sex Show” at Gallery 1313.

Lillian Chow

•  “The Kiss”
• 30 x 30 inch
•  Acrylic paint on wooden board
•  2022 
• $650

The contents reflect an exploration of her views on sex, love and the portrayal within the modern digital age. The disconnections of sex are still taboo and the continued censorship in daily conversations has created barriers for individuals reaching out into society to find oneself.

Gilles Morin

• “Intimacy”
• Digital composition
• 29” x 40” framed

There are all type of closeness and every time you experience intimacy with a love one you discover the many chapters in their life.

Four types of intimacies: Emotional, Intellectual, Experiential and Spiritual intimacy.

Catherine Comtois

• “Hoagies”
• 8×10
• Silver gelatin photo
• 2018 Pittsburgh

Most of my inspiration comes from what I see on the street. I love the vibrancy of neon and it’s refreshing to find something new in cities I’ve never been to.

Catherine Comtois

• “Pasta”
• 8×10
• Silver gelatin photo
• 2018 Pittsburgh

My goal is to turn photography into art, not just capture an image, because creativity enhances life and makes it worthwhile.

Catherine Comtois

• “Wraps”
• 8×10
• Silver gelatin photo
• 2018 Pittsburgh

With double exposure, what’s inside my camera is chaotic but the result by chance can be harmonious. Film photography is like sex: natural, fun, spontaneous, experimental, primitive, stimulated by all the senses.

Yasmeen Kazak

• “TROJAN Classic Condom”
• Acrylic on canvas 
• 8×8  
• 2021
• $150

My work explores my relationship to my body, sexuality, and personal space. I ‘toy’ with themes of self-voyeurism, refuge, intimacy, stigma, pleasure, and struggle. My imagery intends to glorify sex objects and present them as tools for self-exploration and growth, rather than symbols of the obscene and depraved. Especially as they relate to female pleasure.

Yasmeen Kazak

• “Toys”
• Acrylic on canvas
• 24×24  
• 2021
• $490

My subject matter is heavily influenced by my religious upbringing, where there was an active imparting of shame around having a female body. It’s also inspired by my fears around the social and economic consequences of acknowledging your sexuality publicly and online.

Grace Dam

• “Early Nightcaps II”
• 2020, 36” x 48”
•  oil on canvas
• $3,000

This series of figurative paintings explores humanity and their complex relationship, the connection between people in an interior landscape. Humans are complicated creatures with individuality and sensibilities, our communication is not always explicit. 

Grace Dam

• “Afternoon Light”
• 2021, 30”x 40”
• oil on canvas
• $2,700

In modern times technologies further complicate the fragility of this connection. These canvases reflect a close intimacy between these protagonists in their private setting, whether they might be in conversation, or not. They are in a moment of time with little promise.

ADRIANA Polanic

• “Untitled”
• Graphite and mixed media on paper
• 9 X 12

By combining realistic forms with negative space, Adriana Polanic’s work attempts to emphasize our infatuation with women’s bodies and their reduction to sexualized parts.

ADRIANA Polanic

• “Untitled”
• Graphite and mixed media on paper
•  9 X 12

The challenging relationship between self and body is also a common theme in her drawings, which is indicated by the exclusion of faces and limbs using alternate media and collage. Feelings of liminal space within the mind, as well as explorations of identity, are made prominent through the work’s sense of not knowing one’s true self.

Andria Keen

• “Entity Symmetry”
• 2021, Giclee print on photo paper
•  20”H x 10”W

Keen’s works engage with themes of temporality, cyclicality, inclusion, and the natural world. Andria works across various mediums: painting, photography, photo grammetry, analog and digital collage, clay, bronze, and mixed media sculpture.

For more of her work, visit

• www.andria-keen.format.com
• https://www.instagram.com/andriakeen
• https://andriakeen.partial.gallery

Andria Keen

• “Flatten Arousal”
• 2021, Giclee print on photo paper,
•  16”H x 16”W

She utilizes abstraction, figuration, and narrative themes to engage us in questioning our place in relation to both deep and future Time, as well as ourselves. Andria returned to the pursuit of studio work following over a decade dedicated to raising her children.

For more of her work, visit

• www.andria-keen.format.com
• https://www.instagram.com/andriakeen
• https://andriakeen.partial.gallery

• Fei  Ji

• “POLICE PHILOSOPHERS”
• 48×48
• OIL ON CANVAS

I am a figurative painter in Toronto. I try to observe life free of distraction, and I work from a variety of physical and digital environments. I am inspired by Auerbach, Doig, Freud, Velazquez, and many others.

Chazzly  Haskell

• “Longing” 
• 13 in. x 16 in.
• Charcoal on wood 

My paintings are deeply embedded by the divine feminine, while being embodied by the symbolic expressive nature of the pigments of the earth and brushstrokes, bringing that life force, energy, and presence into my paintings. Inspired by the romanticism of the old masters which have stood the test of time and applying their techniques into the modern world.

Chazzly  Haskell

• “Soft like Cotton” 
• 30 inches by 18 inches 
• Oil on Canvas 

I begin my works of art in a structured series of studies to create the energy and flow of the art piece. I gather elements within these studies I am most drawn to and create a loose and whimsical under painting. Whether it be landscapes, flowers, pets or portraits, my artwork creates an energetic yet nostalgic approach for my viewers.  Creating  a life like memory that they can visualize and feel from their own roots and emotions.

Phil Taylor

• “Things We Did On Grass”
• Mixed media collage on paper
•  13” x 15”

Things We Did On Grass, is an intimate story from my past that reads like a lost love letter or poem, a beautiful song that captures a moment in time.

Phil Taylor

•  “Dic Pic”
• Mixed media collage on paper
•  18” x 24”

Dic Pic, is a dick pic

Joe Atikian

• “Lurid”
• 24 x 24 
• Acrylic, perfume, vodka, stray hair, on canvas. 

I am a Toronto photographer, painter, and author. Being self-taught presents a tension in which I have more freedom to invent while also having less influence from artistic precedence. My current photographic practice reflects this tension. It revolves entirely around a two stage process of experiments in new methods that intertwine the mediums. My paintings are used as photographic backgrounds that are digitally enhanced or distorted to create a desired mood. 

My photographs and paintings may be based on naturalistic perspectives, but they also combine art-historical techniques such as gesture and cubist distortion to heighten the viewer’s sensory impact. Perceptions might range from joyful to surreal, but my ambition remains as a re-imagining that opens up the mind’s space.

Web: joeatikian.com 

Mirren  Hinchley

• “Live, Love, Sparkle”
• 24×36
•  $1000
• Abstract, iridescent acrylic on black canvas with gloss finish

I am a Toronto, abstract, non-objective, acrylic painter who has been painting for the last 5 years. My works have not only been displayed in Toronto gallery shows but also online galleries in Milan and the UK with enquiries from Spain and Crete.

Mirren  Hinchley

• “Passion”
• 30×40
• $1200
• Abstract, acrylic with gel on black canvas with gloss finish

My paintings reflect my love for bright, bold colors. I use a variety of painting techniques to make my works dynamic. My style and technique vary with each painting. The bolder they are the better!

I want my paintings to be unique, to make a statement, to draw and hold the viewers’ attention and provoke discussion.  

Tanya Fenkell

• Reverie
• 13×16, framed
• Water colour

In water colour, I paint my preoccupations with solitude and beauty, and how identities and bodies interact with modes of beauty and sexuality. The individuality and singularity of the body is inspiring, while at the same time the inherent, beautiful solitude of that body is sometimes also tragic, especially as it interacts with other bodies.

Tanya Fenkell

• Whispering Distance
• 20×16 , Framed
• Watercolour

The body’s solitude, even as it connects with another, is behind my choice of self-portraiture in many of my paintings. My painting style is emotional and reflects the connections I feel to my subjects and the feelings or passions they evoke My portraits acknowledge that a woman’s face and body are under constant scrutiny and judgment, which both complicates and enhances the sensual. Beauty and sexuality are intertwined, as is the question of whether these are extricable from one another.

Char    

• “Substantiation”
•  Acrylic on canvas with 3D embellishments,
•  resin coated
• 30”x24”

I have always understood my character work as a love letter to the strong and sexual female form; there has always been an avoidance towards working with self-portraiture within my creative process however. These works embody a departure from that, putting my own body in the spotlight and exploring some key moments in which I learned to embrace my body and sexual nature.

CharOne.net

Char    

•  “Zenko”
• Digital painting, printed on photo board with Float Mount
•  12”x18”

These paintings are based on a handful of photos which recall the moments in which I felt particularly empowered through the exposure of my body and my kinks, and fully embraced what is perceived to be the inherent sexuality of my female form. I chose to create these in two different mediums (acrylic and digital), as an expression of the two paths along which this process of change manifested; my real life experiences and the porn I created for the digital world.

CharOne.net

Rafael  Flores

• “They Still Haunt Me”
•  20×30
• digital photography

As a self-portrait artist, I not only photograph myself, but I also become the character that I want to be in my images. My work shows a lot of darkness, and sadness, however, I only see beauty. It is my way of expressing myself. It is my way of conquering my insecurities and my fears. In the moment of the shoot, I become someone else, and I have full control of everything, including those dark feelings. My work also tackles mental health, body insecurities, queer, and racial issues.

Rafael  Flores

• “Taboo”
• 20×30
• digital photography

My studio location is my home, for now at least, and my process in creating is simple. I set up my backdrop, my studio lighting, my camera, and I get to work! I usually have my ideas sketched out beforehand, but the odd time, I will have an idea just pop in my head. I finish off the rest in Photoshop, with a coffee or glass of wine. Depending on the mood!

Farok Nooroney

• “Soft bodies 4”
• acrylic on canvas
•  72×48 inch

This series of paintings demonstrates two parts of aesthetic features; the narrative section which tells us the story of flirting as is seen, while the other part interprets all aspects of “making love” from feeling to visual elements.

Farok Nooroney

• “Soft bodies 1”
• acrylic on canvas
• 64×62 inch

This series of paintings demonstrates two parts of aesthetic features; the narrative section which tells us the story of flirting as is seen, while the other part interprets all aspects of “making love” from feeling to visual elements.

Ardyn Gibbs

• “Safe Space”
• Video. 2019
• Link to the video piece: Video

Ardyn Gibbs (they/them) is a queer, indigenous, settler artist who is located on the territories of the Anishnawbe (Ah-nish-nah-bay) and Haudenosaunee (Ho-deh-no-show-nee) also referred to as “Haldimand County”. Ardyn is an interdisciplinary artist who works with various mediums to explore themes of queerness, intimacy, nostalgia, safety and vulnerability. Ardyn utilizes both personal and shared experiences as a method of research. They explore the ideas around what it means to feel safe existing as a queer person in the current context of the world. Ardyn works primarily in installation, while combining aspects of performance, painting, photography, video art and occasionally sculpture among other mediums. Ardyn is currently a full-time student and is enrolled in McMaster University’s Studio Arts program and aims to graduate with an Honours BFA and a minor in Community Engagement.  Ardyn’s work is constantly changing, shifting and growing with the world around them. 

Cindi Talbot

• “Safe”
• silkscreen
• image size 10” x 14 ¼”

Most of my works explore themes of femininity and its social implications. I often pair feminine imagery with masculine traditions and traditional techniques with contemporary subject matter.

Cindi Talbot

• “Silence”
• stone lithograph
• image size 16” x 22”

I like to combine seemingly disparate elements such as beauty and horror, attraction and repulsion, and refinement and crudeness to challenge the viewer with a visual and emotional tension. My themes tend to be dark, but gracefully executed, and my work is often characterized by a somewhat disturbing, psychological quality.

Katie Stegweit

• “She peels an orange for us, in the morning.“
• 30×57 inches
• oil and encaustic on un stretched canvas

She peels an orange for us, in the morning uses voluptuous shapes, messy brush strokes and juicy drips of hot wax to mimic some of the physical sensations associated with sexual experiences. This piece combines sensual imagery such as fruit, honey, hands, and lips with colour, texture and material viscosity in attempt to generate feelings of pleasure, intimacy, euphoria, warmth, and lust. The choice to create subtle erotic symbolism over graphic, overt imagery to generate these feelings was made in response to the hyper-sexualization and fetishization that flood the so-called representations of sapphic experiences.