First Installment!
A couple of weeks ago, Gallery 1313 asked artists to send in Covid-19 portraits.
What is a Covid-19 portrait? It’s many things to different people but in a global sense we are all sharing variations of how Covid-19 has affected us. Whether it is fear or hope or both.
As it turned out, it was up to artists to decide. They helped determine the shape and scope of the project. We received many different interpretations. There were so many submissions in fact, it became overwhelming. Not just submissions from local and national artists but also those from many different countries, each with something to say. It became like a collection of stories. We’ve decided to broaden our initial idea of one online exhibit and are now doing a series of three editions. And even then we could not include every work submitted.
Thank you to all that have taken the time to submit work and share with others this unique experience that we now all share.
Stay health and safe and enjoy.
Below you will find the first installment – but check back soon. There are two more editions with more messages yet to come!
Ce portrait représente l’isolement et le silence dans un environnement indéfinissable, mais dans lequel existe toujours la lumière.
This portrait represents isolation and silence in an indefinable environment, but one in which there is always light.
Jacques Desruisseaux
Lennoxville, Quebec
In pondering about the spirit of life, Henry Miller shared with us, “There is nothing wrong with life itself. It is the ocean in which we swim and we either adapt to it or sink to the bottom. But it is in our power as human beings not to pollute the waters of life, not to destroy the spirit which animates us.”
Ramona Pavilionis
“Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation as any painter’s or sculptor’s work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God’s spirit?” – Florence Nightingale
Christina Damianos – Artist and nurse
Christina Damianos is an artist and a nurse. She is a former member of Gallery 1313.
Christina Damianos
My self portrait called “Madonna of Debris: Junk Drawer Icon”
Lisa Anita Wegner
Terry Purell
Terry Shoffner
Shouta – Japan near Tokyo – Looking for work … in difficult times.
Devon Williams – Professional Photographer , Toronto , From Nova Scotia
“Milena” As a short presentation we made these analog portraits in April with a homemade pinhole camera. My friend Marie is studying photography at the University in Paris.
Marie Estebanez
“Tifaine” We were not sure at the beginning what would happen, for how long we’ll be staying together and kind of anxious that our relationship could be impacted in a negative way. The emergency state actually reinforced our friendship.
Marie Estebanez
“Paul” We had spent 1 month when we took these portraits. Through a poetic approach the series evokes our daily gestures, representing in a way a trait of our personality.
Marie Estebanez
“Marie” This series, created by Marie Estebanez, is showing a part of our daily life, expressing time passing and melancholia. This series also embodies our inner world and the strong relationship we built during these past 2 months.
Marie Estebanez
Physical Distance 3 is a manipulated photograph created from an image of burlap covered bushes that stood like guardians on a street in downtown Toronto. They seemed vulnerable, like figures in need of protection and, yet, strangely powerful in their measured relationship with one another. The memory now seems prescient.
Lois Schklar
“Taking Care of Business” It relates to the pandemic as a reflection of how people are dealing with COVID-19 in terms of cleaning and disinfecting to prevent
Terri Donovan
the spread of the virus. The figure mirrors the real world where a significant portion of the physical and emotional work falls to women whether it’s in the home, or in low-paying workplaces such as nursing homes and hospitals.
With plenty of blessed solitude (now enforced), I have had time to pursue ideas rattling around in my head for years but were always superseded by more pressing matters. I enjoy my wind-up toys, all 1000 of them, but have rarely had time to either play with them or to inspect them closely.
Arthur Taussig
Self portrait
Steve Stober – Toronto Photographer
‘She blooms’, 36”x 18”, Acrylic on Wooden Panel “While the art world adapts to this new normal, I’m painting and keeping positive. Art keeps going and I can find beauty during this tragic moment. A Cactus-Woman is a superwoman, she will keep blooming but will carry the thorns.
Diana Rosa
We’ve been self isolating in our house in Toronto for about 8 weeks now and taking brief daily strolls and these are images I took during this still, quiet yet unsettling time frame in global history. Thankfully we’re all well.
Leah Oates, Toronto – New York Artist
near Nantes – Picture of online Yoga – the artist’s mother.
Amelie Bouchot – France
Originally created/inspired by a prompt for a photography group I am part of. “She finally understood that grief was her love with no place for it to go.” I think we can all relate to this timeless-ness that seems to be happening now. This image depicts the mental process of this shift upon this place we call home..
Candace Cosentino
Che Against Corona
Sadko Hadzihasanovic
Toronto Artist Exhibits at Paul Petro Gallery
“Covid Vivid”- It’s a confinement photograph made during isolation.
Jelica Jovin
Too Much Screen Time – With Isolation kids are watching screens like never before – parents try to balance the screen time
Phil Anderson
Toronto Photographer
Standing in the middle of Lansdowne Ave and taking a self portrait during normal times might mean certain death. During Covid-19, it is relatively safe.
Phil Anderson
Toronto Photographer
Photography in isolation
Eva Lewarne
Mirroring
Eva Lewarne
Plague 1
Eva Lewarne
I hope for enlightening of whole world about the cause of the recent pandemic: not being a unity; in contrast to a tree that through unity can be alive and grow.
Zahra Tavassoli
Like an archaeologist, my exploration and vision depicts life between the layers of time, the unknown and the breaths we take. Using the medium of photography and sculptural objects, I strive to convey and capture a reflection of spirit that delves into the roots of our existence.
Ramona Pavilionis
Young girl diligently washing the bug in her care, in a somewhat ominous room. She seems peaceful and at ease, and the shadows surrounding her are momentarily at bay. Getting lost in the moment of domestic humdrum is the best strategy I know for the moment, as depicted via this small, innocent and seemingly oblivious child.
Simone Collins
This time of fear that we live in. Do we work together? Do we act responsibly? Who receives the N95 face masks?
Marg Foy
I’ve been having strange vivid dreams. In this one, all the buildings in the city are coming apart; dissolving into water and smoke.
Mikael Sandblom
“Self Portrait March 2020” This portrait reflects how our lives have been drastically affected due to the pandemic and the inevitable permeance of change. Through this futuristically-styled approach, this drawing denotes how reality almost seems imaginary and that uncertainty perpetuates this chaos further.
Mollia May Weidman
“Blinded” – The virus is unseen to the naked eye, and so is the future, no matter how much we’re trying to foresee it. I am blinded by the unknown.
Nika Belianina
“Dare to Grasp” – This landscape represents pandemic to me – it is grand, scary, hard to comprehend and fascinating to watch unfolding. With this self-portrait I tried to escape reality only to be confronted by the unknown forces.
Nika Belianina
“A plague on both your houses,” is the title of this analogue collage piece and a direct quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Two deaths brought on by the failure of messages received and information withheld. Lovers who decline to be apart during this time of self-isolation are the authors of their own tragedies. Love reimagined will be love rewarded at the end of this challenging time.
Danielle Cole
“Polyhedron” — is a portrait of how I feel now: immersed in myself, cut off from reality both emotionally and historically. Why medieval stylization? Well, here, apparently, some kind of tricky cognitive chain worked: epidemic-plague-middle ages-Decameron-polyhedron.
Juliana Kolesova
Want to see more? Click here for the second installment!