Series features work by Fredericton artists Marie Fox and Stephanie Weirathmueller.
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is proud to announce that Marie Fox and Stephanie Weirathmueller have been selected as the artists for the Studio Watch Emerging Artist Series 2015. The series, now in its eleventh year, gives up-and-coming New Brunswick artists who have been working full-time at their art for at least five years the opportunity of a major exhibition and exposure to a wider audience. Further, it provides them with financial assistance and the opportunity to have their work purchased by the Gallery, while also encouraging art patrons in the community to support them.
Although primarily self-taught, Marie Fox studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in the fine arts program. She works out of Fredericton and has exhibited in Fredericton and Charlottetown. She describes her focus in this exhibition as “drawing upon personal and cultural mythologies.” Drawing influences from her own diverse ancestry (First Nations spirituality and the old world painting style of the Northern European Renaissance), she hopes “to weave together a conversation that resonates with many Canadians.” Her figures are painted outside of physical context, heightening the sense of myth and archetype with which she imbues them. Fox retains, however, a sense of individuality, as the “subjects were requested to model what they interpreted as personal automatic/symbolic gestures they perceive as a ‘prayer’, but also to leave behind the particular religious/social connotations with the word ‘prayer’.”
Stephanie Weirathmueller, also of Fredericton, graduated from Mount Allison University in 2005 with a Bachelor’s degree in fine art and has exhibited in several venues in the Fredericton area. She considers her work a “reflection of day-to-day life.” The work Weirathmueller has presented for the Studio Watch exhibition is done using layered oil paints which she says “lends a meditative quality to the work.” Her paintings are moments — a woman putting on her earrings, a silhouette beside the bed in an otherwise darkened room, a snowy night — pulled out of time and held fast. As the artist puts it, they are “humble depictions of the ordinary, with an underlying sense of loss and longing.” The paintings, even the landscapes, feel tightly cropped, suggesting the world just outside the frame without ever showing it.
The Studio Watch: Emerging Artist Series — Painting 2015 exhibition is curated by Bernard Riordon, Director Emeritus of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and made possible through the generous contribution of Earl and Sandy Brewer. Studio Watch opens Thursday, June 25, 2015 and runs until Sunday, August 30, 2015. Admission is free for Beaverbrook Art Gallery members and for children age six and under. More information on memberships and benefits can be found here.
