July 2010
La Petite Mort Gallery Presents:
THE BROTHERS RUHLAND: HERMAN & FRITS
MIXED MEDIA & MAGICAL WONDERS FROM THE WOODS
July 2 – 31, 2010
Vernissage Friday July 2 / 7-10 PM
Tunes by DJ JAS NASTY
Proudly sponsored by CKCU 93.1 FM, MAMBO & KINKI
HERMAN RUHLAND:
Born in the Netherlands near Amsterdam, the witnessing of the Nazi occupation as a very young boy made an everlasting impression on him and became a benchmark for all other things to come.
Studied horticulture and agriculture and worked in that field. During his draft into the military service, he met artists and
people interested in art, this set him off in working in the field of art. A lot of this desire came through in his garden designs.
Married a girl named Margretha, settled in Ottawa, has a family of 4 and running a garden design (hands on) company.
Attended the Ottawa School of Art for several sessions. Has been influenced by Ecole de Paris art movement (International, abstract, vivid colours) and American Art Movement.
Lives on a farm near Ottawa.
For this show he has made several objet trouves _found objects sculptures, these are derived from old farm, crafts and utility objects, leftovers quite often of my stock as an antique dealer.
Some of these no doubt are influenced by other artists gone before.
The paintings are from different series: Still Lives, Buddha, Music, general abstract or abstracted.
We will bring an old farm to Guys Studio.The painting that I do for my works is memory induced. The works in this show have been greatly influenced from my travels through Italy, France and of course, Amsterdam. My experience as a collector and art dealer of antique objects, furniture, etc shows through in my objet trouvé works.
FRITS RUHLAND:
The youngest of a very large family , born near Amsterdam, grew up in the turbulent years of the 70’s; Amsterdam’s gathering place of youth of all different nationalities and adhering to the so called alternative culture (music, street_performances ,etc.)
Frits makes Ottawa his home for the summer months, lives in the Netherlands during the rest of the year.
He collects vintage ceramics and gnomes, loves the Fauna, Flora and ancient rocks to be found at the farm, so influencing artistic output, as can be seen by his extensive and surreal stone constructions and magical tree decorations in the woods at his cottage near Ottawa.
Frits will bring these tree hangings and art formations to the July show His painted small figures that hang in trees are a total delight.
OUTSIDER ART:
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut ( “raw art” or “rough art”), a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.
While Dubuffet’s term is quite specific, the English term “outsider art” is often applied more broadly, to include certain self-taught or Naïve art makers who were never institutionalized. Typically, those labeled as outsider artists have little or no contact with the mainstream art world or art institutions. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, or elaborate fantasy worlds.
Outsider art has emerged as a successful art marketing category (an annual Outsider Art Fair has taken place in New York since 1992). The term is sometimes misapplied as a catch-all marketing label for art created by people outside the mainstream “art world,” regardless of their circumstances or the content of their work.
** Canapes provided by KINKI:
KINKI is sushi inspired creations & so much more. Get KINKI
www.kinki.ca
** Canapes provided by MAMBO:
MAMBO is fresh and exotic with Explosions of New Latin Inspired flavours. www.mambonuevolatino.com
Thank you,
Guy Berube, director