Vernissage at Galerie Bjios

Here are a few pics from last month's vernissage for my (Stephen H Kawai) exposition at Galerie Bjios (http://www.galeriebjios.blogspot.com/). The place consists of two sunny rooms, as well as a boutique space, all situated behind the most charming of teahouses on rue St. Hubert. The show went very well thanks to Chloe and Audrey, two artists who coordinate the goings-on in the art space.

I wore a shirt... had to be well-dressed for the mobiles!

Some of the pieces inspired hunger...

others mezmerized their unsuspecting victims...

... while some just made people smile.

All and all, it was a great time with many more people coming than I had expected. The fact that there was a teahouse was wonderful, especially when the gallery space became a bit crowded.

Seriously, I am grateful to the many of you (Longhaulers) who came to see the show and I encourage any of you would didn't to check out the space. They have some interesting shows lined up and are on the lookout for artists for future expositions.

Mobile Exposition at Galerie Bjios

Stephen H Kawai will have a show at Galerie Bjios (5940 St. Hubert, near Metro Rosemont) from September 17th to October 5th. The vernissage will take place from 7 to 10 pm on Friday, September 19th. The exhibition will include a number of mobiles, both recent and older. The gallery is associated with a tea house so come by, grab a cup and enjoy the art!

From the archives: Silent Art Auction '06

Here are a couples pictures from the main room of the Silent Auction I organized, which took place at the Long Haul on May 27 & 28, 2006. The show was open for viewing on these two days, then culminated in an evening emceed by former Hauler Jan Desrosiers on the 28th. Lots of artwork found homes, the profits went to the artists, and it was a fun time. Click images to enlarge.

These pieces are by Amy Drover (bunny suits), Elisabeth Belliveau (boxes), me (the painted railing), Jamie Allen and Corri-Lynn Tetz (paintings - both former Haulers):

Here's a detail of Amy's bunny suits:

Vanessa Yanow and Normand Hamel, in front of work by her (the painting peeking out at the far left), Wil Murray (small paintings in the hallway), me (the painting in the middle, and the small desk beneath the windows), Farha Dharsi (wool mobile), and Shelley Miller (the print to the right):

And here are some bios of the participating artists that were put together for the event:

Pindemonium #4 - June 2008

This year Lisa and Melissa proposed they hold their annual Pindemonium event at the Long Haul Gallery. We were delighted to host this unique and interactive art event! The concept is that each exhibitor designs a pin for the show and then Lisa and Melissa punch out 10 or 20 pins of each design for both display and trade (they made over 1000 pins for this show!?). On the night of the event each of the artists procures their bundle of pins and trades them with other pin holders. Lisa and Melissa make additional grab bags of miscellaneous pins for the public to buy and join the trade. It's a lovely opportunity to meet strangers, to check out the small format artwork, and to run around like you're a kid back in school trading stickers (or baseball cards) again! Below are some pictures from this exhibit...

Melissa and Lisa: Curators extraordinaire!


The exhibit.


Very clever and unique pin design: "Mon Portable" by Afke Benoit. Each pin was stuffed with dirt and little clover sprouts that she grew in advance, especially for the night of the trade. You had to water your little sprouted pin with a water dropper. Mine lasted 5 days.


My googly-eye pins, all ready to trade. Of course I was compelled to painstakingly make each pin a one-of-a-kind object. Wish we had more details of the individual pins, there were so many good ones!


Melissa giving an artist her pins. There were over 70 participants and about 100 people who came to the show.


The trade in action...

Ferment!

Here's a picture of my piece from this year's theme show, Ferment: my Tempeh Reuben Sandwich. I'm planning to put up some archival pictures soon too, from the Silent Art Auction of May 2006, so stay tuned.



Also, I just want to say that I'm excited for the possibilities of keeping up to date with everyone in the Haul through this new blog. There's so many of us now, that even if everyone does one post a month, it will still average out to one post each day... it has the opportunity to become a veritable hot-spot for art things not only in Montreal but from all over the place.

Photos from the Archives

I wanted to get these photos in right after our inaugural post, but shelley and heidi got right on board and posted some news - that's the spirit! Here are two photo's from back in the beginning...

The Long Hall Gallery in its original state. Sept.2001

The Long Hall Gallery's first thematic group show: "Topographies" Spring, 2002.

Heidi Barkun is now represented by Soho Myriad Art Consultants

This longhauler is now being represented by Soho Myriad Art Consulting Services based in Atlanta, GA and Los Angeles CA. They saw my work at The Artist Project - Toronto art fair in the spring and just approached me.
Check out their site: sohomyriad.com or the Artist Project: theartistprojecttoronto.com

Longhauler Shelley Miller featured in the Montreal Serai

Some of my work has been featured in an online magazine called the Montreal Serai (www.montrealserai.com)

The direct link is:
http://www.montrealserai.com/view_article.php?id=125

The Inaugural Blog Post

Photo by Rachel Granofsky of some of the Long Haulers in our new extended hall. For the full story click on the mirror link below. (clockwise from left to right: vanessa yanow, sam purdy, kate puxley, jamie q, donald caron, dana dekupyer, heidi barkun, val desjardins, heidi daehler, john tinholt, sara guindon, farha dharsi & emily rose michaud)
Montreal Mirror article, May, 2008.