Saturday, 27 February 2016
ARTIST TALK BY VICTORIA LEBLANC-CURTOR AND DIRECTOR OF THE GALLERY OF VICTORIA HALL-HOMEIRA MORTAZAVI-CATHERINE BENNY-SHAHRZAD GHAFFARI-23 FEBRUARY 2016-7 PM
Catherine Benny, Shahrzad
Ghaffari and Homeira Mortazavi share the space at
The Gallery at Victoria Hall
February 3 to 27, 2016
The
Gallery at Victoria Hall is pleased to bring together three artists who share a
passion for the floral world and have transformed that passion into art. Catherine Benny, Shahrzad Ghaffari and
Homeira Mortazavi all explore the floral theme from unique perspectives. But whether from close up or afar, the images
of isolated flowers beginning to bud or fields of impressionistic swaths of
colour, rekindle our delight in this eternal theme. While flowers have served metaphorically
throughout the history of art as symbols of life and plenitude, these works
remind us of the sheer fact of their physical beauty and the emotional response
they evoke. The exhibition runs from
February 4th to February 27th ; the vernissage takes place Wednesday, February
3rd at 6 p.m. As well, the public is invited
to An Artist and Curator Exchange on Tuesday, February 23rd at 7 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Monday to Friday: 10
a.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The
Gallery at Victoria Hall
4626
Sherbrooke Street, Westmount (Québec) H3Z 1G1 tel: 989-5226
Homeira & Catherine and myself together with Victoria Leblanc, the curtor and director of the Gallery and the Gallery of Victoria Hall of Westmount thank most sincerely all our visitors and guests for your precious visit and comments.
Catherine Benny`s works offer a lively and impressionistic take on her subject – mostly fields of flowers depicted from differing vantage points with emphasis on shifting hues, from brilliant yellow to subtle creams and soft lavenders. The artist has developed an approach to painting that involves blending the colours directly on the canvas using a palette knife. A rich tonal variation is achieved through a deft painterly touch that captures a sense of transience – as if the fields are in constant transformation and movement. The layered, built up texture of the painting surface adds to the viewer`s engagement with not just the subject but the paint itself. Since 2011, Benny has exhibited in several group and solo shows in Montreal and Florida; she is represented in Florida by Gallery 2014.
Shahrzad Ghaffari`s photographs move the viewer to an intimate often `”zoomed in” view of her subject – flowers isolated against an atmospheric backdrop that serves to underline the intricate delicate structure, texture and hue of her theme. For Ghaffari, her attraction to nature`s beauty, in particular flowers, has become a happy obsession, if not a form of meditation as she focuses for hours on capturing the specific color, emotion and movement of her chosen image. “A dialogue ensues between what attracts my mind, the subject and my camera. I try to materialize what I feel and see.” The reduced or minimal compositional format reinforces this sense of meditative reflection as if we are asked to bring our own attention to bear upon the beauty of the image before us.
As a painter, Homeira Mortazavi`s central focus is on women and flowers, in particular the rose; the two themes are often symbolically juxtaposed in a surreal fashion. Several of the large format oil paintings featured here offer exquisitely rendered intimate views of roses, grouped such that a rhythmic pattern of tonal pinks, corals or the softest blues, keeps our eye moving across the canvas surface. Three of the works bring together figure and flower, as, for instance, `”In Peace’ where the female figure turns away from the viewer to gaze at the looming image of the open rose as if greeting a friend or acknowledging a communicating presence. Mortazavi`s technical skill is repeatedly evident in the handling of both human and natural forms as she celebrates the beauty of both. Mortazavi has enjoyed both solo and group exhibitions in Montreal, Quebec and in the United States.
1001 thanks to where and whom they belong to!
Friday, 26 February 2016
BIRTHDAY PARTY OUR WONDERFUL SHEILA LAWRENCE- WITH OUR PRECIOUS GUEST OF HONOR: VINCENT WARREN -17 FEB 2016-1-PHOGRAPH: Shahrzad Ghaffari, Hotel Auberge Manoir Ville Marie Montreal
To the wonderful guests who attended this beautiful party and made it so special but might not be on these photographs: I regret that I could not catch you!
Next time, I will not miss you!
It was wonderful,
It was marvelous....
Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
Sheila Lawrence birthday party- Posing stair case-1 & 2 , Photograph: Ron
Sheila Lawrence birthday party- Posing stair case-3 , Photograph: Ron
We love you Sheila and we enjoy your workshops and your teachings...what is amazing is the continuity! Thanks to you for offering the accessibility to Ballet to all of us as we enjoy it entirely through happy moments !
We also thank most sincerely our wonderful ballernias who organized so wonderfully this event.
Many thanks to our wonderful Louis Rousseau who is sharing the love of ballet with us!
Next time, I will not miss you!
It was wonderful,
It was marvelous....
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| Sheila Lawrenc, Our beautiful Canada's Ballet Legend: 5, Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
Thanks to you all Sheila's fun ballerinas for the great organization of this party and all the guests who brought so much joy to this unforgettable party!
Sheila seemed enjoying her amazing Birthday Party,
and so did all of us!
Let's party more often!!!
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time: 1
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time: 2
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 1
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 2
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 3
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time: 3
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time: 4
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time: 5
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time: 6
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 4
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time: 3
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party- Sheila Lawrence, Our beautiful Ballet Legend: 1,
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Our two fantastic Canada's Ballet Legends - Hug time-Sheila Lawrence & Vincent Warren- 1 Sheila Lawrence birthday party-
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time- 10
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 5
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chattubg time - 4
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrenc, Our beautiful Canada's Ballet Legend: 2, Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Hug time: 2
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 11
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 12 & 13
Photograph: Shahrzad & Ron
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having lots of fun: 1
Photograph: Ron
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time: 14
Photograph: Ron
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time- Danielle & Kate- 1
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time- Staircase: 1 & 2
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time- Staircase: 3
Photograph: Ron
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun with Tutus-1
Photograph: Ron
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having fun with Tutus: 2
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having fun with Tutus: 3
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having fun with Tutus: 4
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having fun with Tutus: 5
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having fun with Tutus: 6
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having fun with Tutus: 7
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having fun with Tutus: 8
Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having fun with Tutus: 1a & 1b & 1c & 1b
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Sheila the Queen & Louis the King with fun Tutu ladies: 1
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Sheila the Queen & Louis the King with fun Tutu ladies: 2
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun with Tutus: 1
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun with Tutus: 2
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun with Tutus:-3
Photograph: Ron
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun with Tutus: Devon Philips & Shahrzad Ghaffari-4
Photograph: Ron
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun with Tutus: Devon Philips & Shahrzad Ghaffari-4
Photograph: Ron
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Having Fun with Tutus: 6
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun with Tutus: 7
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun with Tutus: 8
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun with Tutus: 9
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Having Fun -Ron: 1
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Sheila & Lisha: 1 & 2
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari, Manoir Ville Marie.
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Sheila Lawrenc, Our beautiful Canada's Ballet Legend: 3, Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Sheila Lawrenc, Our beautiful Canada's Ballet Legend: 4, Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party- Vincent Warren-the Guest of Honor the Canada's Ballet Legend:& Francis Goldberg Artist & Balerina-1 Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing time-15 Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time-5 Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time-6 Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time-7 Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time-8 Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
Sheila Lawrence birthday party- Posing stair case-1 & 2 , Photograph: Ron
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing stair case-5 Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing stair case-1 & 2 & 3 & 4 Photograph: Ron |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing stair case-1 & 2 & 3 & 4 Photograph: Ron |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Chatting time- 9 Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Sheila Lawrenc, Our beautiful Canada's Ballet Legend: 5,
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Sheila Lawrenc, Our beautiful Canada's Ballet Legend: 6,
Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party-Posing on staircase-7 Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
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| Sheila Lawrence birthday party- Sheila Lawrence & Louis Rousseau Photograph: Shahrzad Ghaffari |
We also thank most sincerely our wonderful ballernias who organized so wonderfully this event.
Many thanks to our wonderful Louis Rousseau who is sharing the love of ballet with us!
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