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Barbara Astman
Mirabelle

1978

$22,500
£17,178.14
€19,674.99
CA$31,522.40
A$35,245.90
CHF 18,487.95
MX$426,912.46
NOK 233,373.96
SEK 220,482
DKK 146,854.30

About the Item

Barbara Astman (b. 1950) is a celebrated contemporary Canadian artist, best known for her innovative work using photography and its many utilitarian offshoots such as scanners and photocopiers to mention a few. Astman is acclaimed for her pioneering multi-media approach, blending analog and digital techniques with materials or technology not typically used in the creation of fine art. In her work she addresses the intersection of identity, feminism, technology, consumerism, and media influence. The artist's oeuvre is characterized by narrative presentations, offered via everyday objects and settings in order to share her experiences and memories. This approach enables Astman to transcend the material nature of the objects/materials, imbuing them with layers of meaning. In the early 1970s, Astman came to photography by chance when she borrowed a camera to document a sculpture. Astman took self-portraits with the leftover film, capturing intimate moments realized in her studio. Years later, the Polaroid became a foundational tool in her work. She purchased her first Polaroid in 1978, and embraced it wholeheartedly going forward. Its instantaneous nature enabled Astman to access her inner world, often depicting herself organically in an act of self-discovery. Astman is one of several photographers, like Nan Goldin, who turned the camera on themselves (and their circle) during the 1970's. This work is a paradigm of Astman's practice from the late 70s where she created Polaroid grids of her contemporaries and added text to the margins, and sometimes surfaces of the images. Here a traditional typewriter embosses and prints narrative text enlivening the portraits it surrounds. The narrative, presented in the third person, examines the woman's thought process as she navigates, and comforts, her male counterpart through changes in his attitude and disposition. Astman is a well-known and accomplished professor in Canada. She joined the faculty of OCAD in 1975 and retired as Professor Emerita in 2021. Her work is featured in prominent collections across the globe, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery (Ottawa), the Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris, France), and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, England). Questions about the product? Contact us. Or visit our Toronto gallery on Thursdays or by appointment. "Untitled" (Aka "Mirabelle") 1978 Six Polaroids with typed inscription Mounted on paper Signed and dated on verso 7.75"H 10.5"W (work) 11"H 13.5"W (framed) Framed with museum glass Very good condition
  • Creator:
    Barbara Astman (1978, Canadian)
  • Creation Year:
    1978
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 7.75 in (19.69 cm)Width: 10.5 in (26.67 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very good condition.
  • Gallery Location:
    Toronto, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 03-241stDibs: LU215214063352

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Attila Richard Lukacs (b. 1962) is one of Canada's most distinctive if not revolutionary Canadian figurative painters. Lukacs established his reputation in the 1980s by creating astonishing large-scale paintings that depicted skinheads, construction workers, and other masculine archetypes in elaborate and erotic scenes. The physical presence of the Lukacs' male subjects stands out as one of the artist's most distinctive aesthetic elements. With meticulous attention to form and proportions, Lukacs skillfully renders his young men with expressive brushwork and an intense, moody palette reminiscent of the old masters. Despite the monumental scale of his canvases, Lukacs begins his creative process with a much more intimate and modern day tool: the Polaroid. Because of its immediacy and simplicity it became an essential part of his process in the 80's and 90's. As a result the artist amassed a trove of over 1,200 Polaroids that depict lovers, friends, and anonymous models in a various poses that serve as a starting point for his paintings. In this grid of Polaroids, "Alex" is a young man posing nude on top of a tarp. The exceptional warmth and rich hues infuse this series of 12 Polaroids with a sensual and painterly quality, a characteristic that is undoubtably present throughout the artist's oeuvre. From 2009-2012 a large touring exhibition devoted to Lukacs' Polaroids was shown at several museums across Canada including Museum London and the Art Gallery of Alberta. Working with Michael Morris...
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