JANET BELLOTTO
Nile Blue
OCTOBER 31 TO NOVEMBER 24, 2012
OPENING RECEPTION:
Tuesday, October 30, 6 - 9 PM
Listed as a must-see in NOW Magazine
Mentioned on Tandem News
Listed as must-see in Indecent Xposure
After almost a decade of working with the Red Head Gallery and presenting exhibitions that mesmerized visitors with their changing waterscapes using lenticular photography and installations that radiated spaces that were fluid and aqueous, Janet Bellotto presents her exiting exhibition Nile Blue.
Nile Blue was inspired by the natural world’s golden ratio (where the nautilus is often referenced), and what do we consider to be our natural environment. It considers how we may be losing the magic proportion, the golden ratio that nature had provided for us, proportions that the nautilus’ spiral shell exemplifies. This installation consists of a large lenticular photograph, a video, and a nautilus sculpture that emits sound. As visitors walk by the photographic image to view the video, the image also moves. It uses the process of lenticular (flip photography- like blinking eyes postcards) thus the scales of the “creature” appear in motion, producing a wave type of effect. Magnetic membership cards are available for the visitor to take and keep. They can use the card to activate the video by swiping it through a card reader. The video could be seen as a type of “Noah’s Arc”, it contains animals that are considered as prey, documenting species that are threatened or vulnerable. "Nile Blue" refers to a color that is greenish blue, but it is also a dye used as a biological stain for cells, which changes from blue to purplish red as an indicator.
The installation was first exhibited at the Cairo Biennale in 2010. A text written by Yvonne Lammerich accompanies the exhibition.
Janet Bellotto will also be presenting her work during Art Toronto at the gallery booths of De Luca Fine Arts, Toronto, and Gallery 3D, Venice.
Janet Bellotto is an artist from Toronto who splits her time teaching in Dubai at Zayed University where she is Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Creative Entrerprises. She graduated from the Sculpture/Installation program from the Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, and received an MFA in Sculpture/Studio Arts from Concordia University. Her practice encompasses sculpture, installation, photography, video and performance. She continues to write and curate, while exhibiting both locally and internationally. Recent exhibitions include: 2012 – Aquatica, Harvey Nicols, Dubai; 2011– The Lure, De Luca Fine Art Gallery, Toronto; 2011 Untitled Original, CDA Projects, Istanbul Contemporary Crosscurrents: Portraits and Electronic Arts, Streaming Museum in Dubai (www.streamingmuseum.org); A Cozy Lie, Redhead Gallery, Toronto; 2010 – 12th Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt; Drowning Ophelia, Stratford Gallery, Stratford; 2009 – Point of Encounter, Tashkeel, Dubai; 2008 – In-Situ, The JamJar, Dubai; WAVE, The LAB, New York City; 2007 – Dehisce, kkprojects, New Orleans, USA. Bellotto is represented by De Luca Fina Arts, Toronto.
The artist gratefully acknowledges the support of Zayed University's Research Incentive Fund and Professional Development grant for Nile Blue.
