Poesy, Exhibition of Works by Jorge Martínez García, at Craig Scott Gallery (CSg)

THE EXHIBITION

Craig Scott Gallery (CSg) represents in North America the work of Chilean printmaker and painter, Jorge Martínez García. From April 7 to 26, 2006, the gallery will exhibit a mini-retrospective of Martínez prints in his signature neo-Baroque style, across a wide range of etching and engraving techniques. Entitled Poesy, the exhibit will centre on a series of eleven readings by Martínez of the work of the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy.

There is no formal reception for this, the gallery’s, inaugural exhibition. The doors open on Friday, April 7, at 12 noon and the gallery will stay open until 9 PM. On the weekend of April 8 and 9, the gallery is open 12-7:30 (Saturday) and 12-5 (Sunday).

The show coincides with the publication, in 2006, of a newly translated edition of all of Cavafy's published poems (and a selection of unpublished poems) by a major publisher: Cavafy, The Collected Poems of C.P. Cavafy (New York: WW Norton, 2006), trans. Aliki Barnstone. This edition’s book jacket and the wwnorton.com website provide a good introduction to Cavady and his literary significance:

"C.P. Cavafy (1863-1933) was born to Greek parents in Alexandria, Egypt, where he spent most of his life. He preferred to circulate his poems privately in broadsheets and pamphlets, which he gave to trusted friends. He withheld nearly a third of his work, including the most homoerotic, from the public eye. ...During his life, his friend E.M. Forster championed his work in the English-speaking world, introducing it to renowned modernists, among them D.H, Lawrence and T.S. Eliot, who published "Ithaka" in his journal, Criterion. Now Cavafy is revered as the most innovative and internationally influential Greek writer of the twentieth century, and one of the world's great poets.... Cavafy has written some of the most powerful poems in history. His work uncannily translates history, the record of the many, into an individual personal document. Though Cavafy is wickedly satirical, many of his poems are located in a landscape of intimacy. Drawing on the spectrum of ancient Greek poetic tradition, his poetry is still internal, whether his speaker is a spoiled rich boy who plans to enter politics or a poor, ostracized, pure and beautiful young man destroyed by poverty and priggish social mores."

Reading Cavafy in Spanish, Jorge Martínez has translated into his distinctive neo-Baroque art the following Cavafy poems: "Waiting for the Barbarians"; "Walls"; "The Windows"; "The Ides of March" (in 2 different prints); "The God Abandons Anthony"; "Ithaka"; "Morning Sea"; "One of Their Gods". In addition, Martínez has produced two works honouring Cavafy: "Kavafy, I", in its own way a printed poem; and "Constantino Kavafis, 1933", a marvellous portrait of the poet.

The April 2006 show will exhibit five prints (“Aura”; “El Buho en el Arbol”; “Los Navegantes”; “Totem Americano”; and “Gran Molusco”) that were recently acquired (May 2005) by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. In addition, three large works – “Valparaíso”, “La Audiencía del Conquistador”, and “Popol Vuh” – will be part of the exhibition. All 19 prints on display during the show have been beautifully and masterfully (including archivally) framed by CSg's neighbouring gallery, O'Connor Gallery.

The April 7-24 exhibition also introduces the North American art world to Martínez as a major painter. Five magnificent oil and acrylic paintings will be sold in frames that Martínez had specially made and that are intended to be an integral part of the works. The works have, to date, formed part of Martinez' personal collection.

JORGE MARTINEZ GARCIA

Schooled as an artist in Ecuador in the period from 1985 to 1991, Martínez works from his home city of Valparaiso, Chile, where he is also a professor of printmaking and drawing at the Universidad de Playa Ancha de Ciencias de la Educacíon.

Prior to his return to Chile and taking up teaching in the fine arts, Martínez received his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in Ecuador at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Ecuador in Quito and went on to become a professor of modern philosophy, the philosophy of aesthetics and the philosophy of religion at the Faculty of Theology of that university.

Since 1989, Martínez has had over 15 individual exhibitions in Chile, Ecuador, Germany and Argentina, as well as being part of 40 group shows around the world and numerous biennales and international cultural shows. He has received several prizes in Chile and Ecuador. His works are held by museums and major public collections in many countries, including Japan, Switzerland, England, the USA, Cuba and France, as well in numerous private collections.

Martínez is presently preparing some 30 new works for a show at Craig Scott Gallery in autumn 2007, at which the artist will be present. The show will have as its subject the writings of Malcolm Lowry, from his most famous novel, Under the Volcano, to less well-known novels, poetry volumes and travelogues.

GALLERY HOURS AND LOCATION

The gallery hours are Wed-Sat, 12-7:30; Sun 12-5. CSg is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Appointments outside these hours can be arranged by calling 416-365-3326.

For information on how to get to Craig Scott Gallery, at 95 Berkeley Street, go to “Location” in the Tab bar, and click on the Google map link.

Two streetcars stop a block and a half from the gallery, the Queen streetcar and King streetcar respectively (each stopping near the junction with Berkeley Street).

Large-lot (and reasonably priced) daytime and evening parking is available just around the corner from the gallery, on Adelaide near Ontario Street. One lot is just west of Ontario on the north side and the other lot is between Ontario and Berkeley on the south side. The gallery is a one-to-two minute walk from the furthest parking lot.