Alison Rossiter | Light Horses

Exhibition Dates: November 8 - December 20, 2003            

Opening reception for the artist: Saturday November 8, 2 – 5 PM

Inaugural Exhibition at our New Location (1026 Queen Street West)

It is with great pleasure and excitement that we present to you two firsts: our first solo exhibition of work by Alison Rossiter as the inaugural show in our new gallery space. This body of work is a continuation of Alison’s exploration of photographs created without negatives, as seen in her book photograms. This process, first introduced in the late 1830s by William Henry Fox Talbot (who referred to the process as photogenic drawing), utilizes the placement of objects on light-sensitive film or paper that is then exposed to light. The resulting image is created by the transmission of the light through the objects, the tonalities of the print dictated by the translucence of those objects. In the early 20th century, the work of Man Ray popularized the photogram (he referred to his images as Rayographs), as did the work of Lázsló Moholy-Nagy from the 1930s onward.

Based in the tradition of the photogram, the Light Horses series takes the “camera-less photograph” one step further by stripping it down to its base components: light-sensitive paper and a light source. Alison creates her horses in the darkroom by drawing freehand with a flashlight onto gelatin silver paper (a process that she refers to as light drawing), creating a dark horse on a white background. More recently, she has experimented with solarization (also known as the Sabattier effect) to create dark horses on a dark background.

Alison chose her subject matter through personal interest and following well-established art traditions. Horses have fascinated and inspired artists from early cave drawings through to present day, and have been depicted in every medium imaginable. These representations, which she finds “endlessly heroic”, have served to inspire her images: from Edgar Degas’ sculptures to Eadweard Muybridge’s motion studies. An avid rider and horse-owner herself, Alison’s knowledge of horses’ bodies comes from years of hands-on experience, and she draws heavily upon this in the creation of her light drawings. The resulting horses seemingly threaten to break their 2-dimensional confines. Ranging in mood from scientific to whimsical, each horse bridles, gallops, and prances with grace and character.

We are very excited about showing off our new gallery to you, located at 1026 Queen Street West, in the building formerly occupied by Peacock’s Hardware. We would like to extend special thanks to the architectural firm of HARIRI/PONTARINI who have beautifully transformed our space and to Richard Wilson and his dedicated team of WPMI Corp. for bringing those plans to reality, despite more than a fair share of “minor mechanical surprises”. Platitudes also go to our new landlords, for starting off our relationship in such a positive manner. In the case that there may be any further construction delays beyond our control, we ask that you check our website www.bulgergallery.com, or call the gallery to confirm the opening date.