Grad Barak exhibiting at McMichael

Congratulations to Nipissing graduate Ben Barak, BFA’12, who is exhibiting his work at the famed McMichael Canadian Art Collection, in Kleinburg, Ontario. Barak is featured in the Art Mentorship Project Community Exhibition, running until March 2, 2014.  He is exhibiting with David McEown. This Saturday, January 19, the gallery features an exhibition celebration with Barak and McEown from 1 – 3 p.m.

The Art Mentorship Project provides support to emerging artists and fosters professional development, production and exhibition under the guidance of local, established artists in a distinctly Canadian context.

For the project’s inaugural term, Canadian landscape painter and former Richmond Hill resident, McEown, took on the role of mentor. McEown is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design and has worked in the watercolour medium for the past 25 years. His paintings can be found in collections worldwide and represent some of the earth’s most beautiful and fragile ecosystems.

McEown mentored the program’s first successful applicant, Barak. Barak, who lives in Newmarket, is a figurative painter working in a variety of media, including painting, drawing and printmaking.

McEown and Barak spent several days working on-site at the McMichael, including their first meeting which was held in the historic Tom Thomson Shack. The pair also took a week-long trip to Algoma, hiking along the same stretch of railway track once travelled by the Group of Seven.

The exhibition consists of watercolours by both artists, as well as a selection of oil paintings and mixed media pieces by Barak. McEown’s work juxtaposes landscapes from the Humber River Valley with paintings of some of the world’s most remote ecosystems. Barak’s work, on the other hand, focuses on themes of searching and identity, executed using many of the techniques he practiced under McEown.