In Ascend
SAMARA Contemporary is pleased to present In Ascend, a new exhibition of paintings by Toronto-based artists Michael Adamson and Nicole Katsuras, curated by Rafi Ghanaghounian. Adamson and Katsuras explore the depths of abstraction within their respective bodies of work, utilizing individual techniques and strategies, while being self-referential to the medium itself.
The dreamlike compositions of Katsuras’ paintings are inspired by the worlds of cartography, geography and anthropology, with their colourful paint strata paralleling environmental emergents like riverbeds, islands and doline formations. Adamson’s geometric play with minimalist composition is inspired by the rigidity of textiles, patterns and formal structure. Both artists are carefully self-aware of the subjectivity of abstract painting, using textural gestures to lift paint from canvas, creating unique possibilities for individual narratives. Their works are of the variety which can only be completed by the viewer, when witnessing the large-scale forms and all of their striking intricacies in person.
NICOLE KATSURAS
Nicole Katsuras was born in 1981 in Toronto, Canada and received her Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto before completing her MFA at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design in London, UK. There is a painstaking aspect to Katsuras’ technique, and for this reason, she was invited to exhibit in Material Matters 2012-2013 at The Courtauld Institute of Art, celebrating artists who use pioneering media or re-interpret traditional forms of representation.
Katsuras’ work can be found in numerous corporate collections, including McCarthy Tetrault, Canaccord, Encana, RBC Capital Investments, Luciano Benetton, and Mirvish Collection. She has also been acquired by prominent Canadian collectors including David Mirvish, Father Daniel Donovan, along with private collectors in Vancouver, Toronto, New York & Istanbul. Katsuras has additional upcoming solo exhibitions at the University of Arkansas and in New York. She currently she lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
MICHAEL ADAMSON
Michael Adamson was born in 1971 in Toronto, Canada and is renowned for creating lush, colour-saturated abstractions that reveal an overall energetic exuberance. He graduated from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver and has also trained at Ryerson University and the esteemed Universitat Kunsthochschule in Kassel, Germany. He has exhibited throughout Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan and his work can be found in corporate collections including those of Bennett Jones, the Bank of Montreal, and Holt Renfrew, among others.
Adamson explores both gesture and materiality, and builds his canvases with every brushstroke, developing the layers through definite marks, drips and scrapings, seducing the viewer with each textured layer. He most recently exhibited at the London Art Fair in January 2019 and Imago Mundi in Toronto in October 2018. He currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
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