LANDSCAPE | PORTRAIT

A call for submission for a new group show titled LANDSCAPE | PORTRAIT meant time for thoughtful experimentation & executing an idea I had been considering. Articulations posed a challenge to work with their 4.5 x 9 inch gessoed panels & create pieces with the only stipulation being that the art fit on the surface on the panel. I decided to do a remix on the landscape of Toronto, to create a portrait of my city by reconfiguring neighbourhoods I both lived & worked in. I cut up maps of the city and coated the papers with metallic washes to create geometric patterns of skewed building blocks, towering puzzles, and star constellations along my re-imagined north shore of Lake Ontario.

The show runs from Thursday August 11th to Sunday August 28th, 2016 at the Earl Selkirk Gallery in Articulations. Reception August 11, 7-9pm. See you there!

City of Toronto reconfigured, panels III, II, & I, Benjamin Wieler, 2016, map paper collage with acrylic on wood panel

City of Toronto Reconfigured I, Benjamin Wieler, 2016, map paper collage with acrylic on wood panel

City of Toronto reconfigured II, Benjamin Wieler, 2016, map paper collage with acrylic on wood panel

City of Toronto reconfigured III, Benjamin Wieler, 2016, map paper collage with acrylic on wood panel

the filler’up sketchbook challenge

The annual Filler’Up Sketchbook Challenge is on! Fill your sketchbook during the month of March and turn it in to the folks at ARTiculations to display on view. I set myself a personal challenge to make a flip book. And I used someone else’s published book for my minimalist redacted drawings. Stop by the Earl Selkirk Gallery to check it out. Here’s a few pics… find more on my Instagram account @bookBW.

I started by finding a published hardcover book to draw in & this title caught me eye: “Your Brain at Work”

redacting text so I can…

…use water to create patterns & watch the ink bleed.

Happy flipping! See a short video on my Instagram account @bookBW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flip it Good! (did I mention I like DEVO?)

 

 

 

Toronto Design Offsite Festival

I’m pleased to be showing new paper sculpture as part of the Toronto Design Offsite Festival 2016 hosted by TOWN.

Stop by the windows at any time during this period to see this installation… or come in for a closer look during business hours:
Tuesday to Friday: 11:00 – 7:00
Saturday: 10:00 – 6:00
Sunday: 12:00 – 5:00
Monday: CLOSED

I’ll be there on Saturday January 23 from 2 to 5pm… come and say hi! I’d love to see you!

For additional inquiries or to arrange a personal appointment, please contact me at bookBW@hotmail.com

Follow me on instagram @bookBW to see more process images and additional work.

Holiday Festival at Cobalt Gallery

The Holiday Festival show at Cobalt Gallery is upon is and open for viewing. I’ve put together a ‘best of’ collection of my paper art work and included some one of a kind curiosities that feature my new skills with (lead free) solder and vintage glass. Maybe I’ll see you at the opening reception on Saturday November 20th, 2015, from 1 to 4pm.

A collection of my work on the gallery wall.

My fascination with origami star compositions in shadow box frames and a brand new one of a kind origami compass under convex glass with lead free solder trim.

A new framed embroidery with folded book paper borders & a composition of my paper cogs with waxed finish.

“time is spinning”… one of my redacted ink drawings on a book paper collage with working clock movement. kinetic art with thoughtful purpose.

2 framed pieces from a printmaking workshop: an etching and an embossed linocut. Both prints feature my interest in origami structures & mathematical constructions.

smaller 5 x 7″ works that combine origami with typography.

Stop by the gallery to see the completed works.
For inquiries about art purchase or custom work please contact me at:
bookBW@hotmail.com

Curio – shadow box show

I loved the deer embroidery I made for last years Curio show hosted by Articulations’ Earl Selkirk Gallery that I made 3 new embroideries for this year’s edition…

pining II, Benjamin Wieler, 2015, cotton embroidery over pine needles on Stonehenge paper

red plaid is for night, Benjamin Wieler, 2015, cotton embroidery over pine needles on Stonehenge paper

maple amidst the pines, Benjamin Wieler, 2015, cotton embroidery over pine needles on Stonehenge paper

I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the work on display during the show. Maybe I’ll see you at the opening reception on November 21st, from 2 to 5pm.
Inquiries via bookBW@hotmail.com

-:-:-p.ART.icle-:-: at Propeller Gallery

I’m happy to be included in Propeller Gallery’s juried group show: -:-:-p.ART.icle-:-: which opens with a reception on September 24, 2015 from 6.30 to 9.30pm. This show will also coincide with Toronto’s Nuit Blanche when the gallery will be hosting a special interactive event.

I have 2 beaded embroidery pieces in this show, inspired by my fascination with the sky & constellations both real & imagined as well as Victorian curiosities. Both presented in white shadow box frames.

Benjamin Wieler, Constellation at Dawn, 2015, beaded embroidery with vintage jewellery parts on cotton velvet with spattered bleach treatment.

Benjamin Wieler, Constellation at Dawn, 2015, detail

Benjamin Wieler, Spica, 2015, beaded embroidery with vintage jewellery parts on cotton velvet with spattered bleach treatment.

Benjamin Wieler, Spica, 2015, detail

Here they are, both presented in white shadow box frames, waiting to be hung at the gallery.

Inquiries can be made via bookBW@hotmail.com.

gallery group show: Tactile – textiles & textures

I may have mentioned that I have a fascination with things that go around. This is certainly evident in the new work I made for the September group show at Cobalt Gallery. My work consists of a series of embroideries in the round for Tactile – Textiles & Textures.

Benjamin Wieler 2015, multicolour beads & mirror embroidery on linen,  framed 20″ x 20″

Benjamin Wieler, 2015, embroideries on cotton velvet, including beads, tassels and vintage jewellery pieces. The largest has a bleach treatment on the velvet.

Benjamin Wieler, 2015, embroideries on cotton velvet, linen & vintage lace & brocade. Including beads & vintage jewellery pieces.

Benjamin Wieler, 2015, embroideries with beads, mirrors and vintage jewellery pieces. The largest with mirror embroidery on linen. The turquoise blue is shibori dyed cotton. The cotton blend olive is hand bleached shibori style featuring sashiko stitching & a raw vintage copper floral centre.

Benjamin Wieler, 2015, 3 black and white embroideries. White sashiko stitching on black linen with white enameled vintage floral centre. Black cotton & mirror embroidery on white poplin. White spiral beaded embroidery on linen.

Benjamin Wieler, hello, 2012, multicolour cotton hand stitched embroidery on Stonehenge paper, framed 20″ x 20″

The show runs from September 12 to October 31, 2015
Opening reception on Saturday September 19, from 12 to 3pm. Maybe I’ll see you there. Cobalt Gallery, 870a Kingston Road, Toronto
Inquiries can be made to bookBW@hotmail.com

2015 print exchange with The Sketchbook Project

The people from The Sketchbook Project posted a new challenge with their 2015 Print Exchange: I send them an edition of 11 prints based on this years theme: Greetings from a Distant Land. In return I receive 10 prints from other artist participants from around the world. The 11th print is archived in the collection of the Brooklyn Art Library.

It’s perfect timing as I had been working on a new print process… making origami shapes using carbon paper, sandwiching the shapes between paper and rubbing it with the back of a spoon, producing 2 almost mirrored prints at the same time. Each creased edge is revealed including hose hidden within the folded layers of the origami. Just the areas with no carbon remain white. This print I call Carbon Galaxy 2… (a greeting from a very distant land)

Now which side will I submit to the project… A or B? Whichever I don’t submit, I will have available for sale at some point, along with 2 sets of artist proofs with bot A & B. Inquiries via bookBW@hotmail.com

find me on Instagram as bookBW.

inspired by Joseph Cornell & wanderlust

My friend & international museum & gallery patron; Nancy at Mondegro turned me onto this challenge put out by The Royal Academy of Arts in conjunction with their Joseph Cornell exhibit. With my own fascination for shadowboxes, cabinets of curiosities and all things wunderkammer, I set upon editing a selection of objects from my own collection that might give the viewer an autobiographical glimpse about me. See more of my world at instagram: bookBW

collage of collages

An experiment to make small collage compositions mixed with drawing… that also fit together as one collage combine. I’m using my favourite controlled substance… bookpaper and testing out some new (to me) pens.

The individual pieces…

…fit together like a puzzle: