It’s a rainy Saturday evening in Little Italy as people duck into Gallery 101 – an artist-run centre with charitable status where creators working with all mediums can display their work. From Nov. 4th to Dec. 2nd, Gallery 101 will host Beneath the Tame, a two-person exhibit containing works by both Indigenous artist Mary Anne Barkhouse and Ottawa native Anna Williams. The exhibit features both artists telling stories through animal imagery and motifs, through what curator Lisa A. Pai calls "sculptural work on a more intimate scale".
The side entrance to Gallery 101, with the Queensway in the background. Due to a new highway overpass needing to be constructed, the gallery’s current building is being expropriated by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Beneath the Tame is the final exhibit to open at the Young Street location in Little Italy. (Brendan Duffley, Centretown News)
A crowd of members of the public as well as friends and family of both artists enjoy the evening at Gallery 101. Here in the foreground, you can see one of the pieces by Mary Anne Barkhouse entitled Red Rover. (Tyler Thomas, Centretown News)
Here, one gallery-goer takes in one of Anna Williams's two largest pieces. Entitled Leaden, the sculpture is actually made from lead salvaged from Parliament Hill. The piece represents a year measured in paces, with the lead being shaped into the birds nests the artist walks past every morning. (Tyler Thomas, Centretown News)
One motif of Williams's work is operating within what curator Lisa A. Pai calls our "recognized mythologies". This piece, entitled Eve's Rib, is a biblical reference and complements other pieces harkening to ancient Greek mythology or science. (Tyler Thomas, Centretown News)
Occupying the wall opposite Leaden and helping to anchor the space is Remedy. Represented on the wall are cast bronze medicinal herbs and plants frequently used to treat depression and other ailment Williams's feels are commonly treated as "women's ailments". (Tyler Thomas, Centretown News)
Williams, who was born in Ottawa and continues to make her home here poses with one of her pieces, Leda and the Swan. (Tyler Thomas, Centretown News)
In this photo of another piece, entitled Diana's Stole, the fine details of the cast bronze Williams's chooses to work with can be clearly seen by the viewer. The cast bronze, despite being metal, exudes a certain warmth and resolves an astonishing amount of detail in her sculptures. (Tyler Thomas, Centretown News)
Not all of Williams's pieces are presented through Greek mythology, biblical references or more scientific means. Here, we see one of the leaves that make up a larger piece called Gust. Dozens of cast bronze leaves are laid out to suggest leaves blowing in the wind. (Tyler Thomas, Centretown News)
The Queensway heading into the distance, with Gallery 101’s building in the bottom right corner. This proximity to the overpass is what made its expropriation necessary to complete needed work on the adjacent highway. (Brendan Duffley, Centretown News)
The gallery’s management say they plan to begin moving to a different address at 280 Catherine Street, pictured above, in early 2018. The new location will be the gallery's sixth since it was established nearly 40 years ago. Less wide and much longer than the current space, administrator Georgia Mathewson thinks the new location will provide new opportunities as well as new challenges. (Bredan Duffley, Centretown News)