Joseph Hartman | Artist Studios

Reception for the Artist: Saturday, September 19, 2-5pm

Exhibition Dates: September 19 - October 17, 2015

The gallery is pleased to present, “Artist Studios”, our third solo exhibition by Canadian photographer Joseph Hartman.

This exhibition is a preview of Hartman’s major project for Canada’s sesquicentennial in 2017, which will culminate in a solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and a monograph book by Black Dog Publishing, UK.  By the end of the project he will have visited approximately 100 to 150 Canadian artists in their studios across the country and internationally. 

Hartman uses a large format camera to create colour photographs of studios filled with revealing details about this generation of living Canadian artists’ production and working methods. Although the photographs do not include the artists themselves, their intimacy create subtle portraits of each artist. This type of artistic representation of a person was aptly described by Wright Morris in his publication The Inhabitants (second edition: Da Capo Press, 1971) where he stated: “[I photograph] Doors and windows, gates, stoops, samples of litter, assorted junk, anything that appeared to have served its purpose. Except people. Only in their absence will the observer intuit, in full measure, their presence in the object.”

After receiving a Master’s degree in Kinesiology at McMaster University in 2004 and being accepted into medical school, Hartman decided to pursue a career as an artist.  He is a self-taught photographer and apprenticed with Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky before embarking on his own career in photography. Hartman is the recipient of several awards and grants, including those from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Hartman’s work can be found in permanent public collections, including the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the MacLaren Art Centre; as well as prestigious corporate collections, such as Royal Bank of Canada and TD Canada Trust. Joseph Hartman’s “Artist Studios” is graciously supported by AIMIA.