Charmaine Lurch
{{Short description|Canadian painter and sculptor}}
{{Infobox artist
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| name = Charmaine Lurch
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| birth_place = Jamaica
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| nationality = Canadian
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| alma_mater = York University, Sheridan College, OCAD University
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Charmaine Lurch is a Toronto-based painter, sculptor, installation artist and arts educator known for her interdisciplinary work and exploration of themes including Black studies and environmental issues.
Early life and education
Lurch was born in Jamaica and came to Canada at the age of six.{{cite web |title=Passion in local artist's work speaks out for her |url=https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2017/8/16/passion-in-local-artists-work-speaks-out-for-her |website=Ron Fanfair |date=16 August 2017 |accessdate=21 December 2019}} She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from York University and diplomas in design and illustration from Sheridan College, both in Ontario.{{cite web |title=Black Visualities and Protest: A talk with Charmaine Lurch |url=https://www.concordia.ca/cuevents/main/2019/02/01/black-visualities-and-protest-a-talk-with-charmaine-lurch.html?c=events |website=Concordia University: Events |accessdate=21 December 2019}} In addition, she studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto, and the School of Visual Arts in New York City {{cite web |title=Every.Now.Then: Reframing Nationhood |url=https://ago.ca/events/every.now.then-reframing-nationhood |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |accessdate=30 November 2019 |language=en}}
Work
Lurch's work often incorporates themes of world histories, Black history, diversity, equity and environmental issues.{{cite web |title=Up Close: Charmaine Lurch |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/upclose/charmaine-lurch-1.4182952 |website=CBC Radio |accessdate=21 December 2019}} She is active as an art educator in Toronto. As a lead artist with the non-profit group Inner City Angels, Lurch leads interdisciplinary public art projects involving children.{{cite web |title=Charmaine Lurch |url=https://innercityangels.ca/about-us/artists-in-the-classroom/charmaine-lurch/ |website=innercityangels.ca |accessdate=21 December 2019}}{{cite news |title=Students paint ceiling of Toronto school in their 'Michelangelo moment' {{!}} The Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2012/03/06/students_paint_ceiling_of_toronto_school_in_their_michelangelo_moment.html |accessdate=21 December 2019 |work=thestar.com |language=en}} Her sculpture Bees is installed in the Regent Park social housing development in Toronto.{{cite news |title=New Regent Park enlivened with local art {{!}} The Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/09/04/new_regent_park_enlivened_with_local_art.html |accessdate=21 December 2019 |work=thestar.com |language=en}} She cites artists including Lynette Yiadom Boakye, Jasmine Thomas-Grivan, Denyse Thomasos, and Theaster Gates as inspirations.{{cite web |last1=Edmonds |first1=Pamela |title=Conversations in Flux: An Interview with artist Charmaine Lurch |url=http://wordmag.com/conversations-in-flux-an-interview-with-artist-charmaine-lurch/ |website=WordMag |accessdate=21 December 2019 |date=1 November 2015}} Lurch has been critical of the way the traditional power structures of the art world systematically exclude artists of colour.{{cite news |last1=Kustanczy |first1=Catherine |title=Aim to get diversity down to a fine art |url=https://issuu.com/metro_canada/docs/20160307_ca_ottawa |accessdate=21 December 2019 |work=MetroCanada |date=March 7, 2016}}
Major exhibitions
Lurch's work has been exhibited at a number of venues including the Royal Ontario Museum, Nuit Blanche, the University of British Columbia, and the National Gallery of Jamaica. Her work A Mobile and Visible Carriage was prominently featured in the group show Every.Now.Then at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2017.{{cite news |last1=Whyte |first1=Murray |title=Opinion: Canada revisited at the Art Gallery of Ontario |url=https://www.ourwindsor.ca/opinion-story/7405632-canada-revisited-at-the-art-gallery-of-ontario/ |accessdate=21 December 2019 |work=OurWindsor.ca |date=4 July 2017 |language=en-CA}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Hunter |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Every. Now. Then : Reframing Nationhood |date=2017 |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-894243-95-7 |page=46}}
- Compounding Vision, solo exhibition at RiverBrink Art Museum, 2019-20{{cite web |title=Charmaine Lurch: Compounding Vision |url=https://akimbo.ca/listings/charmaine-lurch-compounding-vision/ |website=Akimbo |accessdate=21 December 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Gazzola |first1=Bart |title=Be[e]ing & Seeing: Compounding Visions |url=https://thesound.rocks/beeing-seeing-compounding-visions/ |website=The Sound |accessdate=21 December 2019 |language=en-CA |date=4 November 2019}}
- Critical Mass, Art Gallery of Guelph, 2018-19{{cite web |title=Critical Mass |url=http://artgalleryofguelph.ca/exhibitions-detail/critical-mass/ |website=Art Gallery of Guelph |accessdate=30 November 2019}}
- Settling in Place: Aylan Couchie, Martha Griffith, Charmaine Lurch, MacLaren Art Centre, 2018{{cite web |title=Settling in Place: Aylan Couchie, Martha Griffith, Charmaine Lurch |url=https://maclarenart.com/project/settling-in-place-aylan-couchie-martha-griffith-charmaine-lurch/ |website=MacLaren Art Centre |accessdate=21 December 2019}}
- Here We Are Here, Royal Ontario Museum and Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2018{{cite web |title=Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art |url=https://www.rom.on.ca/en/exhibitions-galleries/exhibitions/here-we-are-here-black-canadian-contemporary-art |accessdate=21 December 2019}}
- Every. Now. Then.: Reframing Nationhood, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2017 {{cite web |title=Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood |url=https://ago.ca/exhibitions/every-now-then-reframing-nationhood |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |accessdate=30 November 2019 |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://charmainelurch.ca/ Artist's website]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lurch, Charmaine}}
Category:Canadian contemporary artists
Category:York University alumni
Category:20th-century Canadian women artists
Category:21st-century Canadian women artists
Category:Canadian people of Jamaican descent
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)