The TOM is pleased to present The Winter of 13 Storms, a major exhibition of recent film and video work (2015-2017) by Dublin artist Clare Langan and curated by Virginia Eichhorn, Director and Chief Curator. Consisting of poetically evocative videos and photographs, her films have been described as being a contemporary meditation on the Romantic Landscape in its entire beautiful, haunting and melancholic splendour, as she takes us on a journey through multiple geographical locations both real and constructed, allowing us access to dreamlike visions of the potential chaos that exists in nature and in our cinematic memories.
Based in Dublin, Clare Langan studied Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin and with a Fulbright Scholarship, completed a film workshop at New York University in 1992. In 2003 Langan presented A Film Trilogy at MoMA in New York and at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin. Her film Metamorphosis, 2007 won the Principle Prize at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Germany. She has represented Ireland in numerous international biennales, including the 25th Bienal de Sao Paulo, The Liverpool Biennial – International, Lyon Biennale, Tate Liverpool: Sounds and Visions, Art Film and Video from Europe, Museum of Modern Art (Tel Aviv), Singapore Biennial, Dojima River Biennale (Osaka Japan) and the Busan Biennale (South Korea). Her work has also been exhibited at Houldsworth Gallery (London), Loop – Barcelona, NCA Gallery (Tokyo), Pratt Art Gallery New York and the Miguel Marcos Gallery (Barcelona).
In The Persistence of Doubt, Vancouver artist Michael Markowsky has used documents which have been in the Tom Thomson Art Gallery's care for several decades and never yet released to the public to inspire his series of large-scale ink drawings. He also collaborated with Louise Solecki Weir to create forensic reconstructions of the skull found in 1956 that may or may not actually belong to Tom Thomson. Markowsky is also presenting a video work that reveals his artistic process and his quest to find answers to the mystery of Thomson's death while also offering possible scenarios. Curated by Heather McLeese, Curator of Temporary Exhibitions, The Persistence of Doubt explores untold stories and possibilities inviting the viewer into a world of discovery about the mythic man and artistic maverick.
Michael Markowsky is a Vancouver-based visual artist, educator and writer. He was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, where he graduated with Honours from the Alberta College of Art. He also studied at Cooper Union in New York City, the Royal College of Art in London, England, and at the Art Center in Los Angeles, California where he obtained his MFA in 2002. He has exhibited in galleries and museums across Canada, the United States and Iraq. As one of Canada's Official War Artists, in 2012, Markowsky painted landscapes 'en plein air' at the North Pole, and in 2013, he made 100 landscape drawings while flying faster than the speed of sound in a CF-18 "Hornet" fighter jet plane. In 2015, he was selected as one of the stars of CBC's hit television show "Crash Gallery." Markowsky currently teaches drawing at Emily Carr University of Art in Vancouver. His primary career goal is to stand on the surface of the moon and make a painting, which he plans to accomplish by January 1st, 2030.
