Media Room
- What People Say,
- Reviews, Articles, Interviews
- Catalogues
What people say…
Click to read full catalogue to read Haema Sivanesan’s essay in the ” Food for Thought ” Exhibition catalogue
Click on for Audio Review of the FOOD FOR THOUGHT Exhibition at Propeller by Art Critic Lupe Rodriguez, CBC RADIO “Here & Now”
Listen to Review
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DOUBLE DATE
“It is all great theatre. Here is an ever evolving story that asks us as audience to be co-creators of meaning for these two paintings and to reflect on what their story reveals to us about ourselves and the power of seduction. We are invited to not just view the paintings, but to step into their frames and risk being seduced.”
D. Boyce, Toronto
Click here,
“The sets, and of course the performers. A great joy to be here.”
P. Dreiser, Toronto
“Totally surprising performance! This made the art come to life – literally”.
M. Donahue, Toronto
“Ferdinands’ erotically charged vignettes are set in the haute couture world.
Nostalgia, irony, satire and parody are weapons she has in her arsenal.”
Robert Reid, Art Critic, The Record Newspaper
BY APPEARANCES Exhibition, University of Waterloo Art Gallery
“Contemplative, surreal and unsettling, Frances Ferdinands’ paintings provoke the viewer to consider the isolation and obscurity hovering not only above and around
the vulnerable vessel, but which also surrounds humankind as we struggle to
navigate our daily lives.”
Carrie Helm, Exhibitions Coordinator ADRIFT Exhibition, Kelowna Art Gallery
“You have always been a good painter with interesting ideas – a rare commodity
in this era of mediocrity.”
Joan Nicol, Art Consultant, Toronto
“It was an honour to have the ADRIFT exhibition at the Kelowna Art Gallery.
The response to the show was very positive”
Julianna Hayes, P.R. Coordinator, Kelowna Art Gallery
“Frances Ferdinands’ work is characterized by technical facility, richness of colour and breadth of vision. Whether drawing inspiration from the natural world, the annals of art history or interior reflections, Ferdinands creates vistas that engage and draw the viewer close. Her work is compelling and full of detail – symbolic and technical. She addresses subjects of profound universal significance yet does so through personal metaphor and imagery. Engagement with Ferdinands’ paintings is always a satisfying and enriching encounter.”
Virginia Eichhorn, Curator, Canadian Clay & Glass Museum, Waterloo
“Her work has always been thought-provoking and challenging to the viewer”
David Taylor, Curator, Gallery Lambton, Sarnia
“Ferdinands pushes realism towards the edge of surrealism. Walking this edge gives her work a sense of intrigue and dynamism.”
Mark Vander Vennen, Art Critic, Cobourg Daily Star
CONTEMPORARY REALISM Exhibition, Art Gallery of Northumberland
“Three of Frances’ paintings hang in our home. Our favourite, a Hawaiian-inspired landscape has a tremendously calming effect. Her use of light and softly-dissolving colours creates a beautiful tropical ambience in the room.”
M. & E. Allen, Private Collectors, Toronto
“She (Ferdinands) brings to painting an intelligent, exploratory consciousness”
Joan Murray, Director/Curator, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
“The paintings in Frances Ferdinands’ Embodied Ideals series are ambitious and
heavy with sociocultural implication. While the images, rendered in Ferdinands’ lush, bold style, are worthy as aesthetic achievements alone, the coupling of these images, taken from classic paintings and magazine ads, produces a recombined
and newly relevant mix of meaning and composition to the work.”
Rebecca Moda, Exhibitions Coordinator, EMBODIED IDEALS Exhibition,
Buffalo Arts Studio
(Click to read the complete curatorial statement)
Ferdinands was named as “one of the Hot Talents who are creating excitement among dealers and consultants across Canada.” Chatelaine Magazine
“During a showing Frances had in Toronto, we fell in love with “Bed”. We had the perfect spot picked out in our home where it has proudly hung for several years. My husband commented how much he also loved “Seeking Sanctuary” and “Precious Cargo”. A year or so later they were both hung with pride in our home. From the entrance into our home, you can see all three paintings on different walls. It is a very dramatic yet calming effect. Our last purchase was “Quarry;Quandry.” This just finished the collection off perfectly. Our family and friends have taken quite an interest in the paintings and their meanings. Frances is a talented artist and a wonderful person to deal with. I’m sure more of her paintings will be hung upon our walls one day.
T. & J. Small, Private Collectors, Midhurst, Ontario
Reviews, articles, interviews |
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| 2007 | The painting “Feed Me, Free Me”, with accompanying Artist Statement is included in the 2007 WOMANMADE GALLERY (Chicago) DATEBOOK View Artist Statement |
| November. 4, 2006 | “By Appearances” Exhibition Reviewed by Robert Reid THE RECORD, Newspaper |
| 2006 | Painting “Quarry: Quandry” featured Bookcover of MOLASSES, BREAD & TEA, TRAFFORD PUBLISHING |
| February. 4, 2006 | Interview with the Artist on her life and work profiled on SUN TV show “ECHO” (Urmi Bardhen journalist) |
| 2004 | “ Embodied Ideals” Preview Exhibition, Reviewed by Virginia M.Eichorn for ART INDIA MAGAZINE, Vol. 9, Issue 1, 2004 |
| November 26, 2003 | CBC Radio, “HERE & NOW” show, Interview with Artist about the “Embodied Ideals” Preview Exhibition at the Gladstone Hotel, Toronto |
| April 30, 2003 | Article about “ADRIFT” Exhibition, Kelowna Art Gallery KELOWNA DAILY COURIER, Kelowna, B.C. |
| 2003 | Feature Article by Portia Priegert on “ADRIFT” Exhibit Kelowna A.G., E-VENT MAGAZINE April 30-May 6 Ed. |
| 2002 | Painting “Relic” featured bookcover of A DAY DOES NOT GO BY Nightwood Editions, HARBOUR PUBLISHING |
| 2002 | Painting “ Of the Wrong Stripe” and accompanying Artist Statement published in CHILDREN OF THE SHOAH. CANADIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE JOURNAL |
| May 2001 | “ Painter Explores Adrift Culture in latest Challenging Exhibition”, Article NORTH TORONTO POST Magazine |
| May 10, 2001 | Colour Photo of Painting “Bed” TORONTO STAR Newspaper |
| December 19, 2000 | “ On Exhibit” article on Solo Exhibition at V. MacDonnell Gallery, Toronto LONDON FREE PRESS Newspaper |
| December 13, 2000 | “Toronto Artist’s Gallery Lambton Exhibition Leaves Her feeling Adrift” SARNIA THIS WEEK Magazine |
| December 9, 2000 | “ Artist Uses Boat as Metapbor” Article , SARNIA OBSERVER Newspaper |
| August 6, 1997 | “A Rocky Summer for an Art Colony” Article, GLOUCESTER DAILY TIMES Newspaper |
| October l6, 1996 | Interview with Art Critic Kate Taylor “ On The Arts”Show CJRT (FM) |
| July 24, 1996 | “Gallery Owns Weiland and Ferdinands’ Art” SARNIA OBSERVER Newspaper |
| October 14, l994 | Interview with Arts Reporter Rachel Lipton“ About Town” Show CIUT (FM) |
| October 12, 1994 | Interview with Arts Reporter Tom Fulton“ On The Arts” Show CJRT (FM) |
| March 30, 1990 | “Exhibit Suggests All Art is Abstraction” COBOURG DAILY STAR Newspaper |
| January 2, 1990 | “Toronto Artist at Sarnia Gallery” SARNIA GAZETTE Newspaper |
| November 23, 1988 | “ Frances Ferdinands-Forbes at the Albert White Gallery”- Review by Art Critic Donald Brackett, “ On The Arts” Show, CJRT (FM) |
| October 1988 | Feature Article: “Frances Ferdinands – Forbes” by Robert Hough, ONTARIO LIVING MAGAZINE |
| September 17, 1987 | “Exhibit Focuses on the Human Figure”, SIMCOE REFORMER Newspaper |
| June 1988 | Article: “ Great Canadian Art Under $2,500.” Column; “Hot Talents “ – Artists creating excitement among dealers and consultants across Canada CHATELAINE MAGAZINE |
| May 1986 | “New Directions : Women in the 1980’s” Cover and Feature Article profiling the artist and her work YORK UNIVERSITY ALUMNI MAGAZINE |
| September 13, l985 | “Old Wars by Young Artists” Exhibition coverage by Barbara Frum THE JOURNAL, CBC NETWORK |
| August 1985 | Interview: “Expert Opinion” column TORONTO LIFE MAGAZINE |
Catalogues |
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| 2008 | “FOOD FOR THOUGHT” ArtsPlace, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia |
| 2007 | “DOUBLE DATE” Lennox Contemporary, Toronto, Ontario |
| 2004 | EMBODIED IDEALS, Buffalo Arts Studio, BUFFALO, NEW YORK |
| 2001 | NEW SPIRIT OF ONTARIO, Queen’s Park, TORONTO, ONTARIO |
| 2000 | ADRIFT, Gallery Lambton, SARNIA, ONTARIO |
| 1992 | ART CONTEMPORAIN DU CANADA, Galerie Ader Tajan, PARIS, FRANCE |
| 1992 | BEYOND TIME & CIRCUMSTANCE, Lynnwood Arts Centre, SIMCOE, ONT. |
| 1990 | FRANCES FERDINANDS 1983 – 1999, Gallery Lambton, SARNIA, ONTARIO |
| 1985 | OLD WARS BY YOUNG ARTISTS, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, OSHAWA, ONT |
