CV
Toronto Life May 2019, Photograph by Derek Shapton
Biography
Portrait artist Gordon Shadrach was born and raised in Brampton, Ontario in 1966 and has lived in Toronto for over 25 years. Gordon started painting in 2013 and paints in oil on wood or canvas and in 2020, he returned to his original field of study (textiles) by exhibiting textile-based installation pieces. He has exhibited in solo and group art shows in Canada and the United States. He works from photographs at his in-home studio in Toronto’s East end. He received his B. Des. (MAAD) from OCAD University and has a Master of Education degree from Niagara University. In the Spring of 2018, Gordon’s painting, “In Conversation”, was included in an exhibit developed by the Royal Ontario Museum titled, “Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art”. In the Summer of 2018 the exhibit went on tour and was presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and opened at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in June of 2019. His work has been exhibited at commercial art fairs such as Art Toronto, and at cultural centres such as Toronto’s Black Artists Network and Dialogue and the NIA Centre. Currently he is represented by United Contemporary Gallery in Toronto. Aside from his portraits and installation work, Gordon is known for his insightful artist’s talks and has appeared as a panelist on the TVO’s the Agenda (Reinventing the Museum) and CBC Radio’s Metro Morning (Group of Seven Out, Under-represented Artists In at the AGO).
Gordon’s community engagement includes working with Toronto’s Nia Centre for the Arts as a creative consultant for their Left of Centre artist incubation project. He is also working with Dr. Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstill, Dean of Design at OCADU, as a team member to develop and implement the Black Youth Design Initiative (BYDI) which aims to engage Black youth by decolonizing design and addressing the systemic anti-Black racism that impedes Black communities from pursuing education in design.
Artist Statement
Since childhood, I have had a lifelong fascination with the semiotics of clothing and its impact on culture. In particular, my interest lies in the intersection and codification of race and fashion. These codes impact the way we navigate through spaces and influence how people associate with one another. Statements like “dress for success” and “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” reinforce the notion that clothing reflects the character and value of a human being. This concept is steeped in colonial expectations which have systematically worked to develop prejudicial values that impact marginalized communities.
These prejudices and stereotypes have impacted me personally which is why I mostly paint Black men. My portraits of these men utilize fashion—contemporary or historical dress, or a combination of both—in order to create narratives and explore allegories which pull viewers in to explore the biases embedded in North American culture. In creating backgrounds, I choose to use a selective palette that demonstrates that dark colours elevate the presence of my sitters rather than diminish them. Many of my paintings are framed in damaged antique and vintage frames. The frames’ patina and wear lend historic weight and insert the portraits into a period when Black people were rarely depicted in Western portraiture. I seek to disrupt the colonial constrictions of portraiture by inviting viewers to reflect upon the depiction of Black people in art and culture.
In addition to my portraits, I include textile installations to my exhibitions to extend the ways that my messages as an artist can be expressed. These installations often involve the usage of vintage farming sacks to underpin the convergence of historical oppression, systemic racism, and contemporary sports.
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Curriculum Vitae
Education
2005 Master of Science in Education, Niagara University, New York, USA
2004 Bachelor of Design, OCAD University, Ontario, CA
Group Exhibits, Fairs, and Events
2022 Dis/Mantle, Lead Artist and Curator, Toronto Canada
2022 Abstracting Reality, Band of Vices, Los Angeles USA
2022 Art Toronto, United Contemporary, Toronto Canada
2021 History is Rarely Black or White, Kingston Canada
2021 Papier Art Fair, United Contemporary, Montreal Canada
2021 Art Toronto, United Contemporary, Toronto Canada
2020 Curated Toronto - Online Exhibition, Toronto Canada
2019 Art Toronto, United Contemporary, Toronto Canada
2019 The Space Between, United Contemporary, Toronto Canada
2019 Positive Masculinities, Maison Depoivre, Picton, Ontario Canada
2019 Re:Direction, Maison Depoivre, Picton, Ontario Canada
2019 Here We are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
2019 Here we Are, Anna Kaplan Contemporary, Buffalo, New York, USA
2019 The Artist Project, Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Canada
2018 Here We are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, Canada
2018 Here We are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada
2018 The Artist Project, Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Canada
2017 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, Canada
2017 Riverdale Art Walk, Jimmie Simpson Park, Toronto, Canada
2017 The Artist Project, Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Canada
2016 Riverdale Art Walk, Jimmie Simpson Park, Toronto, Canada
2016 Queen West Art Crawl, Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto, Canada
2016 The Artist Project, Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Canada
2015 Riverdale Art Walk, Jimmie Simpson Park, Toronto, Canada
2014 Riverdale Art Walk, Jimmie Simpson Park, Toronto, Canada
Solo Exhibits
2021 Trade, United Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
2020 Net Worth+, United Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
2018 Visceral, BAND, Toronto, Canada
2018 Personify, Gallery181, Toronto, Canada
2018 Presence, Artscape – Daniels Spectrum, Toronto, Canada
2017 Pried and Prejudice, BAND, Toronto, Canada
2014 Bucks, Peacocks, and Popinjays, Hotel Ocho, Toronto, Canada
Artist Talks, Panel Discussions
2022 Dis/Mantle, Artist Talk
2022 NXT Chapter: Artists in Conversation, Massey College, University of Toronto
2022 Semiotics and Fashion, Lecture, Seneca College
2021 Art and Athletics, Lecture, Mount Allison University
2021 Nurturing Hope, Speaker, Peel District Catholic School Board
2020 Sugarcane Magazine Artist Talk
2020 CPAMO Artist Panel (Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario)
2020 DGTL Artist Talk, Nia Centre, online
2019 How We Paint: Artist Talk, OCADU, Toronto, Canada
2019 Still We Rise NACCA Black History month event
2019 Group of Seven Out, Under-represented Artists in at the AGO, Metro Morning (radio) CBC
2018 Visceral Discussion Panel
2018 Where are You Going? Where are You From?, Mississauga Centre Square, Mississauga, Canada
2018 Reinventing Museums, The Agenda (televised), TVO
2018 Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and Musee des Beaux-Arts, Montreal Canada,
2017 Representation in Art, BAND, Toronto, Canada
2017 Pried and Prejudice Discussion Panel, BAND, Toronto, Canada
Leadership and Juries
2022 Art in the County, Juror
2022 Harbourfront Centre’s Craft and Design Studio (Textiles), Supervisor
2021 Visual Arts Mississauga 43, Juror
2021 Nia Centre, Left of Centre, Mentor
Selected Press and Publications
Eli Glasner, Fresh Air, CBC Radio, Toronto, Canada, August 2022
Ismaila Alfa, Metro Morning, CBC Radio, Toronto, Canada, August 2022
Macenzie Rebelo, Michael Zarathus-Cook, smART Magazine, Dignity is in Season, Issue 8, Toronto, Canada, 2022
Timea Wharton-Suri, Amani Project, 11 Black Leaders, Toronto, Canada, February 2022
Byron Armstrong, ByBlacks, Stunning New Exhibit…, Toronto, Canada, October 4, 2021
Gilbert Ngabo, The Toronto Star, A Place to Thrive…, Toronto, Canada, Oct. 19, 2020
Byron Armstrong, ByBlacks, Redefining Black Representation…, Toronto, Canada, November 13, 2019
Nam Kiwanuka, The Agenda, TVO Television, Reinventing Museums, Toronto, Canada, February 21, 2018
Teaching Experience
2005-2021 Teacher, TDSB, Toronto, Canada
2022-2023 Sessional Instructor, DRPT-Thesis, Toronto, Canada
Special Projects
2022 Portrait of Ivan McFarlane, Massey College University of Toronto
2021 Portrait of Joseph Bologne, Tafelmusik
2019 In-Office Art Exhibit, Department of Canadian Heritage, Ontario Division
2019 Frame of Reference Digital Art Exhibit – Law Society of Ontario, Osgoode Hall
2019 Project 31, OCADU auction
2019 Still We Rise Art Exhibit– City of Newmarket and Newmarket African-Caribbean Canadian Association
Noted Collections
CCH Pounder Collection
The Wedge Collection
Salah Bachir Collection
The Wright Art Collection
Art Gallery of Hamilton
Agnes Etherington Gallery
Massey College