Mark Stebbins
The Lingering Instant
Judith and Norman Alix Art Gallery, Sarnia, ON
April 17 – August 30, 2026

Members reception: First Friday, May 1, 2026 — 7:00-9:00PM
Artist will be in attendance — Live music, drinks and light snacks

The Lingering Instant presents new paintings by Mark Stebbins, reaffirming the artist’s sustained commitment to materiality and the hand-made. At close range, each surface reveals a meticulous construction of thousands of individual strokes or dollops of paint, accumulating into images of quiet intensity and cohesion.

Though the works may initially suggest mechanical precision, their application is resolutely human. Imperfection is not incidental but essential–embedded in the rhythm of the artist’s hand and the passage of time required to produce each painting. The works assert the enduring relevance of the human-made in an increasingly digital and AI-mediated visual culture.

The density of the painted surfaces mirrors their conceptual depth. As the viewer lingers, a network of references emerges to historical and contemporary art movements, textile and craft-based practices, alongside considerations of temporality, memory, and duration.

Curated by Sonya Blazek.

Publication forthcoming.

 

Making Methods: Becky Ip, Samantha Mogelonsky, Mark Stebbins 

Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery, Sarnia, Ontario.

June 6 to August 10, 2014

Opening reception June 6 at 6:00 pm

The works in Making Methods focus on concepts of repetition, detail, and labour as a means of production. Arising in an era when rapid digital and non-physical experiences are commonplace, each artist’s engagement with materiality highlights a potential modernization of craft-based practices and as a result, an increased focus on hand-rendered art. Through the juxtaposition of these unique artistic processes, chance, memory, experimentation, and a wide range of references from popular cultural coalesce in inherently transformative and unpredictable ways.

Making Methods was curated by Linda Jansma and first shown at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, in 2013. Curatorial support for the JNAAG exhibition was provided by Darryn Doull.

A 72-page catalogue accompanies the exhibition, featuring colour photography and essays by Linda Jansma and Darryn Doull. The catalogue can be purchased from the gallery as well as through ABC Art Books Canada on Amazon.ca.

Thank you to the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for their support of this exhibition.