National Post


2010-10-27 National Post - Beauty At The Bank

Today’s National Post features my RBC Honourable Mention-winning piece, Data Centres, as a full-colour and nearly half-page reproduction alongside an article about the competition. Entitled “Beauty at the Bank,” the article by Leah Sandals features an interview with RBC Art Curator, Robin Anthony, as well as reproductions of the pieces by national winner Alexis Lavoie, other Honourable Mention winner Jon Reed and semi-finalist Sarah Cale. The full text is available here.

Article in Halifax Chronicle Herald

This article on my art appears in today’s Halifax Chronicle Herald: http://thechronicleherald.ca/ArtsLife/1206956.html

UPDATE (2010-11-03): A PDF version of the article is available here.  The above link now requires an account with the newspaper for access.

Honourable Mention in 2010 RBC Canadian Painting Competition

I’m very happy to announce that I received an Honourable Mention in this year’s RBC Canadian Painting Competition.  This award includes a $15,000 prize as well as RBC’s acquisition of my work, Data Centres, for the bank’s collection. See below for more information about the competition, the exhibition tour and the three winners.

RBC Press release (English version):

TORONTO, Sept. 30 /CNW/ – RBC, with the support of the Canadian Art Foundation, today announced Alexis Lavoie from Montréal as the national winner of the 12th annual RBC Canadian Painting Competition for his work entitled Restants. Alexis was awarded a $25,000 prize as the national winner.

“Each year the RBC Canadian Painting Competition showcases the extraordinary talent of emerging artists from across Canada,” said Gay Mitchell, deputy chairman, RBC Wealth Management. “RBC is honoured to play a role in raising the awareness and appreciation of visual arts in this country and provide a forum for artists to display their work.”

The winners were chosen from more than 600 works submitted by artists from across the country. The two honourable mentions were given to Jon Reed from Toronto for his work Stato di Impotenza and Mark Stebbins from Toronto for his work Data Centers. Jon and Mark were each awarded a$15,000 prize for their work. Continue reading →

Best in Show and Best in Drawing @ Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition!

I had a fantastic weekend at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition! It was a pleasure to meet and talk with so many interesting people with passion for the visual arts. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my booth!

To top it off, on Saturday evening I was awarded both Best in the Drawing Category as well as Best in Show! With over 400 exhibiting artists and very strong artwork throughout the exhibition, the Best in Show award is a real honour.

Special thanks to the prize donors — TD Canada Trust (Best in Show) and The Globe and Mail (Best in Drawing) — all of the TOAE staff and volunteers, as well as my generous booth helpers, Paul, Kathleen and Anne.

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, July 9-11, 2010

I will be showing and selling art at the 49th annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition from July 9 to July 11 on Nathan Phillips Square. Come find me at booth WHITE 52.

Exhibition hours:

Friday 10:30 am – 7:30 pm
Saturday 10:30 am – 7:30 pm
Sunday10: 30 am – 6:30 pm

The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition is the largest outdoor art exhibition in Canada and has established itself as an important event within the Canadian arts community. The event is a chance for both established and emerging artists to sell work directly to the public. The exhibition has an annual attendance of approximately 100,000 visitors and annual art sales in excess of $2 million.

For more information please visit www.torontooutdoorart.org.

First Place Award at Sunnyside Art Fair

My weekend at the Sunnyside Beach Juried Art Show & Sale (May 28-30) was a success.  The fair was well organized, the location was beautiful and the weather was perfect. Attendance and sales were steady.

At the awards ceremony on Saturday it was announced that I had been chosen to receive the Dr. W. Zurowski First Place Award For Outstanding Artist, a $1000 cash prize. The jurors gave the following comments about my work:

“In a digital environment, Mark’s technologically-inflected imagery is current and compelling, while remaining highly accessible to a broad audience. He has a profound understanding of colour and pattern. The works are exquisitely handcrafted and visually exciting. Mark Stebbins’ works are singularly original in scope and execution.”

This year’s jury consisted of Mary Sue Rankin (Owner/Director, Edward Day Gallery), Betty Ann Jordan (Art Critic and Writer/Founder, Art In Site and Toronto Art Tours), Phil Anderson (Director/Curator, Gallery 1313), Dera Singer (Art Collector) and Grazyna Kabat (Art Consultant/Art Collector).

Here is the press release (pdf) issued by the show organizers, which is also currently posted on the homepage of their website.

Photo credit: Peter Bacler

Photo credit: Peter Bacler

Sunnyside Beach Juried Art Show & Sale (Toronto) – May 28 to 30

I will be exhibiting and selling works this weekend at the Sunnyside Beach Juried Art Show & Sale.

This is a three-day fine art event that takes place May 28, 29 and 30 in the historic Sunnyside Pavilion on Toronto’s waterfront. It provides a showcase for dynamic emerging and established artists and features painting, drawing, photography and sculpture alongside live music and art performances. Free admission.

For more information including exhibition times, click the image to the right or visit the exhibition website.

A map and directions are available here.

Latcham Gallery

A new work — Nexuses, 2010, 18 x 24″ — has been selected for inclusion in Latcham Gallery’s annual juried exhibition, on view from May 2 to June 5, 2010 in Stouffville, Ontario. An opening reception will take place on Sunday, May 2 from 1 to 3 pm. Gallery hours and contact information are available on Latcham Gallery’s website.