Julie Cosgrove

Glow—acrylic on canvas 50" x 82.5" Julie Cosgrove Based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Julie Cosgrove grew up in Quebec work and she was awarded the Telford Fenton Memorial Award for where her creative and artistic talents were nurtured and encour- Best Student Painting. aged by her parents and her Waldorf school education. Her formal In 2005, Julie exhibited at the Toronto Art Expo where once education began with a two-year Diplôme d’études collégiales (DEC) again she received a lot of attention, especially from dealers and gal- in the visual arts from Dawson College in Montréal. She then went on lery owners. It was here she met Jackie Bryant and agreed to formal to complete an Honours Degree in Fine Arts at Lakehead University. representation at Harbour Gallery. She majored in painting and ceramics and her work won numerous Places and journeying are a major influence in her work and accolades and scholarships including the University President’s formed not only a focus for her academic study but serve as an Award, the Dean’s Award for Painting in 2002-3, the Millennium ongoing source of creative inspiration. For more than a decade, Julie Scholarship Award in 2003-4, the Dean’s Award for Ceramics, the spent summers working as a canoe and kayak guide leading groups University Alumni Purchase Prize, the Biljana Baker Prize and the through secluded areas of Ontario, on rivers that led to Hudson and Hilda May Utting Award for Abstract Painting. James Bay, sometimes ending a three-week long journey in polar bear In the summer following the completion of her degree, Julie country; the only way in or out was by boat or float plane. At the applied for and was accepted into the juried Toronto Outdoor Art end of the summer, she would return home with many visions and Exhibition. The challenge was that she was also working as a canoe experiences of the landscape that would inevitably became part of guide in the remote areas of North Western Ontario at the time. She her painting: had to board a float plane from the coast of Hudson Bay to Pickle Working as a wilderness guide in areas untouched by any modern Lake, the farthest road-accessed community in Northern Ontario, development has allowed me to witness firsthand the complex details and and after a long drive and another flight, arrived in Toronto to set rhythms, along with the chaos and fragility of the natural world. It reaffirms up for the show early the next day. This 24-hour journey from the the link between the present, past, and future, and reminds us that we are farthest and most isolated areas of the north to the hustle and bustle both affected by and are major impacts on the natural world. The traditional of Toronto was a surreal experience for the artist. Her long journey concepts of land and wilderness are in peril; just as so many other eco-systems was well worth it as many Torontonians were very receptive to her are vanishing or shrinking, our wilderness is also diminishing. I have seen changes in many of the rivers I have journeyed: changes caused by accessibility space which joined her guiding practice with her painting practice. and over-use, but also by more damaging factors, such as encroaching clearing Family life merged with her academic and painting life during of the forests bordering the waters. While isolation and the wild are at the root long trips by car from Thunder Bay to Calgary along with her part- of the romantic idea around Canadian wilderness, this perception is changing, ner, toddler and two Alaskan sled dogs. Julie took many photographs simply because it is disappearing. in motion through the car window and these abstracted photographs Summers spent in the wilds of Canada were often juxtaposed became the basis for several exhibitions; the most recent was a fea- with winters spent in some of the most remote parts of Asia includ- tured show at the Closson Chase Winery in Prince Edward County in ing lengthy treks in the Himalayas of Nepal, India and Tibet as well the summer of 2012. Works were smaller, less abstract and produced as horse treks with nomads on the Mongolian Steppe. The stunning in shorter spurts of time because of the reality of the time con- landscapes and beautiful architecture, art, people, and traditions en- straints due to her growing young family and academic demands. countered throughout these wanderings continue to provide a pow- Now that Julie’s children are a little older, she is back to paint- erful influence and form an underlying theme in Julie’s life and work ing large scale works, as well as the smaller works that incorporate which explores journeying and geographic influences. Earthy colours photographs. In a recent series, she combines artistic experiences reflect her love of that part of the world which provides contrast and with technology. While painting, she now uses a webcam to track and value to her Canadian roots and experiences. These pathways become map her movements. Fuelled by her experiences in the wilderness, filters for her own self-identification and place in the world and are Cosgrove observes: expressed through her painting. While canoe guiding, I started using GPS technology to record our jour- In 2008, Julie began her Masters in Fine Arts in Painting at the neys. I never imagined that later in my life I would be using GPS in my paint- University of Calgary. She received the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate ing but I had this curiosity about how people would enjoy these remote and Scholarship, the Alberta Graduate Scholarship, as well as the highly romantic Canadian wilderness experiences, yet often wanted the comfort that competitive Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of comes with technology such as satellite phones. I wondered how this shapes Canada Master’s Scholarship to explore the notions of place and our understanding of place and that ended up being the topic I explored in my

An Unexpected Choice—acrylic on canvas 50" x 82.5" thesis research towards my Master’s Degree. This was the seed which came Julie’s work continues to receive local, national and international from mapping during my guiding work. Now I have started mapping myself in attention. In autumn of 2013 Julie prepared for her first international the studio space as I create a painting, and using the trace of myself within the group show in Athens, Greece called The Lure of the Local: Women structure of the painting. From the webcam in my laptop which is placed in my Artists in the Canadian Landscape. The exhibit took place at the Vorres studio near the ceiling, it takes an image of myself every two minutes, tracking Museum in collaboration with the Canadian Embassy and featured my movements in space which creates a map which I then project, and stencil contemporary artists with ties to Alberta. Julie was invited to join onto my painting. This serves as both a visual record of the painting, and a the exhibition after the visionary for the project, Caterina Pizanias, compositional tool. Mapping is more like drawing so there is a method to it saw Julie’s work when she curated the inaugural exhibition for the that is a nice point of contrast for me in my regular painting. Esker Foundation in Calgary. In 2012, Cosgrove was one of 21 artists showcased in the book When she is not painting, Julie teaches at Lakehead University Superior Art: Local Art in a Global Context that focuses on accomplished and enjoys paddling on the lakes and rivers of Northern Ontario artists whose work addresses issues such as nature, technology and deepening her bond with nature and making plans for her next big globalization. “Technology has now become a part of everyone’s trip, maybe back to Nepal with the whole family. personal experience,” Cosgrove states. “We just need to look at our “My painting changes as my life changes…it is a parallel and a smartphones to see where the turn in the road takes us before we are reflection of what I am living.” actually down the road.” Solo Exhibitions 2012 Along the Way Thunder Bay, ON Research Council of Canada Master’s Definitely Superior Art Gallery 2007 Thirty Points of Light, Curated Scholarship, Ottawa, ON Thunder Bay, ON Group, Exhibition in Celebration of 2008 Queen Elizabeth II Graduate 2010 Traces, MFA Thesis Exhibition the 30th Anniversary of the Thunder Scholarship, Edmonton, AB The Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, AB Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay Art K.M. Hunter Artist Award for Visual 2010 Along the Way Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON Arts, Toronto, ON Little Gallery, University of Calgary 2006 Annual Regional Juried Exhibition 2007 Ontario Arts Council, New Works Calgary, AB Definitely Superior Art Gallery Project Grant, Thunder Bay, ON 2008 Small Works Thunder Bay, ON 2005 Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Calico Coffee House, Thunder Bay, ON Selected Group Show Assistance Grant, Thunder Bay, ON 2006 New Paintings Harbour Gallery, Mississauga, ON 2004 Telford Fenton Memorial Award Roomz, Thunder Bay, ON 2005 Annual Regional Juried Exhibition Toronto, ON 2006 Skylines, Artist Julie Cosgrove Definitely Superior Art Gallery Lakehead University Alumni Definitely Superior Art Gallery Thunder Bay, ON Purchase Prize, Thunder Bay, ON Thunder Bay, ON Annual Toronto Outdoor Art 2004 Dean’s Award for Ceramics, Thunder Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON Selected Group Exhibitions Toronto, ON Hilda May Utting Memorial Award, 2013 Pathways/Two Person Exhibition Regional Art Exhibition L a k e h e a d U n i v e r s i t y , T h u n d e r B a y , O N Harbour Gallery, Mississauga, ON Thunder Bay Art Gallery Millennium Scholarship Award 2012 New Alberta Contemporaries Thunder Bay, ON Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON Esker Foundation Gallery, Calgary, AB Toronto Art Expo Kleewyck Stained Glass Studio Award 2012 Urban InFill/Art in the Core Metro Convention Centre, Toronto, ON Thunder Bay, ON Definitely Superior Art Gallery ‘Best Of’ An Exhibition of Category Biljana Baker Prize, Lakehead Thunder Bay, ON Award Winners from the 2004 University, Thunder Bay, ON 2011 Annual Regional Juried Exhibition Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2003 Dean’s Award for Painting Definitely Superior Art Gallery First Canadian Place Gallery Thunder Bay Art Gallery Thunder Bay, ON Toronto, ON Thunder Bay, ON 2009 Ego-Space/Two Person Exhibition 2005 Lakehead University Visual Arts Millennium Scholarship Award Little Gallery, University of Calgary Alumni Exhibition, Definitely Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON Calgary, AB Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON Thunder Bay Potter’s Guild Award 2009 Inside and Out, Three Person Dexteritas Fermenting Cellar Thunder Bay Art Gallery Exhibition, Little Gallery, University Distillery District, Toronto, ON Thunder Bay, ON of Calgary, Calgary, AB 2004 Annual Toronto Outdoor Art 2002 Dean’s Award for Painting 2008 First Year MFA Exhibition/Group Exhibition Nathan Phillips Square, Thunder Bay Art Gallery Exhibition, Little Gallery, University Toronto, ON Thunder Bay, ON of Calgary, Calgary, AB Annual Regional Juried Exhibition Lakehead University President’s 2008 Big Lake Collective / First Exhibition, Definitely Superior Art Gallery Award, Thunder Bay, ON Group Exhibition, Big Lake Gallery Thunder Bay, ON Millennium Scholarship Award Thunder Bay, ON Retro Grads, Group Exhibition Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON 2008 Painters 13/Contemporary Regional Definitely Superior Art Gallery Painters, Curated Group Exhibition Thunder Bay, ON Donation Definitely Superior Art Gallery Major Studio Exhibition 2012 Original Painting Thunder Bay, ON Thunder Bay Art Gallery Wellspring Birmingham-Gilgan 2007 Red/Juried Group Exhibition Thunder Bay, ON House Cancer Support Centre Cube Gallery, Ottawa, ON Student Juried Art Exhibition Oakville, ON 2007 Festival International Montréal en Thunder Bay Art Gallery Arts, Montréal, QC Thunder Bay, ON Media Coverage Contact, Juried Group Exhibition 2013 The Walleye Magazine Definitely Superior Art Gallery Awards & Scholarships Thunder Bay, ON Thunder Bay, ON 2012 Ontario Arts Council, New Works 2012 New Alberta Contemporaries Urban InFill/Art in the Core Project Grant, Thunder Bay, ON Esker Foundation, Calgary, AB Definitely Superior Art Gallery 2010 Alberta Graduate Student Scholarship Superior Art: Local Art in a Global Edmonton, AB Context, The Advanced Institute 2009 Social Sciences and Humanities for Globalization and Culture Thunder Bay, ON