Thunderous Gratitude
Aleksandra Rdest
Bio
Aleksandra Rdest believes the ultimate elegance lies in simplicity. Her practice is intuitive, paintings develop many layers over many sessions of reflection and response.
In this series or work, gestural marks are set against a background of meticulously applied striations of paint. Rdest is informed by her landscape and macro photography taken on meditative walks in nature; in the studio she applies many thin layers of oil glazes to canvas in order to create bold emotive works.
A graduate of OCAD, Rdest is represented by several galleries and consultants. Her work has been featured and included in exhibitions in Toronto, Kelowna, Vancouver, Calgary, St. John’s, Montreal, Saskatoon, Chicago and Yokohama; in commercial and public galleries. Rdest has exhibited with art collectives Femme Five and A Collection of Foreign Objects. Her work has been presented in print as well as online publications. Ever evolving, Rdest creates subtly sublime paintings for corporate, retail, hospitality and private collections.
Rdest’s works are included in collections at Four Seasons Toronto, Delta Toronto Downtown, Allure of the Seas, Royal Bank of Canada, Holt Renfrew Toronto, Canaccord Capital Corporation, Houston; Cadillac Fairview Toronto; Burnac Corporation, Toronto; GMP Montreal, NORDSTROM Yorkdale, Eaton Centre Toronto, Pacific Centre Vancouver, Honolulu, other locations in USA; Thunder Valley Casino; and Private Collections.
Rdest believes the ultimate elegance lies in simplicity. Her practice is intuitive, paintings develop many layers over many sessions of reflection and response.
Curriculum Vitae
2021 Gallery Little Red Pop Up Tronto
2015 LOVE ART, RUMI GALLERY, TORONTO
2014 Public art installation ongoing: Delta Hotel Toronto Lobby
2013 PAST MEETS PRESENT, RUMI GALLERY, Mississauga
2013 “MATERIAL GIRLS” Femme Five Art Collective Creative Blueprint Gallery Toronto
2013 “Paint the town” Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna
2012 “Field Trip project” Touring exhibition Japan/canada
2011 Art toronto, Rumi gallery, toronto
2011 “CRISScross”, Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna
2010 “Bungalow Colony” Gendai Gallery, Toronto
2010 “SWAGGER AND SASHAY” Angell Gallery Project Space, Toronto [solo]
2010 “Color Salute”, Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna
2010 “When the dust settles” Angell Gallery, Toronto
2009 “Nomads No More” DeLeon White Gallery, Toronto [2 person]
2009 “Impulse Equation”, Switch Contemporary, Toronto
2009 “By Degrees”, Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna
2009 Pool NY Art Fair, New York
2009 “Works on Paper”, Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna
2008 “Postcards from the Void” Tatar Gallery, Toronto [solo]
2008 SOPA Fine Arts, Kelowna
2007 “? Group Exhibit” Bjornson Kajiwara Gallery, Vancouver
2007 “Fuzz” Newzones, Calgary
2007 “Le Soleil Noir” Tatar Gallery, Toronto
2007 “New Work: Pouch Cove” James Baird Gallery, St. John’s [solo]
2006 “My Secret City” part of Nuit Blanche Toronto
2006 “Spell”, Thames Art Gallery, Chatham, ON
2006 Galerie D’Este, Montreal
2006 “In Transit” Gosia Koscielak Studio and Gallery, Chicago
2006 NOVA Art Fair Chicago with Gosia Koscielak Studio and Gallery
2006 “Young Toronto Painters”, James Baird Gallery>Pouch Cove, NFLD
2006 “Generated Habitats”, 2-1022 Queen Street West, Toronto
2005 “Spell”, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
2005 “Spell”, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
2005 “Big Show” 1139 College Street, Toronto
2004 “Trans Tokyo” Propeller Centre for the Arts, Toronto
2004 “Trans” Big Studio Gallery, Yokohama, Japan
2004 “Summer Group Show” Pari Nadimi Gallery, Toronto
2003 Pari Nadimi Gallery, Toronto [solo]
2002 Graduate Ontario College of Art and Design
2011 Winner, Flash Forward 2011: Emerging Photographers, Magenta Foundation
2007 Short listed for the RBC Painting Competition
2007 Canada Council for the Arts Production Grant
2002 David L. Stevenson Scholarship
2001 A.V. Issacs Tuition Scholarship
- Profile: Digital Temple Magazine, March 2010 http://www.digital-temple.com/
- “BlogTO” Profiles of emerging artists
- “Na Luzie” OMNI Television’s Polish-language culture program; feature segment, December 2008
- “Glowing Reviews for Aleks Rdest” Current Magazine, August 2007
- Angela Antle, Interview, CBC Radio July 22, 2007
- “Aleks Rdest’s Paintings” Current Magazine, March 2007
- “Living in NL” CBC Television St. John’s, March 5, 2007
- Hohmann, Skye. “Interview with Aleksandra Rdest” Rind Magazine , rindmag.com
- Goddard, Peter. “Abstract retro torque” Toronto Star, April 2003
- 2010 Siya Chen, Daisuke Takeya, Bungalow Colony Exhibition Catalogue
- 2008 Magenta Foundation’s Publication Carte Blanche: Painting
- 2007 RBC Painting Competition, Semi Finalist Exhibition Catalogue
- 2007 Pouch Cove Foundation Fundraiser 2007, Art Auction Catalogue, Toronto
- 2006 Skye Hohmann, Generated Habitats, 2-1022 Queen Street West, Toronto ON
- 2005 Jordan Broadworth, Jonathan Forrest, Spell, Mendell Art Gallery, Saskatoon, SK
- 2005 Ann Ireland, Michelle Jaques, Big Show, 1139 College Street, Toronto
- 2003 – 2005 Art With Heart, Casey House Art Auction Catalogue, Toronto
Four Seasons Toronto, Allure of the Seas, Royal Bank of Canada, Holt Renfrew Toronto, Canaccord Capital Corporation, Houston; Cadillac Fairview Toronto; Burnac Corporation, Toronto; GMP Montreal, NORDSTROM Multiple locations; Thunder Valley Casino; Private Collections
2008 – 2012: Creative Director, Tatar Gallery / Tatar Art Projects
2003 – 2006: Director, Tatar Gallery
2002: Assistant Director, Tatar Gallery
2002: Gallery Assistant, Angell Gallery
Alumni Artist; OCADU Painting thesis 2013
Co-Curator, Upcycling: Recuperating Past Lives, A Pop up Exhibit in the Future Home of A+D Architecture and Design Museum, Los Angeles, 2009
Artist Talk: OCAD painting thesis, 2007
Pouch Cove Artist Residency, Oct/Nov 2006
Co-Curator, Generated Habitats, Toronto 2006
Visiting Artist, Fanshaw College, London, ON 2006
Co-Curator, Trans Tokyo Propeller Centre for the Arts, Toronto 2004
Member of A Collection of Foreign Objects; Collective 2004 – present; See http://acofo.blogspot.com/