Top three Canadian visual artists

by Maria Rondon

3. Zachari Logan

Zachari Logan graduated with a master’s in fine arts from the University of Saskatchewan in 2008. Some of his nude self-portraits were exhibited in a solo show in Paris at Galerie Jeanroch Dard in January 2009. He’s also shown at New York’s Envoy Gallery. Being an artist notorious for his eroticized imagination doesn’t bother him in the least—after all, his interests lie in the creation of a self-anxious queer narrative. Logan has exhibited at La Petite Mort Gallery here in downtown Ottawa (306 Cumberland St.), and continues to be one of the most promising newcomers in Canadian art.

2. Sherry Tompalski

Canadian artist Sherry Tompalski specializes in portrait paintings accompanied by video or audio interviews with people who have stories to tell. Having studied fine arts at various schools (including the Santa Fe International Art Academy of New Mexico, the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, and the Ottawa School of Art), she has honed a unique and captivating artistic style, best described as psychological realism. Ottawa was lucky enough to host these works at La Petite Mort Oct. 10–15.

1. Peter Shmelzer

Peter Shmelzer has definitely made a name for himself here in Ottawa for his disturbing yet intriguing works of art. After graduating from the fine arts program at Concordia University in 1993, he has developed a unique style he describes as a measurement and reflection of the world and humans’ place in it. His work aims to create a mythological vocabulary outside of traditional religions and historical systems. Shmelzer works in traditional media such as oil painting on canvas, single-use plaster molds, and ornamental cabinetry. He finds these media to be important for—as he puts it—their “endless” challenges. Shmelzer is without a doubt at the top of the list, for his art unfailingly evokes emotional responses in its audience.