Colette Urban is a visual artist working in the area of sculpture, installation and performance. The subject of Urban's work is guided by her interest in questions of identity and response to landscape. Her work challenges boundaries between artist and audience as she develops viewer activated installations that address the political and social structures of domestic and/or public space. The performances, often inspired by the installations, refer to personal narratives questioning issues of gender. Urban's use of recycled materials and her methods of construction and presentation are in response to the installation and/or performance site. The performances are temporal expressions that exist after the event as photographic or video documents.
Her performances and installations have been exhibited in Italy, Great Britain, The Netherlands, United States and across Canada. Recently Urban was the subject of a documentary film Pretend Not To See Me where she restaged eleven performances. This film was directed and produced by Katherine Knight and Site Media Inc. In 2006 Urban retired from a teaching position at the University of Western Ontario and moved to McIvers Newfoundland where she established an art retreat, Full Tilt Creative Centre, to attract contemporary art makers to the west coast of Newfoundland. As Professor Emeritia from UWO Colette has traveled extensively as a guest speaker giving lectures about her work and her adventures as an entrepreneur.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Education
1982 MFA - University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
1980 BFA - Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Solo Exhibitions
2013
Colette Urban: Incognito, Museum London, London, ON
2011
Pin Up: Colette Urban, Grunt Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2007
Recalling Belvedere, Sir Wilfred Grenfell Art Gallery, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook. NL
2006
Recalling Belvedere, Museum London, London, ON
2004
Recalling Belvedere, Art Gene, Barrow-in–Furness, Cumbria, UK
2003
Museum Van Nagsael, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2001
Till, Dunlop Art Gallery/Sherwood branch, Regina, Saskatchewan
2000
Gambler, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
1999
Gambler, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia
Shake a Leg: Performative Sites of Colette Urban, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario
1997
Palace at 4 A.M., London, Ontario
1993
Tracings, YYZ Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
1992
Objects of Dysfunction, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, Newfoundland
1990
The World is Flat, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1988
The World is Flat, Stride Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
1986
Gambler, Or Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
1985
As Long as the Joke Lasts / tu, tu,t-swee,tu, tu. Eye Level Gallery, Halifax, NS
1983
A.K.A. Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1982
Pentimento, Studio Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC
Polygot, McPherson Library Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
1981
Diagram, Western Front Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1980
Recent Work, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design,
Halifax, NS
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012
Mirage, Bricks + Mortar International Video Art Festival, Greenfield, MA
2010
Game, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC
2009
Hinterlands, Harbourfront Gallery, Toronto, ON
Material Afterlife, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids,MI
2008
Strange Terrain, Eastern Edge Video Series, The Rooms, St. John’s, NL
Hinterlands, MacIntosh Gallery, UWO, London, ON
Stockpile, Corner Brook, NL
2005
Joke, faculty exhibition, UWO ArtLab, London, Ontario
2004
Outline in Black, Theilson Gallery, London, Ontario
Changing Values: Recent Acquisitions of Work by Women Artists,
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB (brochure)
2003
Obsolete Object, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
Shhh…..,faculty exhibition, UWO ArtLab, London Ontario
2002
Gambler & Oh My: Bird Brain & Ground Sounds, Mount Saint Vincent Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Oh My: Bird Brain & Ground Sounds, Forest City Gallery, London, Ontario
Tot, faculty exhibition, UWO Artlab, London, Ontario
2001
Open Air One: Bikes, Benches, Canoes & Beyond, public art project, London, Ontario
2000
Bonanza, faculty exhibition, Artlab, University of Western Ontario, London, ON
1999
Noisemakers, Blackwood Gallery, U. of T., Mississauga, Ontario
Co-operators, faculty exhibition, Artlab, University of Western Ontario, London, ON
1998
One Night Stand, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
1995
East International, (juried exhibition, selection by Marian Goodman and Giuseppe Penone) Norwich School of Art and Design, Norwich, UK
Spectrum, Memorial University Art Gallery, St. John's, Newfoundland
1993
Reconciliation, Forest City Gallery (Two Person), London, Ontario
Des bruits et des rumeurs, Contaminations, Montréal, QB
1992
Radio Rethink, Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, AB
20 Years of Open Space, Open Space, Victoria, BC
1991
Cold City Invitational, Cold City Gallery, Toronto
1989
On their Marks: Culture Jocks on Site, Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Performances & Artefacts, La galerie d'art du college Edouard-Montpetit, Longueuil, Québec
1987
Trigger, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
1986
Broken Muse, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
Ten Year Survey, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia
Art in Victoria, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
Ricochet, Sala Uno, Rome, Italy
1984
Contact II, Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, AB
Drawing & Sculpture, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC (catalogue)
1983
Drawings, Open Space Gallery, Victoria, BC
1982
Films by Artists, Open Space, Victoria, BC
Six from Halifax, Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, NS
1980
Six from the Styx, Mercer Union, Toronto, ON
Selected Performances
2012
“Hoot” , Queens University, Kinston, ON
2011
“Limited Possession”’ Grunt Gallery, Vancouver, BC
“Hoot”, Emily Carr University, Vancouver, BC
“Thirst”, Eastern Edge Gallery, Claw, St. John’s, NL
2010
“Hoot”, Citizen Jane Film Festival, Columbia, Missouri, Min.
“Thirst”, Harvest – Stockpile, Full Tilt Creative Centre, McIvers, NL
“Hoot”, Jewish Community Center, Toronto, ON
2009
“Full Tilt” , A1C gallery, St John’s, NL
“Snare”, Stockpile , Full Tilt Creative Centre, McIver, NL
“Moosing”, East Coast Music Awards street performance, Corner Brook, NL
2008
“Mega Moose”, Stockplie project, Corner Brook, NL
“Bare”, McIvers, NL
“Consumer Cyclone”, McIvers landfill
“Hey”, McIvers, NL
2005
“Aloyshis” UWO ArtLab, London, ON
2004
“Belvedere”, Bowmanville Zoo, Bowmanville, ON
“Secretkeepers,” Collaboration with Sonya Schonberger Wade Project, Toronto, ON
2003
“Secretkeepers,” Collaboration with Sonya Schonberger, Duende Studio, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2002
“Oh My,” Mount Saint Vincent Gallery, Halifax, N.S.
“Oh My,” Forest City Gallery, Wortley Village, London, ON
“Sphincter Moment,” Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON
2001
“Aqualure”, Springbank Park, London, ON
2000
“Smokin' Stools”, presented by Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, AB Calgary, AB
1999
“Round Peg In A Square Hole”, Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON
“Incomparable Compatibles”; “Round Peg in a Square Hole”;
“Consumer Cyclone,” Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON
1997
"Augur," London Art and Historical Museums, London, ON
1996
"Pretend Not To See Me" Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, BC
"Augur", Western Front, presented by Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, BC
"Augur", Camosun College, Victoria, BC
1995
"Incomparable Compatibles,” collaboration with Allison Cameron, Mercer Union, Toronto, ON
"Orchestrina,” Norwich School of Art and Design, Norwich, England
"Round Peg In A Square Hole,” Gallery Sansair, Vancouver, BC
1993
"Landing Here,” Eastern Edge, St. John's, NL
"Orchestrina," The Arts and Letters Club, Toronto,ON
"Consumer Cyclone,” Plaza Cote-des-Neigs, Montreal, Q
"Consumer Cyclone,” Hail St.-Roch, Quebec City, Q
"I Feel Faint," La Centrale, Montreal, Q
"Spilt Milk,” Forest City Gallery, London, ON
1992
"Landing Here,” Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery,Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, NL
"Making Waves,” Open Space, Victoria, BC
"I Feel Faint,” Ace Art, Winnipeg, M
"It's on Your Head, It's in Your Head," Radio Rethink, The Banff Centre ofFine Arts, Banff, A
1991
“A song to sing, a tale to tell, a point to make,” Niagara Artist’s Company, St. Catherines, ON
1990
"A song to sing, a tale to tell, a point to make," Forest City Gallery, London, ON
"I Feel Faint," Embassy Cultural House, London, ON
"Orchestrina Sextet," Chateau Laurier, l0l Gallery, Ottawa, ON
"Spilt Milk," Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, SK
1989
"A song to sing, a tale to tell, a point to make," Western Front, Vancouver, BC
"Baker's Dozen/Orchestrina for Athletes," Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon, SK
"Blind Spot," Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK
1988
I Feel Faint; Blind Spot; Split Milk, Performance Anthology, Alberta College of Art,
Calgary, AB
Spilt Milk, Sound Symposium, St. John's, NL
1987
Blind Spot, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1986
Every Fly has a Shadow, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC
I Feel Faint, Sala Uno, Rome, IT
1985
I Feel Faint; My Gift to the Audience, AKA Gallery, Saskatoon, SK
1982
My Gift to the Audience, Open Space, Victoria, BC
Publications
The World is Flat, Calgary: Stride Gallery, 1989 (book work)
Lick, from The City Within, Jeanne Randolph ed., Banff:
The Banff Centre for the Arts, 1992 (print project)
Held by a Dream, BlackFlash magazine, winter 1995, no. 13, vol. 4, pp. 4-8 (print project)
This is not a hat, documented in Odd and Even, Museum Van Nagsael: 11 Years, 132 Exhibitions, Rotterdam: Veenman Publishers, 2006, p. 144 (documentation)
Bibliography (Books, Catalogues, Brochures)
Bean, Robert and Colleen O’Neill, Recalling Belvedere. London: Art Gene and Museum London, 2006. (exhibition catalogue)
Borsa, Joan, ”Rebels with a Cause: the parodies and pleasures of our own disguises.” N.Paradoxa, international feminist art journal. London, UK., vol. 23, 2009. (journal article)
Clay, Allyson. Trigger: Katherine Knight, Sandra Meigs, Colette Urban. Vancouver: Contemporary Art Gallery, Clay, 1987. (exhibition catalogue)
Davison, Liane and Barbara Fischer. Gambler. Surrey: Surrey Art Gallery, 1999. (exhibition catalogue)
Davison, Liane and Nicholas Tuele. Art in Victoria: 1960-1986. Victoria, BC: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1986. (exhibition catalogue)
Fischer, Barbara. Noisemaker(s), Mississauga, ON: Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto, 2001. (exhibition catalogue)
Lessard, Denis and Sylvie Tourangeau. Performances + Artefacts. Longueuil, QB: Galerie d'art du Collège Édouard-Montpetit, 1989. (exhibition catalogue)
Mahon, Patrick, Hinterlands, London: McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario, 2008. (brochure)
Mars, Tanya and Johanna Householder, eds., Caught in the Act: an anthology of performance art by Canadian women. Toronto, ON: YYZ Books, 2004. (book)
Marzolf, Helen, Till. Regina, SK: Dunlop Art Gallery, 2002. (brochure)
McKay, Sally, ed. Money Value Art: State Funding, Free Markets, Big Pictures. Toronto, ON: YYZ Books, 2001. (book)
Mills, Josephine. Changing Values: Recent Acquisitions of Work by Women Artists. Lethbridge, AB: University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, 2004. (brochure)
Milrod, Linda J. Six from Halifax. Halifax, NS: Dalhousie Art Gallery, 1981. (exhibition catalogue)
Morris, Lynda, Manuel Chetcuti, and William Jeffett, East 1995, Norwich Gallery, Norwich: Norwich University College of the Arts, 1995. (exhibition catalogue)
O’Neill, Colleen and Barbara Fischer. Colette Urban. Corner Brook, NL: Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery, 1993. (exhibition catalogue)
Pakasaar, Helga, Betsy Coulter and John Massier. The Performance Sites of Colette Urban. Windsor, ON: Art Gallery of Windsor, 2001. (exhibition catalogue)
Pakasaar, Helga and Keith Wallace. Broken Muse. Vancouver, BC: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1987. (exhibition catalogue)
Pollock, Ann. Transient Moments: Vancouver & the Performance Photograph. Vancouver, BC: Presentation House Gallery, 1997. (exhibition catalogue)
Ring, Dan. Colette Urban: The World is Flat. Saskatoon: Mendel Art Gallery, 1990. (brochure)
Richard, Alain-Martin and Clive Robertson eds. Performance in Canada, 1970-1990. Québec: Les Éditions Intervention and Coach House Press, 1991, pp. 276, 319, 355, 357, 363. (book)
Rosenberg, Ann. 10 Plus 1: A Brief History of the Surrey Art Gallery and the 1986 Eleventh Anniversary Shows. Surrey: Surrey Art Gallery, 1990. (retrospective publication)
Simon, Vida and Essi Kausalainen. Take Out: Performance Recipes for Public Space = Prête à porter: Recettes de performance pour l’espace public. Montréal, QB: La Centrale, 2004.
Tuttle, Gail. The October Project: Open Space, 20 Years. Victoria: Open Space Arts Society, 1992. (retrospective publication)
Wallace, Ian, Ricochet, Rome: Edizioni Sala Uno, 1986. (exhibition catalogue)
Westbury, Tim. “Urban Radio,” Radio Rethink: Art, Sound and Transmission. Daina Augaitis and Dan Lander, eds., Banff: Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre for the Arts, 1994. (book)
Wark, Jayne, Radical Gestures: Feminism and Performance Art in North America. Montréal: McGill’s and Queen’s University Press, 2006, pp. cover image, 94, 162, 209. (book)
Young, Jane. Drawing & Sculpture: Lynda Gammon, Greg Murdock, Colette Urban. Surrey: Surrey Art Gallery, 1985. (exhibition catalogue)
Reviews/Press
Baele, Nancy. “Performance Art on a roll,” Ottawa Citizen, 26 February 1990, p. C7
Barnard, Elissa. “Art to have fun with,” Chronicle Herald, 12 January 1985, p. 36
Bull, Hank. “Banff: Special Feature,” Front, vol. 3 no. 4 (March/April 1992), p. 15
Crawford, Lynn. “Colette Urban at the Art Gallery of Windsor,” Art in America, November 1999, vol. 87, no. 11, pp. 150-151
Carroll, Frank. “Duo Turns Toys into Music and Art,” The Western Star, 12 August 1995
Dafoe, Chris. “Studio Tries to Make Waves into the World of Radio,” Globe and Mail, 11 February 1992
Femminella, Carola. “Le Radici della Natura,” L’Umanita, 18 June 1986
Fleming, Martha. “Six from the Styx,” Arts Atlantic, spring 1981, vol. 10, p. 11
Godfrey, Stephen. “Artistic musing and amusing artists,” Globe and Mail, 20 December 1986, p. C4
Godley, Elizabeth. “Show by local artists too playful for sober VAG,” Vancouver Sun, 28 November 1986, p. H1
Horne, Stephen. “Colette Urban,” Vanguard, April 1985, p. 41
Kunard, Andrea. “Colette Urban,” Vanguard, February 1982, pp. 34-5
Marks, Laura U. “Colette Urban,” Fuse, May/Jun 1993, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 39-40
Mays, John Bentley. “Offerings from Maritimes Suffer Strange Power Failure,” Globe and Mail, 8 November 1980, p. 13
Robert, Jocelyn. “Radio Rethink,” Inter Art Actuel, no. 54, pp. 22-23
Robertson, Sheila. “Art as Metaphor for Human Endeavor,” Saskatoon Star Phoenix, 13 January 1990, p. A6
Robertson, Sheila. “Colette Urban’s exhibition fun concept to puzzle out,” Saskatoon Star Phoenix, 20 January 1990, p. 12
Shuebrook, Ron. “Empathetic Witness,” Vanguard, February 1981, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 16-21
Talve, Merike. “Trigger,” Vanguard, September 1987, p. 29
Tourangeau, Jan “Performances et artefacts ou le pouvoir de la mémoire,” Vie Des Arts, fall 1989, vol. 34, no. 136
Tousley, Nancy. “Unspoken maxim underlie multi-faceted work,” Calgary Herald, 7 September 1988
Young, Jane. “Vancouver,” C Magazine, March 198, pp. 75-77
Collections
Art Bank of Newfoundland & Labrador, St. John’s, NL
Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, ON
Museum London, London, ON
Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC
The Rooms Art Gallery, St. John’s, NL
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB
Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre