Experimental Farm, Greenhouse. 2011 47” x 28”

Thursday January 2nd, 2014 to Sunday January 26th, 2014

Vernissage: Sun Jan 5th, 2014 — 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Cube Gallery
1285 Wellington St. W.  Ottawa, K1Y 3A8

613 728 1750   ~   613 728 2111

Press Release:

For Ottawa artist Petra Halkes, the contemporary urban night scene is a mysterious experience. “Every-day events of shopping, work and transportation, take on an abstract and magical quality at night.” she says. “In my series, Window Shopping, I try to capture some of these strange transformations.”

In another series, Reflections, Halkes emulates how a camera would record the complex layers of views through windows combined with interior reflections. “The human mind would usually focus upon the exterior view or the interior,” says exhibition curator Marcia Lea. “Halkes has represented both in her paintings, leaving the viewer to try and peer out through the window or to glimpse the hints of life in the interior.”

Halkes divides her creative energies between painting and writing. She has exhibited widely in artist-run and other public spaces including the Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery, Ottawa’s SAW Gallery and in St. Catherines, Niagara Artists’ Company. Her paintings are held in numerous private and public collections including the National Aviation Museum, and the City of Ottawa.

Halkes has also published reviews and articles on contemporary art in magazines such as Border Crossings, Canadian Art and Parachute, and a variety of scholarly journals.