A Christmas Art Story from Downtown Toronto and Downtown Guelph

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PAINTINGS AND PHOTOS FROM AN URBAN PRISON
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Stephen Weir here. I want to briefly tell you about a special "Christmas" art show that should be of interest to you. There is a special exhibition that opened today in Guelph featuring the work of Toronto's Bryce Christmas
Bryce Christmas is a young artist who has been confined by court order to a 2-bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto. For the past 9-months his world has been confined to what he can see and paint from his balcony and to the junk he can find and photograph in the apartment building's musty old basement.
Bryce is waiting for his trial on a variety of drug related charges. The courts have put him under the care of Bernard Gauthier, the driving force behind Bravo TV. He has turned his life around because of art and the influence of Bernard.
To keep sane Bryce has been creating art every day in his comfortable but claustrophobic prison. Well known Toronto curator Shelley Falconer has just seen Bryce's art. She is blown away by the work and is looking for a national gallery to hang a show.
So are the owners of Alma Gallery in Guelph (The Gallery is owned by Tom Dowd, Renann Isaacs is the curator). Yesterday they scooped up almost everything he has produced. They are rushing to get it up in their, believe it or not, Christmas Room. Also in the gallery is a show entitled Five Canadian Artists -- showing works by Stu Oxley, Cheryl Ruddock, Paul Kuhn as well as Order of Canada and Governor General Award recipients Tony Urquhart and Wanda Koop.
The Alma Gallery has hung over 30 photographs and paintings by 28-year old Christmas. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 6pm. It is located at 133 Wyndham St North in Guelph. The gallery's number is 519.763.6392 and their website is at www.almagallery.ca/.


FOLLOW UP NUMBER ONE: Premiering tonight (Wednesday December 23rd) on CP24 in Toronto and Monday across-Canada on Bravo!, this week's (actually for the next two weeks) Bravo!News includes a segment on 'The Art of Bryce Christmas'.

FOLLOW UP NUMBER TWO: Read Peter Goddard's compelling full page feature on Bryce Christmas in the Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/747785--portrait-of-an-artist-as-a-young-exile

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