Charles Hackbarth and Barbara Rehus at loop Gallery

Charles Hackbarth: Everything AND Nothing  Barbara Rehus: Can't. Breathe. November 24th – December 16th, 2012  Reception: Saturday, November 24th, 2012, 2-5 PM  Artists’ talk: Sunday, December 9th, 2-4 PM loop Gallery is pleased to announce exhibitions by loop members Charles Hackbarth entitledEverything AND Nothing, and Barbara Rehus entitled Can't. Breathe. Charles Hackbarth, 'Everything AND Nothing', mixed media on paper, 60 x 72 inches, 2012. Driven by the conviction that drawing is direct, spontaneous, immediate and visceral, Hackbarth's current body of work, Everything AND Nothing, features large-scale narratives that mimic the dream state. These works showcase the artist’s commitment to drawing as a medium that can create a direct channel to the imagination, triggering an instantaneous, unfiltered hook-up to the unconscious and the transpersonal. Inspired by metaphysical and alchemistic art, magic realism, historical illustration, and contemporary realism, Hackbarth’s “psycho-spiritual tableaux” present a vivid and surreal mind-space where Everything AND Nothing can occur. Hackbarth is a Toronto-based artist, writer and musician. When he’s not making art he is developing his private practice as a Transformational Counsellor and Life Coach. Hackbarth has been creating art and showing in galleries since 1985; his work is included in a number of private collections. Barbara Rehus, (Detail) Can’t. Breathe.,Rubber castings, found glass box, wire, 18"h x 12"w x 4"d, 2012 A serendipitous find of old puppet head molds led Rehus down a path paved with frustration but also the occasional pleasant surprise as molds and materials yielded unpredictable and often transient results. Under these conditions, the artist was obliged to create a series of unusable puppets whose misfortune it is to forever remain inanimate. Rehus is a Toronto-based visual artist whose work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in public institutions, artist-run centres and commercial galleries throughout Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, and the United States. Please join the artists in celebrating the exhibition opening on Saturday, November 24th from 2-5 PM. Hackbarth and his band, The Body In Question, will be performing ambient electronic music at loopGallery on Sunday, December 2nd at 2PM. Learn more about Charles Hackbarth's and Barbara Rehus's works during an artist talk at loopGallery on Sunday, December 9th at 2PM.