Toronto, Canada - December 19, 2022 - Janna Watson is a Canadian contemporary artist who has quickly made an impression on the contemporary art scene. Her abstract compositions and energetic brushstrokes possess an elegant and powerful vitality. A masterful colorist, her paintings are a carefully balanced orchestra of color. She creates energetic tension between deliberate and confident marks and spontaneous drips and gestures that are artifacts of her intuitive process. Janna’s compositions are an intriguing assertion of bold gesture set against atmospheric expression. 

The artist is widely exhibited internationally. Janna Watson’s paintings can be found in several significant collections, including in the Toronto collections of TD Bank Financial Group, CIBC, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and the HBC Global Art Collection in New York. In 2017, she was selected to create a mural-size painting for the feature space in AURA, North America’s largest condominium building. Janna earned a BFA in Drawing and Painting from Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto, ON. The artist lives and works in Toronto, Canada. 

Career Highlights include: 

• In 2012, she collaborated on a multi-media exhibition with Katrina Tompkins at the Toronto Design Offsite Festival in 2012. 

• Janna Watson began producing two-fold reversible rugs in 2014, which The Globe and Mail described as "modern fusion of functional art and high-end craft." In 2014, she was featured on House and Home. 

• In 2016, Watson's "Big Swoop" exhibition was shown at DesignTO. That year, she was included in Azure's list of "5 Emerging Designers That Rocked Toronto Design Week". 

• Watson's art has been exhibited at galleries such as the Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, the Bau Xi Gallery in Toronto & Vancouver, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art in Calgary. In December 2017, Watson's series of paintings were debuted at Kenise Barnes Fine Art in New York. 

• On September 4, 2018, Namesake unveiled a line of leather jackets at Fashion Revolution which featured designs by Watson among several other artists. That same year, Janna’s "Moody as Light" series was exhibited at Foster/White. She was also featured in Danielle Krysa's "Big Picture, Baby" exhibition at the Skye Gallery, along with artists Ashley Longshore, Daisy Patton, and Meghan Hildebrand. 

• On February 29, 2020, Janna’s paintings appear in ‘Color Theory’, a contemporary art intervention during the Colorado Governor’s Mansion Black & White ball, curated by Doug Kacena, owner, and director of K Contemporary. 

• In August 2021, Janna Watson gained representation by Laura Rathe Fine Art at both Dallas and Houston locations. 

• Janna’s work is featured for the first time at Art Miami and Hamptons Fine Art through Laura Rathe Fine Art in 2021 and 2022. 

• Approached by Bluerider ART in Taipei City, Watson debuts her paintings in Asia for the first time, October 2022. 

• In January 2023, Janna signed a new contract with Galerie de Bellefeuille in Montreal. 

“Skywriting” - A Solo Exhibition by Canadian contemporary artist Janna Watson: 

Recently inspired by the Daoist philosophy of wu wei, Janna Watson explains how she embraced “effortless action” in her latest body of work ‘Skywriting’, “I meditate when I paint and really try to shut out all thoughts. I let the materials become themselves so that I become an equal player to each pigment.” Her intent is to honor the essence and energy that is around at all times. Watson goes on to say, “The sky is my muse. It is no-place and all-place, and as a subject matter, it connects me to nature. As opposed to landscape–which references a topography of a specific place–the sky is a numinous experience that connects us to a greater power.” 

Wu wei invites spontaneous and inevitable behaviors to happen naturally. Rather than painting a pre-planned idea, Watson lets go of her ego to unify herself with her environment. She explains that “when I am conscious of being under the sky, I feel so small. The omnipresent air connects me to my spirit and I want to share my perspective of the emotive sky. I like personifying clouds and adopting their feelings.” 

‘Skywriting’ is on display at Bau-Xi Gallery’s Vancouver location from February 4 - 18, 2023. 

SOLO EXHIBITION AT BAU-XI GALLERY:
February 4 - 18, 2023 

OPENING RECEPTION:
Saturday, February 4th between 2-4pm 

LOCATION:
3045 South Granville Street Vancouver, BC V6H 3J9  Canada
604 733 7011
bau-xi.com 

HOURS:
Monday to Saturday from 10 am - 5:30 pm PST
Sunday from 11 am - 5:30 pm PST 

For complete information, visit:  https://jannawatson.com/

Reference:

1stdibs.com/creators/janna-watson/art/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janna_Watson#cite_note-4
nowtoronto.com/news/artist-profile-janna-watson

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