Bio / Statement / Bibliography
BIO – Naomi London is a visual artist with a practice based in sculpture, installation and drawing. Her works are held in several public collections including the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Musée des beaux arts de Montréal, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. She has an MFA from the University of Southern California (USC) and a BFA from Concordia University, Montréal, and is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Naomi London was a faculty member of the Fine Arts Department at Dawson College for over 20 years. (Chair of the Fine Arts Department from 2013 – 2015.) She lives and works in Montréal.
STATEMENT – I have worked with fiber based materials and textiles for over twenty years. My practice over the past ten years has focused on making sculpture from materials and fabric inherited from my mother, Shyrl London, who died in 2009. My mother was a trained designer and pattern maker who worked in clothing design and manufacturing for many years. The sound of her old Singer machine was a regular background noise during my childhood. Along with being encouraged to draw and paint at home, this early exposure to sewing eventually had a large impact on my imagination and creative methods.
The body of work made from Shyrl’s fabric remnants and paper dressmaking patterns is influenced formally by minimalism. The spherical objects are quietly monumental. Each is a solid form, made only from the materials visible (fabric, thread, paper) with necessary pins or staples to hold them together. Beyond their minimalism the round shapes make reference to many everyday objects – bagels, balloons, children’s balls and polka dots. They are commemorative and are infused with the themes of empathy, hope and familial bonds, personal concerns which I continue to explore in my work.
Naomi London, March 2020
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Campbell, James D. Naomi London [exhibition catalogue]. Galerie Samuel Lallouz, Montréal, Québec, 1992.
Ferris, Alison. Discursive Dress [exhibition catalogue]. John Michael Kohler Art Centre, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 1994.
Landry, Pierre. L’origine des choses [exhibition catalogue]. Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, 1994.
Spears, Birgit. The InterArt Center 1991-1994. The InterArt Center, New York, 1994.
Hughes, Mary Jo and Campbell, James. Necessary Grief – Naomi London: Grieving Equipment [exhibition catalogue]. Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, 1995.
Elman, Erin. A Stitch in the Canon: A Discussion of Five Contemporary Artists Who Have Been Influenced by Feminism [M.A Art Education thesis]. University of the Arts, Philadelphia, 1997.
Numata, Hideko and Kagesato, Tetsuro. Weaving the World, Contemporary Art of Linear Construction [exhibition catalogue]. Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan, 1999.
Podedworny, Carol. The Poetics of Aging : Gisele Amantea, Naomi London, Arlene Stamp, Julie Voyce [exhibition catalogue]. Hamilton, Ont.: Art Gallery of Hamilton, 1999.
Molter, Michael J. and Gordon, Russell T., et. al. Points, lignes, surfaces : 20 ans = Points, Lines, Surfaces : 20 Years [exhibition catalogue]. Université Concordia/Concordia University, 1998.
Pressé, Suzanne. Passion et tournament: La collection Luc LaRochelle [exhibition catalogue]. Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke, 2000.
Lord, Daniel. L’envers du vêtement/The Underside of Clothing: Naomi London + Mindy Yan Miller [exhibition catalogue]. Musée Marcil, Saint Lambert, Québec, 2002.
Lamoureux, Johanne. Doublures : Vetements de L’art contemporain [exhibition catalogue]. Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, 2003.
Gascon, France. (2005) Naomi London : Trois projets sur le thème du plaisir, de l’espoir et du temps qui passe / Three Projects, Sweets, Hope and the Passage of Time [exhibition catalogue]. Musée d’art de Joliette, Joliette, Québec and The Koffler Centre for the Arts, Toronto, 23 pages.
Jurakic, Yvan. Wordsmiths: Blair Brennan, Alan Flint, Graham Gillmore, Kirtley Jarvis, Naomi London [exhibition catalogue]. Cambridge Galleries, Cambridge, Ontario, 2006.
Beaudet, Pascale. Biennale international du lin de PortneufF – 3e édition [exhibition catalogue]. Portneuf, QC, 2009.
St-Gelais, Thérèse (ed.). Loin des yeux prés du corps : entre théorie et création. Les éditions du remue ménage, Montréal, Québec, 2012, 182 pages.
London, Naomi et. al. Fine Arts Faculty Biennial 11 [exhibition catalogue]. Dawson College, Montreal, 2014.
London, Naomi et. al. Fine Arts Faculty Biennial 12 [exhibition catalogue]. Dawson College, Montreal, 2016, 37 pages.
London, Naomi et. al. Fine Arts Faculty Biennial 13 [exhibition catalogue]. Dawson College, Montreal, 2018, 41 pages.
London, Naomi et. al. Fine Arts Faculty Biennial 14 [exhibition brochure]. Dawson College, Montreal, 2020, 24 pages.
ONLINE COLLECTIONS
See my works on the Canadian Art Database (1991-2004).
See my portfolio on the Drawing Centre Artist Registry (2005-2007).
See my artist album on the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec site «Collections».