Tiziana La Melia

 

 

 

Cow Heat Femme Spin, 2016-2017
oil on canvas, thread, ink, artist frame (ink, flashe, wood)
62 x 52 cm
photograph by Alberto Ricci

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiziana La Melia is an artist and writer born in Palermo (Italy) who grew up in an orchard on the Syilx/Okanagan territories in southern British Columbia, Canada. She works across many media such as painting, poetry, sculpture, collaboration, collage and drawing.In her writing and art practice Tiziana gleans the detritus of the everyday and transmutes it into material textures, and iterative shapes and symbols, which move through layers of diasporic time. Over the past few years, she has been editing a video that features friends and family performing the simple life in a fabled drama between hamsters and mice, travelling between the rural and the urban, while tracing familial and symbolic understandings of food, clothing, and place. Tiziana also made Kletic Kink (with Ellis Sam), a poetry album with musical compositions. She is a sessional instructor in painting and writing at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.
Oscillating between representations and abstractions, her works explore the potentialities of language, intertwining the genre of autofiction and a broader thought on the female archetype.Her works have recently been shown in personal exhibitions such as «Broom Emotion» at the galerie anne barrault (Paris); Ambivalent Pleasures at the Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver); Innocence at Home at CSA Projects (Vancouver); Domestic Like a Pre-Raphelite Brotherhood at Truth and Consequences (Geneva), Johnny Suede, Damien and the Love Guru (Brussels); In the Land of Skeletons at the Schwaz Gallery (Schwaz); The Eyelash and the Monochrome at the Mercer Union (Toronto); Lot at The Apartment (Vancouver), Neck of Thirsty Flower at Exercise (Vancouver), Truth & Consequences (Geneva).
Tiziana La Melia has also participated in group exhibitions at Parc Saint Léger, outside the walls, in Nevers, at the Oakville Galleries, at the Gallery Division in Montreal, at the Mint Project Space in Columbus, at the Ghebaly Gallery in Los Angeles ...Her poetry and critics have appeared in the Art 21, The Interjection Calender, CMagazine, Agony Klub, The Organism for Poetic Research, The Capilano Review, The LA Art Book Review and West Coast Line magazines. In 2014 she won the RBC Canadian Painting Competition. In 2018, she published two books of poetry published by Talonbooks entitled The Eyelash and the Monochrome and Oral Like Cloaks, Dialect published by Blank Check Press. In 2021, she took part in a group show at the Unit 17 gallery with Ravi Jackson and Tania Willard. In 2023, she was showcased in a duo show at Damien & The Love Guru gallery in Zurich as part of the Confessions On Sparkling Hill exhibition with Alison Yip.

Solo exhibitions

The pigeon looks for death in the space between the needle and the haystack, LECLERE Centre d’art, Marseille, organized by Charlotte Cosson & Emmanuelle Luciani
Broom Emotion, Galerie Anne Barrault, Paris, curated by Franck Balland

2015
Innocence at Home, CSA Projects, Vancouver, curated by Steffanie Ling
2014
The Eyelash and the Monochrome, Mercer Union, Toronto, curated by Georgina Jackson.
Lot, The Apartment, Vancouver, curated by Lee Plested

2012
Neck of Thirsty Flower, Exercise, Vancouver
2011
Table of Contents (Accompanying Poem), Clint Roenisch, Toronto

Group exhibitions

2018
Cloudcuckooville, Soon.tw, Montreal *
Sauvage, Dom Art, Palermo, curated by Sonia D’Alto
Annex, M+B, Los Angeles
2017
Garden Gossip, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff, curated by Peta Rake **
Nature’s Way, Cooper Cole, Toronto
Soot, Unit 17, Vancouver
Johnny Suede, Damien & the Love Guru, Brussels *
In the Land of Skeletons, Galerie der Stadt Schwaz, Schwaz
DOMESTIC – like a preraphaelite brotherhood, Truth & Consequences, Geneva
17:1, Unit 17, Vancouver
Kamias Triennale, Quezon City, Philippines
2016
Vancouver Special Triennale: Ambivalent Pleasures, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
Terminal 1, Western Front, Vancouver
A Pool is Water, Division Gallery, Montreal, curated by Loreta Lamargese
nouveau, Galerie Anne Barrault, Paris
Down To Write You This Poem Sat, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, curated by Frances Loeffler
Still Life, Lycée Raoul Follereau/Parc Saint Léger, Nevers, curated by Franck Balland
Enter the Fog, The Rooms, St. Johns, curated by Josée Drouin and Mireille Eagan
Intensive Nesting, Division Gallery, Montreal, curated by Loreta Lamargese
2015
Glory Bead, Mint , Columbus, Ohio, curated by Cudelice Brazelton
A Line In The Sand, Artist Curated Projects, Los Angeles, curated by Eve Fowler
Stopping the Sun in its Course, Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles, curated by Jesse McKee
Hotter Than July 24th, Cooper Cole, Toronto
Ultra-sensitive eyeballs tracing a silvery wake from purple to blue, Garden Avenue, Toronto, curated by Colin Miner
Through a Window: Visual Art and SFU 1965-2015, Audain Gallery, Vancouver, curated by Amy Kazymerchyk
Occasional Furniture, The Apartment, Vancouver
2014
Joan Dark, Western Front, Vancouver, curated by Jesse Birch
A problem so big it needs other people, SBC Gallerie d’art Contemporain, Montreal, curated by cheyanne turions
2013
The Intellection of Lady Spider House, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, organized by Geoffrey Farmer
On the Tip of my Tongue, Magasin 3, Stockholm. Collaborative film with Tamara Henderson
Crystal Tongue, Exercise, Vancouver, curated by Amy Kazymerchyk
Freedom of Assembly, Oakville Gallery, Oakville, curated by Matthew Hyland

 

SELECTED READINGS
2019 Reading, Griffin Art Projects, North Vancouver, February 9
2018 Triple Launch, Knife|Fork Books, Toronto, December 8
2018 Kotecha and La Melia, Drawn & Quarterly, Montreal, December 5, Organized by Michael Narcdone
2018 Interjection Calender, Image/Movement, Berlin, October 23
2018 Talon Fall Poetry Book Launch, Pratt Hall, Vancouver, November 13,
2018 Reading at L’escalier, Montreal, March 4
2017 Third Friday Reading Series, People’s Co-Op on Commercial Drive
2017 Island Dreams, Nanaimo Art Gallery, Saysutshun (Newcastle Island)
2017 What about the Children? Damien and the Love Guru, Brussels
2016 Moire Reading and Launch: What Shape of Purple, Art Metropole, Toronto
2016 Staring at the Ceiling, CAG, Vancouver
2016 Oral Like Cloaks, Dialect, Publication Studio, Vancouver
2016 The Eyelash and the Monochorome, Western Front, Vancouver
2015 Twilight of the Idols, Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles
2015 Reading at “Help Me Remember” (in conjunction with a solo exhibition by Julian Hou), galerie L’escalier, Montreal, December 12, 5pm.
2014 Sci-pulp Poetics, Wendy’s Subway, New York
2014 Rhythms & Forms, Poets Theatre, The Apartment, Vancouver
2014 Rumours, Model, Vancouver
2013 The Tent Shop: Scriviner’s Monthly, The Western Front, Vancouver
2012 The Part of No Part: Costumes, 221A, Vancouver
2009 Readings for TV, Axelrod Project Space, Guelph
2009 Manifesto, University of Guelph, Guelph
2009 Avowal of What is Here, Refinery Arts and Spirit Centre, Saskatoon
2008 Best Friend Boys, 1067 Granville St, Organized by A23, Vancouver
2008 Legends/Translations, 1067 Granville St, Organized by A23, Vancouver
2007 KSW Emerging Poets Reading: Nikki Reimer, Mark Dahl, Jamie Denike & Tiziana La Melia, Spartacus Books, Organized by the Kootney School of Writing, Vancouver
2006 Like Lick, Licked, Lotus Hotel, Organized by West Coast Line (Magazine Launch, No.48), Vancouver

 

SCREENINGS
2018 3 Pockets di Ogetti screened during Tamara Henderson: Out of Body, The Tate, UK
2016 Affinities: A series of performance, screenings, and conversations organized in conjunction to the Joan Jonas exhibition From Away, DHC/ART, Montreal
2016 Unstill Objects & Lost Materials, Gallery S O, London, UK
2016 Padded Screen, Online video project in collaboration with Laurie Kang for inaugural issue of MICE Magazine
2015 Light Soluble Mediums, The Picture Show, New York
2015 Light Soluble Mediums: PDX Redux, Brass Tacks Sandwiches, Portland
2013 L’Hôtel de l’Exposition, Treize, Paris

 

TALKS
2018 Conversation with Yaniya Lee, Franzkaka, Toronto
Clay Disease: New Blobs[1] of Time from Word to Work to Object, Accademia di Belli Arti di Napoli, Naples (IT)
2017 The Marseille Cat, UBCO, Kelowna
2015 Staring at the Ceiling, ESAAB, Nevers (FR)
2015 SFU, School for the Contemporary Arts, Vancouver
2014 Mercer Union, Toronto
2012 Twilight Hour: Painters Talking About Painting, Emily Carr University, Vancouver
2009 Avowal of What is Here, Refinery Arts & Spirit Centre, Saskatoon

 

EXHIBITION CATALOGUES
2016 Diane Augaitis, Jesse McKee, et al.. Vancouver Special: AmbivalentPleasures. VancouverArt Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2017 Silver, Erin. “Mending Walls: Imagining the Sovereign Subject in Contemporary Exhibition Practices.”Narratives Unfolding: National Art Histories in an Unfinished World. McGills-Queens University Press, Edited by Martha Langford

 

EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING PROJECTS
2012 Page of Vapours Edited by Tiziana La Melia and co-published with Exercise Project Space
2012 Broom Emotion. 32 pages, Edition of 15, Self Published

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2019 The Tender Sorrow of Casey Wei. Essay in Images Festival Catalogue
2019 Jade Windscreen Powder: w/Tissue Sludge Compostition. Public Journal, Issue 58
2019 Folded Paper Butterfly. Catalogue Essay, Gordon Smith Gallery
2018 Grandgossipma Pa-pag-page Issue 1. Edited by Christian Vistan and Shizen Jambor
2017 Nice Poem. Charcuterie September Issue. Edited by Bopha Chhay, Steffanie Ling, Eli Zibin
2017 Mouthwash. The Interjection Calender 04-17. Montez Press
2017 Sweaty Feelings. Agony Klub 2. Edited by Casey Wei.
2016 Excerpt from The Eyelash and the Monochrome. Art 21 Magazine, Nov/Oct Issue (online), Edited by Lee Plested
2016 A cute curse. Poetry is Dead, Issue 14: Intersections, Edited by Shazia Hafiz Ramji
2016 Case Studies. Tripwire Issue 12, edited by David Bucck
2016 A Brief Vacation, Rooms with a Review, (collected writings from the Critical Art Writing Ensemble II)
2016 Staring at the Ceiling, DYSFYCTION 3, Organised by Herzman Mellowville
2015 FLAR Report, C Magazine, Issue 128
2015 I lost my body at Plan D’eau, response to Waves for Nicolas Sasoon
2015 Would you rather have a peach or a painting of a peach? Letters to the Editors, Issue 29
2015 Walling the wall, dooring the door, flooring the floor, LA Art Book Review, Issue 5.0
2015 Voices On Her Cures, C Magazine, Issue 127
2015 Rearviews No. 3, C Magazine, Issue 126
2015 A few notes and citations, The Capilano Review Issue 3.27
2015 Is 1hr 1hr? Gallery text for Laurie Kang, 8-11 (also published in Entangles)
2014 The Part of No Part, Exhibition Catalogue, 221A and Brick Press, Organized by Dan Starling
2014 Infer in Furs, Gallery text for Emily Hill, Macaulay & Co. Fine Arts
2014 Thought Column for Joan the Saint, Night Papers V, Edited by Davida Nemeroff
2014 Lake Moods, The Lake, Organized by Maggie Groat
2014 Capilano Style Column, Not-poetry in Vancouver, The Capilano Review, Winter (with Rebecca Brewer)
2013 Postures, Millions Magazine, Issue 2. Edited by Tony Romano and Claire Greenshaw
2013 Lot, Gallery text for Sally Spath and Nestor Kruger, YYZ
2013 Room Motion, Gallery text for Effects of a Room, G Gallery
2013 OOMOTION, Pelt, Issue 2. Edited by Daniel C. Reimen, Ada Smailbegovic and Rachael Wilson
2011 The Hands of V&U. Pyramid Power, Issue 8. Edited by Rachelle Sawatsky, pp 54- 61, Vancouver
2010 Story About Making a Line. W2010. W magazine, Edited by the Kootney School of Writing
2005 for fun furnitures, pretty. West Coast Line No.48, Edited by Jerry Zaslove and Glen Lowry, pp. 57-59

 

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2019 Wilson, Guynn Rachael. ‘An Author’s Ode to Eyelashes’, Hyperallergic, March 2 2018 Ling, Steffanie. ’10 Artists Who Work With Text’, Canadian Art
2018 Balland, Franck. ‘Capturing Desire’, Art Press April
2017 Davies, Lyllian. ‘Tiziana La Melia’, Artforum September
2017 Kopp, Celine. ‘Cursing the Edge’, Code South Way #4
2017 Witt, Andrew. ‘Eccentric, Polymorphous, Abstract: Vancouver Art and other Mythologies of the Near-Future’, The Mainlander, January 14
2017 Laurence, Robin. Vancouver Special: Ambivalent Pleasures sparks delight in dark times’, The Georgia Straight, December 7
2016 Webb, Nancy. “A Pool is Water,” C Magazine, Issue 132
2016 turions, cheyanne. “Evocative and Futile Fantasies of Nature Tamed”, Hyperallergic, April 1
2016 Moore, Lisa. “Enter the Fog,” Canadian Art
2016 Kirsh, Jessica, “Intensive Nesting,” Editorial Magazine
2015 Olauson, Ingrid. “Poems for Hairdressers,” Issue Magazine
2015 Moser, Gaby. “Play on Words: Stopping the Sun in its Course,” Canadian Art, August 20
2015 Kirzenbaum, Martha.“The Vancouver Model,” Flash Art, April 17
2015 Prata, Rosie. “Tiziana La Melia’s Winking References,” Canadian Art, January 7
2014 Sawatsky, Rachelle. “Yellow Snail,” Exhibition Essay for The Eyelash and the Monochrome, Mercer Union
2014 Adams, James. “Painter breathes new life into the craft,” Globe and Mail, October 5
2014 Ross, Jacquelyn. “Artist Poetry, Poets Theatre,” The Capilano Review, Issue 3.24, pp. 227-28
2014 Cwynar, Kari. “A Problem So Big It Needs Other People,” C Magazine, Issue 122, pp.57-58
2014 turions, cheyanne. “Subjects as Things,” http://cheyanneturions.wordpress.com
2013 Turner, Michael. “Crystal Tongue Defies Analysis In Vancouver,” Canadian Art, June 12
2013 Ross, Jacquelyn. “Rehearsal for a Poem: A Conversation with Tiziana La Melia,” C Magazine, Issue 117, pp.36-41
2011 Editors’ Pick, The Most She Weighed/The Least She Weighed, Magenta Magazine, Summer 2011, Volume 2, No.3

 

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Magasin 3, Stolkholm
Royal Bank of Canada

 

ARTFORUM * September 2017
review by Lillian Davies