The Ken Segal Gallery is pleased to present The Treaty 3 Suite (Outside Promises) by Tim Schouten. This is our second solo exhibition with Schouten. His show, In the Absence of Horses, was well received in December 2004. Schouten is represented by Ken Segal Gallery and has participated in solo and group shows locally and nationally. His work will be included in the survey exhibition, Scratching the Surface: The Post-Prairie Landscape, at Plug In ICA in 2007.

The Treaty 3 Suite (Outside Promises), a series of 14 encaustic paintings, is part of Schouten’s ongoing Treaty Suites Project. The project was conceived in 2003 as a series of eleven suites of paintings, each based on photographs taken at the exact locations of the signings of each of the eleven “numbered treaties” between First Nations and Canada.

The work in The Treaty 3 Suite (Outside Promises) is based on photos taken at a number of locations in Manitoba and Ontario within Treaty 3 territory. Treaty 3 was signed on Harrison Creek

Harrison Creek (Treaty 3)

at the Northwest Angle of Lake of the Woods in October of 1873. Once the site of a Métis community called Norwest and a Hudson Bay Company trading post on the Dawson Trail, the location has now completely reverted to bush. Adhesions to Treaty 3 were signed the following year at Lac Seul and at Fort Frances. To prepare for this work, Schouten did research in various archives and went to these places where he interviewed local people and took hundreds of photographs.

Schouten says, “The paintings in this body of work attempt to convey a sense of the histories of the places depicted. The beauty of the landscape is taken for granted in these paintings which primarily intend to evoke a sense of ‘more going on here than meets the eye’ and a questioning of the meanings and politics of place.”

The work is strong, showing Schouten’s mastery of the encaustic medium. Encaustic is a hot wax painting process in which wax-bound pigments are fused together and adhered to a ground with external heat. The paintings in this show are part of an ongoing series of paintings that make up an important body of work. The series was featured in an episode of the 2006 season of LANDSCAPE AS MUSE, a nationally televised series on Bravo! Channel.

The exhibition opens with an artist’s reception from 6:30 to 8:30pm on Thursday, November 2, 2006 and runs until November 25. The work will be available for preview and sale beginning November 1. Please join us at the opening to see Tim Schouten’s new series of paintings, The Treaty 3 Suite (Outside Promises), enjoy some light refreshments and meet the artist.

The Ken Segal Gallery is committed to developing and exhibiting contemporary artists. We aim to build our gallery and to show quality works and distinctive pieces from local, national and international talents.

Please contact us for more information, press-ready images, or an interview with the artist.