{"id":37244,"date":"2025-11-27T13:16:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T18:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37244"},"modified":"2025-11-27T13:17:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T18:17:04","slug":"micak-contemporary-art-gallery-features-the-works-of-seven-gta-artists-at-its-first-anniversary-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/micak-contemporary-art-gallery-features-the-works-of-seven-gta-artists-at-its-first-anniversary-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Micak Contemporary Art Gallery features the works of seven GTA artists at its first anniversary celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Micak Contemporary Art Gallery celebrated its first anniversary by presenting the works of seven GTA artists at a reception on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owner Katie Micak welcomed visitors and displayed the works of Lisa Cristinzo, Michelle Jamieson, Steven Laurie, Heidi McKenzie, Edmund Mok, Brenda Neives, and J.R. Newton at her St. Andrew\u2019s Village plaza gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four of the seven artists \u2014 Cristinzo, McKenzie, Mok, and Newton \u2013 were in attendance and mingled freely with the attendees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The motif linking all the artists\u2019 works, according to Micak, was \u201cNew Mythologies\u201d and she explained that \u201cthe group exhibition explores how stories, symbols, and archetypes are created, remembered, and re-imagined through contemporary art.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The painting that encapsulated the exhibition\u2019s motif masterfully was JR Newton\u2019s \u201cSilk and Ashes\u201d\u2014a haunting work that features foreground techniques belonging to the Renaissance Masters, but also offers a contemporary twist of \u201cmeticulous realism\u201d to form the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jarring juxtapositions take place in Newton\u2019s visual narrative:  a dynamic female in the foreground could belong in any Da Vinci painting, but lurking in the background as a challenge to the hero\u2019s well-being are smokestacks belching effluents\u2014marring the character\u2019s future.  The centrepiece of the painting could, indeed, belong in a Renaissance gallery, but the background images are disturbingly modern.  Newton seems to be celebrating human beauty bathed in radiant light, but it\u2019s about to be inundated by the dark side of humanity represented by unbridled industrialism and its impact on climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a serene confidence in Newton\u2019s protagonist\u2014in her eyes and the placement of her hands–but inbound smoke creates the same kind of green miasma that comprised Neo\u2019s murky world in The Matrix.  Newton engaged with his many appreciative fans and he discussed \u201cbringing old to new\u2014where futurism meets surrealism.  It\u2019s the Renaissance meeting the Apocalypse.  She\u2019s asking herself:  Is there hope?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newton\u2019s propensity towards grand Renaissance style led to a recent opportunity to augment his impressive portfolio by \u201ccreating thirty-six paintings that capture the stories of The Bible for Our Lady of Peace Church in Milton \u2013 under the scrutiny of my patron.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s evident that Newton\u2019s compelling paintings are in demand not only in Milton, but in Aurora. One of the highlights of Thursday night\u2019s reception was the unveiling of a portrait of Mayor Tom Mrakas, painted by Newton.  The stunning likeness\u2014complete with the Mayor\u2019s glittering chain of office\u2014was presented to Mayor Mrakas by the hospitable gallery owner \u201cas a thank you to the Town for its support of the gallery in its first year of operation in Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the presentation of Newton\u2019s painting to the appreciative Mayor, a lively and engaging Q and A ensued during which attendees connected with the insights offered by Cristinzo, McKenzie, Mok, and Newton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was clear that the artists and audience enjoyed each other\u2019s company and, as the refreshments were consumed by attendees, Newton noted succinctly in an aside that \u201cIt\u2019s a fun show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pleasant, celebratory atmosphere to which the gregarious painter alluded was on full display on Thursday night at the Micak Contemporary Art Gallery\u2019s first anniversary celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jim Stewart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Micak Contemporary Art Gallery celebrated its first anniversary by presenting the works of seven GTA artists at a reception on Thursday evening. Owner Katie Micak welcomed visitors and displayed the works of Lisa Cristinzo, Michelle Jamieson, Steven Laurie, Heidi McKenzie, Edmund Mok, Brenda Neives, and J.R. Newton at her St. Andrew\u2019s Village plaza gallery. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-11-27-03.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9GI","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-02 05:38:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37246,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37244\/revisions\/37246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}