BIO
Artist Statement
“Suspended between observation and fantasy lies inspiration.”
I make work that feels like I’ve discovered a hidden portal in the forest and walked through it. Creating pieces with dimension and storybook style narratives they pull me along until I fall out the other side with twigs in my pockets and moss on my shoes. Photographs and drawn pictures are my tools used to create these places, sculpting with time and imagery, documenting, then revealing the moments of discovery. When something inspires me I want to move around it, sit beside it, touch it and listen…beyond this there is always a faint path with footsteps to follow.
Born in Winnipeg, Dawn Dudek is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. Her career began as Jr. Art Director for MAC cosmetics after which she joined TOPIX/Mad Dog studio as Director of Broadcast Animation for clients including Paramount Pictures, MTV and General Mills foods. A move to Maclaren McCann Interactive (MMI) followed as Art Director for clients Nesquik, General Motors and RBC.
In 2001 Dudek relocated to France to focus on her art where she lived until 2020.
Now living back in Canada, her multi-disciplinary work reflects a contemporaneous awareness of her environment with a tension between the familiar and the unknown.
Dawn has exhibited in Canada, the UK, Australia and throughout Europe, including twice at the prestigious Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in the Carrousel du Louvre, followed by a solo exhibition of her Filmscapes paintings at the 63rd FESTIVAL DE CANNES. Dawn was Artist In Residence at the Fremantle Arts Centre (Jan. – June 2022/Dec – March 2022/23) and AIR at Sointula Art Shed on Malcolm Island, Canada for August 2022.
During these residencies, she continued to work on her project “Distance + Displacement,” which was exhibited at ECU Gallery 25 in Perth, Australia, February 2023, and won the acclaimed Fringe World Award 2023 for Visual Arts and Film.
Dawn was recently featured in Artlyst’s “Contemporary Artists in the Spotlight 2023” and is currently working with AH Studios in London, UK. She also continues to assist the Marine Education and Research Society with visual storytelling while creating artwork for an upcoming animated short film project titled ‘Oceanum voces’.
By Nico Kos Earle and Dawn Dudek
EXHIBITIONS
Exhibitions / CV
RECENT EXHIBITIONS:
2023 February 1 – March 2: Fringe World Festival
Gallery 25, Edith Cowan University, Perth Australia
Distance & Displacement
2022 Frieze week: Bone Powder Cloud
Digital Projection
Andrea Hamilton Studio, London UK
2022 August: The Window Gallery
Installation
Sointula Art Shed. Malcolm Island, Canada
2021 November – ongoing: Blue Marine Foundation
Drawings for Marine Animations at Blue Marine Foundation
Somerset House. London UK
2021 June 24 – July 6: Blue Minds
curated by Nico Kos Earle in aid of Blue Marine Foundation
127 Sloane St. London UK
Guest Artist Takeover: July 1, 2021 Blue Marine Foundation instagram
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2017 October: Printed works: If you love it so much, why don’t you Paint It. Adelaide McDermot Gallery/Portage and Main Press, Winnipeg, Canada
2014 July 1, L’instant Monaco
Dawn Dudek Prints: ‘If you love it so much, why don’t you Paint It’
2012 November 21 – January 3, Filmscapes Ideal Firenze
Florence, Italy
2010 May 13 – 22, CANNES CINEMA presents Filmscapes: by Dawn Dudek at the 63rd FESTIVAL DE CANNES.
Théâtre La Licorne
Cannes, France
2009 December 3 -21, Filmscapes Presented by UBS Monaco
Pacific Monte-Carlo
Monaco
2007 April 5 – 21, Filmscapes L’Associaton des Jeunes Monégasques
Galerie du Métropole, Monaco
2006 Toros: Egos and Icons Sponsored by UBS Monaco
La Rascasse, Monaco
1993 Selected Works. Photographic Installations
Balfour Building – Toronto, Canada
Sponsored by Mediawatch
SELECT COMMISSIONS
2016 Private Collection – Singapore ‘Unicorn Tears’ Acrylic on canvas
2014 Private Collection – Monaco’Through the door’ Oil on canvas
2014 Private Collection – Sydney, Australia ‘The girls’, Acrylic on Paper
2013 Private Collection – Switzerland ‘Cowboy’ Acrylic on Canvas
2011 Private Collection – Austria ‘l’escalier’ ‘Belle de Jour’ Acrylic on Canvas
1996 MAC Cosmetics
– Mixed media artwork for corporate offices
– 10 graphic paintings for manufacturing facility lounge.
EDUCATION:
1986 – 1990 Ontario College of Art
Graduated in 1990 with honourable mention in fourth year scholarship exhibition.
Areas of study: painting, illustration, photography, sculpture, new media.
1985 – 1986 University of Winnipeg
Bachelor of arts courses
RELATED EXPERIENCE:
1993-1995 MAC Cosmetics. Toronto Junior Art Director / in house artist
Artwork for corporate offices & manufacturing facility. Constructed and designed 45 visual displays for over 20 locations in North America and UK, Annual Fashion Cares couture costumes.
1995 – 2000 TOPIX/MAD DOG DIGITAL Toronto Director of Broadcast Animation and Animator
Television & Film opening titles / TV network bumpers / Commercial effects / Character Design
Select Clients: Paramounts Pictures, CBC, MTV, MuchMusic, Discover Card, Cap’n Crunch.
RESIDENCIES:
Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, Western Australia 2020 Feb. 1 – July 15.
December 2022 – April 2023
Sointula Art Shed, Malcolm Island, British Columbia. 2022 August. 1 – September 7.
GROUP EXHBITIONS:
2019 November 6 – December 12: Artists for Blue
curated by Nico Kos Earle in partnership with Blue Marine Foundation
4 November – 12 December
68 Kinnerton Street, London, SW1X 8ER
2015 June 12 – 14, Botanicae: a group exhibition of art and sculpture on the theme of nature
PURSTON MANOR, Banbury UK
http://www.botanicae.co.uk/
2014 October 23 – November 7, ‘Entre Deux Caps’ Chateau des Terrasses
Cap d’Ail, France
2014 July, Postcards for Charity Celebrity Auction, UK
www.independent.co.uk/arts
2011 February 1 – 19, Wallpaper
Art + Design Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
2009 December 10 – 13, Salon 2009 de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts (SNBA) Canadian Delegation
Carrousel du Louvre- Salle le Nôtre, Paris, France
2009 July 1 – 15 September, Group Exhibition
Hotel Boston Zaragoza, Zaragoza Aragon, Spain
2009 July 1 – 15 August, Parcours Art & Vin International
Le Domaine de la Dourbie, Canet, France
2008 December 11- 14, Salon 2008 de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts (SNBA)
Carrousel du Louvre- Salle le Nôtre, Paris, France
2009 May 1 – 10, 53° Salon International
Mail plein sud Espace Chapat, Beziers, France
2009 April 25 – May 03, 13 ème Salon International des Artistes Contemporains
Saint-Tropez, France
2008 December 11- 14, Salon 2008 de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts (SNBA)
Carrousel du Louvre- Salle le Nôtre, Paris, France
2000 Focus Toronto Digital Media Competition and Exhibition
Toronto, Canada
Winner of competition by public vote.
1990 Ontario College of Art: Open House
Toronto, Canada
COLLECTIONS:
CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
Edmiston Yachts – Monaco
MAC Cosmetics
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Australia – Austria – Canada – France – Germany – Ireland – Italy – Monaco – Singapore – Switzerland – UK – USA