Rod Prouse was born in London, England. Graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1968 and now lives on the shores of Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Recent Statement
"My work has recently shifted from painting landscapes to looking at landscape as a vessel that posses visual questions and suggests narrative.
This new work is process driven.
There is minimal preliminary planning involved.
Rather the paintings more or less paint themselves.
The process is one of mapping place through constructing layered passages of mark-making and imaging, of revealing and concealing, of tagging objects and unveiling dialogues.
The intention is to create an ambiguous, immersive environment that promotes a discussion with the viewer." RP
The process is one of mapping place through constructing layered passages of mark-making and imaging, of revealing and concealing, of tagging objects and unveiling dialogues.
The intention is to create an ambiguous, immersive environment that promotes a discussion with the viewer." RP
Rod Prouse resume 2024
Solo Exhibitions:
'Shimmer' Quest Gallery, Midland 2023
'Peripheral' Quest Gallery Midland 2017
‘Canadian Skies’, Petroff Gallery, Toronto 2014
‘Pro Tempore, a Retrospective’, Agnes Jaimeson Gallery, Minden On. 2011
‘Landscape With a Difference’Frances Thomas Art Projects, Barrie On. 2010
'New Work' Quest Gallery Midland, On. 2009
'Boats and Shores' The Carriage House Gallery, Midland,On. 2008
'Ganaraska' The Carriage House Gallery, Midland, On. 2007
'Rod Prouse' The Ethel Curry Gallery , Haliburton, Ontario,
'Pro Tempore' Sarah Beveridge Fine Art, Barrie, Ontario, 2006
'Mountains' The Gallery @ Chateau Whistler, BC 2005
'Skiscapes' The Gallery @ Chateau Whistler, BC 2001
'Landscape 2000’ Rails End Gallery, Haliburton, On
'Jazz On Paper' Jasper Originals Gallery, Alberta 2000
'New Work' Jasper Originals Gallery, Alberta 1999
'Rod Prouse, Visiting Artist' Open Studio . Toronto 1996
'Mixed media works by Rod Prouse' Malton gallery, Cincinnati, 1995
'Powertools and Paint' Bancroft Gallery, Bancroft, On. 1994
'Rod Prouse, Block Prints and Painted Wood Assemblages' MacLaren Gallery, Barrie, On. 1993
'Six Large Woodcuts of Belize' Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga 1992
‘window display’ Walnut World, Toronto, 1991
'Zoo' Workscene Gallery, Toronto 1990
'Seven Sacred Pools Paintings from Hawaii' Koffler Gallery, Toronto 1990
'Rod Prouse in France' John Noott Gallery, Broadway, G.B. 1990
'Hotel Christie Paintings from France' Workscene Gallery, Toronto 1988
'Rod Prouse' Karney Daniels Gallery, Toronto 1984
'South West', 'City Scapes' McDowell Gallery, Toronto 1981 /1982
'Rod Prouse' Centre d'Activities Francais, Penetanguishene, On. 1981
'Rod Prouse Mixed Media’ , ‘New Works’ La Galerie Shayne, Montreal 1981/ 1983
McMichael Gallery, Kleinburg '100th Anniversary of the C.N.E.' 1979
'Rod Prouse’ Manuge Gallery, Halifax 1976/1979
‘The Land’,’Recent Work’ ‘New Work’ The Canadian Fine Arts Gallery, Toronto 1977-1980
The Father and Son Gallery, Chester NS, 1972-1976, artist owned and run…the beginning
Group Exhibitions:
'Fairies' Quest Gallery 2022
'TD/Thor 2018 Art Prize' Quest Gallery 2019
'Ice Cube Gallery' an ice hut installation/gallery on Lake Kashagawigamog, Haliburton , On 2019
'TD/Thor 2018 Art Prize' Quest Gallery 2018
'Sky to Shore’ Quest Gallery, Midland 2015
'Spirit of the Red Pine' Elgin Gallery, North Bay 2014
'Sensory' Agnes Jamieson Gallery, Minden On. 2010
"Old and New' Algonquin Art Centre 2010
'Canadian Landscape' Agnes Jamieson Gallery, Minden On 2007
'Fuel' Station Gallery, Haliburton, Ontario 2007
'Envisioning landscape' MacLaren Art Centre , Barrie 2005
'Painters of the Park' Algonquin Park Art Centre 2005
'Solid Ground', Sarah Beverage Contemporary Art, Barrie 2004
'Collaborations Project' Station Gallery, Whitby 2003
'Paths,Patterns, Places', 'Under Construction’ MacLaren Art Centre , Barrie 2000 /2001
'Transmedia2000' electronic billboard video art project ,Toronto 2000
'Painters of the last Century" The Canada Trust Gallery, Toronto Reference Library 1999
'Tactile Video’, ‘XXX’, ‘Art and Robotics’ Interaccess, Toronto 1997-2000
'Temogami Artists' Arts and Letters Club, Toronto, 1997
'The Art Of The Garden' The Winter Garden Show at The Royal , Toronto, 1996
'Gallery Artists' Jasper Originals, Alberta 1994/95/96/97/98/99
'Third Photography Exhibition' Blue Mountain Foundation For the Arts, Collingwood 1994
'Collaborations' Latcham Gallery, Stouffville, On. 1992
'Second Nature’ ,’Mask and Metaphor' MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie 1988/1991
'Art At Grass Roots' Erindale Campus Art Gallery, Mississauga, 1990
'Artists Choice' Workscene Gallery, Toronto 1990
'Seductive Figuration' Gallery 291, Toronto 1989
'A Profile: Workscene Co-op’ John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto 1988
Barrie Art Project, Barrie, On. 1988
'Shades of Summer' Orillia Opera House, Orillia, On. 1987
'Art Exhibitions in Schools' Erindale Campus Art Gallery, Mississauga, On. 1986
'Group Show' Karney Daniels Gallery, Toronto 1984
'Sunstrokes' Gairlock Gallery, Oakville, On. 1984
'KanadaMaler um Midland' Kulturhaus-Wetzlar, West Germany 1984
'The Opera Guild Annual Contemporary Art Show' O Keefe Centre, Toronto 1984
'Realists Maritime' La Galerie Shayne, Montreal 1981
'Rod & Bill Prouse’ Manuge Gallery, Halifax 1976
Collections:
Public;
City of North York
Town of Wetzlar, West Germany
Toronto Public Library
Scarborough Board of Education
Pickering College Newmarket
Campion College, University of Regina
Erindale College, University of Toronto
MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie
Harbourfront
Corporate:
Defasco Canada
Dean Whittier Reynolds, New York U.S.A.
Conklin Amusements
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Bryston Ltd.
Bank of Nova Scotia
Allstate Insurance Co., U.S.A.
Hempola, Canada
Air Canada Centre,
World Trade Centre, New York U.S.A.
Sears, U.S.A.
Seaway Trust
Permanent Trust Co.
Perle Systems Limited
Imperial Tobacco Co.
Hyal Pharmaceutical Ltd,
Hudson’s Bay Co.,
Domtar Canada
Awards~Grants~Teaching~Education:
2018 Ontario Arts Council Established Visual Artist Creation Grant
2017 Town of Midland 'Exellance in Culture Award'
2017 Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant
2014 Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant
2013 Artist In Residence, Banff Springs Hotel
2012 Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant
2000-20117 Instructor, Fine Arts, Sir Sandford Fleming College-Haliburton School of the Arts
2000-01-02 Instructor, Visual Arts Dept, Centennial College, Toronto
1999 Ontario Arts Council, First Video/Film Grant
1998 Artist in Residence, Open Studio, Toronto
1998 1st prize award Blue Mountain Foundation For the Arts Photo Exhibition
1994/95/96/97/98/99/00/01/02/03/04/05 Ontario Arts Council A.I.E. Grants
1996/97 Ontario Arts Council Residency Grant
1996 Ontario Arts Council Visual Arts Grant
1996 Ontario Arts Council Special Project Grant for Individuals
1994 Supon Design Award of Merit 'Rod Prouse/MacLaren Gallery catalogue'
1979 to 1993 inclusive- Ontario Arts Council C.A.I.S. Grants
1985 Canada Council Project Grant
1983 T.V. Ontario Travelling Art Workshops
1972-74 Pickering College, Newmarket - Art Teacher, grades 6-10
1969 Central Technical School, Toronto -Art Instructor, night school
1968 Graduate of The Ontario College of Art, A.O.C.A. Drawing and Painting
Selected Bibliographies~Reviews:
Price, Jill - Curator, ‘PERIFERAL’ , Quest Art, 2017
"..whimsical and imbued with energy, ‘PERIFERAL’ is an exemplary body of work that uses both humour and speculation to imagine untold narratives… Prouse’s rhythmic and dynamic approach to storytelling still leaves room for audiences to imagine their own stories in the work.”
Greenwood,Gary - Artist, Curator, Professor of Art and Design-’PRO TEMPORE’ (Catalogue 2011), Agnes Jaimeson Gallery
“The quest for authenticity distinguishes the art of Rod Prouse from contemporary painters whose landscapes are bloodlessly pretty. PRO TEMPORE is a demonstration of artistic honesty."
McKnight, Claudia -ARTCITY MAGAZINE Sept. 2001 'ROD PROUSE-PERCEPTION'-
"The colours were saturated and celebratory; the brush strokes were a rich staccato that galloped across the tightly packed composition. It was a landscape quite unlike anything I had experienced before. It seemed to lift and breathe, almost float off its wood panel."
Moore, William – Director/curator, MACLAREN ART CENTRE, '1993 BLOCK PRINTS AND PAINTED WOOD ASSEMBLEDGES’ (Catalogue)-
“Working with drawing tools as unlikely as routers, skill saws and grinders, Rod Prouse creates intact universes embedded in line and shape. His assemblages resemble the garish quality of pet store fish tanks – enclosed and interrelated. The woodcuts are done directly from his sketchbook. Unfettered and direct, these unions of wood and paper respond to the ‘moment within a scene’ – they bring us to his sketchbook and to his experience. Within the work of Prouse we sense the scraping of surface to reveal places of energy and places of life.”
Hartman, John - Artist, Curator–'SECOND NATURE, An Exhibition of New Pastoral Art' (Catalogue) BARRIE ART PROJECT, 1988- “Prouse’s fascination with popular culture remained and extended to some of the funkier rural environment around his studio. His work gained an intellectual content, as his newly developed rural graffiti style allowed a greater play of ideas and visual images.”
Woods, Kay – ARTS CANADA, December 1979
“Prouse paints with ease and exuberance. He expresses a fresh, and refreshing, new vision with each work.”
Purdy, James – “Colours Dancing to a New Set of Tunes” THE GLOBE AND MAIL October l, 1977-
“Rod Prouse, whose pastel drawings with watercolour are among the most accomplished and inventive of their kind to be produced in Canada since the death of David Milne, appears to be moving effortlessly from strength to strength. His work may one day be ranked with the best being produced anywhere in the world. They are so orchestrated, so full of controlled exuberance and dancing energies of line and colour, that most viewers, myself included, find the pictures a rewarding experience.”
Solo Exhibitions:
'Shimmer' Quest Gallery, Midland 2023
'Peripheral' Quest Gallery Midland 2017
‘Canadian Skies’, Petroff Gallery, Toronto 2014
‘Pro Tempore, a Retrospective’, Agnes Jaimeson Gallery, Minden On. 2011
‘Landscape With a Difference’Frances Thomas Art Projects, Barrie On. 2010
'New Work' Quest Gallery Midland, On. 2009
'Boats and Shores' The Carriage House Gallery, Midland,On. 2008
'Ganaraska' The Carriage House Gallery, Midland, On. 2007
'Rod Prouse' The Ethel Curry Gallery , Haliburton, Ontario,
'Pro Tempore' Sarah Beveridge Fine Art, Barrie, Ontario, 2006
'Mountains' The Gallery @ Chateau Whistler, BC 2005
'Skiscapes' The Gallery @ Chateau Whistler, BC 2001
'Landscape 2000’ Rails End Gallery, Haliburton, On
'Jazz On Paper' Jasper Originals Gallery, Alberta 2000
'New Work' Jasper Originals Gallery, Alberta 1999
'Rod Prouse, Visiting Artist' Open Studio . Toronto 1996
'Mixed media works by Rod Prouse' Malton gallery, Cincinnati, 1995
'Powertools and Paint' Bancroft Gallery, Bancroft, On. 1994
'Rod Prouse, Block Prints and Painted Wood Assemblages' MacLaren Gallery, Barrie, On. 1993
'Six Large Woodcuts of Belize' Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga 1992
‘window display’ Walnut World, Toronto, 1991
'Zoo' Workscene Gallery, Toronto 1990
'Seven Sacred Pools Paintings from Hawaii' Koffler Gallery, Toronto 1990
'Rod Prouse in France' John Noott Gallery, Broadway, G.B. 1990
'Hotel Christie Paintings from France' Workscene Gallery, Toronto 1988
'Rod Prouse' Karney Daniels Gallery, Toronto 1984
'South West', 'City Scapes' McDowell Gallery, Toronto 1981 /1982
'Rod Prouse' Centre d'Activities Francais, Penetanguishene, On. 1981
'Rod Prouse Mixed Media’ , ‘New Works’ La Galerie Shayne, Montreal 1981/ 1983
McMichael Gallery, Kleinburg '100th Anniversary of the C.N.E.' 1979
'Rod Prouse’ Manuge Gallery, Halifax 1976/1979
‘The Land’,’Recent Work’ ‘New Work’ The Canadian Fine Arts Gallery, Toronto 1977-1980
The Father and Son Gallery, Chester NS, 1972-1976, artist owned and run…the beginning
Group Exhibitions:
'Fairies' Quest Gallery 2022
'TD/Thor 2018 Art Prize' Quest Gallery 2019
'Ice Cube Gallery' an ice hut installation/gallery on Lake Kashagawigamog, Haliburton , On 2019
'TD/Thor 2018 Art Prize' Quest Gallery 2018
'Sky to Shore’ Quest Gallery, Midland 2015
'Spirit of the Red Pine' Elgin Gallery, North Bay 2014
'Sensory' Agnes Jamieson Gallery, Minden On. 2010
"Old and New' Algonquin Art Centre 2010
'Canadian Landscape' Agnes Jamieson Gallery, Minden On 2007
'Fuel' Station Gallery, Haliburton, Ontario 2007
'Envisioning landscape' MacLaren Art Centre , Barrie 2005
'Painters of the Park' Algonquin Park Art Centre 2005
'Solid Ground', Sarah Beverage Contemporary Art, Barrie 2004
'Collaborations Project' Station Gallery, Whitby 2003
'Paths,Patterns, Places', 'Under Construction’ MacLaren Art Centre , Barrie 2000 /2001
'Transmedia2000' electronic billboard video art project ,Toronto 2000
'Painters of the last Century" The Canada Trust Gallery, Toronto Reference Library 1999
'Tactile Video’, ‘XXX’, ‘Art and Robotics’ Interaccess, Toronto 1997-2000
'Temogami Artists' Arts and Letters Club, Toronto, 1997
'The Art Of The Garden' The Winter Garden Show at The Royal , Toronto, 1996
'Gallery Artists' Jasper Originals, Alberta 1994/95/96/97/98/99
'Third Photography Exhibition' Blue Mountain Foundation For the Arts, Collingwood 1994
'Collaborations' Latcham Gallery, Stouffville, On. 1992
'Second Nature’ ,’Mask and Metaphor' MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie 1988/1991
'Art At Grass Roots' Erindale Campus Art Gallery, Mississauga, 1990
'Artists Choice' Workscene Gallery, Toronto 1990
'Seductive Figuration' Gallery 291, Toronto 1989
'A Profile: Workscene Co-op’ John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto 1988
Barrie Art Project, Barrie, On. 1988
'Shades of Summer' Orillia Opera House, Orillia, On. 1987
'Art Exhibitions in Schools' Erindale Campus Art Gallery, Mississauga, On. 1986
'Group Show' Karney Daniels Gallery, Toronto 1984
'Sunstrokes' Gairlock Gallery, Oakville, On. 1984
'KanadaMaler um Midland' Kulturhaus-Wetzlar, West Germany 1984
'The Opera Guild Annual Contemporary Art Show' O Keefe Centre, Toronto 1984
'Realists Maritime' La Galerie Shayne, Montreal 1981
'Rod & Bill Prouse’ Manuge Gallery, Halifax 1976
Collections:
Public;
City of North York
Town of Wetzlar, West Germany
Toronto Public Library
Scarborough Board of Education
Pickering College Newmarket
Campion College, University of Regina
Erindale College, University of Toronto
MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie
Harbourfront
Corporate:
Defasco Canada
Dean Whittier Reynolds, New York U.S.A.
Conklin Amusements
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Bryston Ltd.
Bank of Nova Scotia
Allstate Insurance Co., U.S.A.
Hempola, Canada
Air Canada Centre,
World Trade Centre, New York U.S.A.
Sears, U.S.A.
Seaway Trust
Permanent Trust Co.
Perle Systems Limited
Imperial Tobacco Co.
Hyal Pharmaceutical Ltd,
Hudson’s Bay Co.,
Domtar Canada
Awards~Grants~Teaching~Education:
2018 Ontario Arts Council Established Visual Artist Creation Grant
2017 Town of Midland 'Exellance in Culture Award'
2017 Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant
2014 Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant
2013 Artist In Residence, Banff Springs Hotel
2012 Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant
2000-20117 Instructor, Fine Arts, Sir Sandford Fleming College-Haliburton School of the Arts
2000-01-02 Instructor, Visual Arts Dept, Centennial College, Toronto
1999 Ontario Arts Council, First Video/Film Grant
1998 Artist in Residence, Open Studio, Toronto
1998 1st prize award Blue Mountain Foundation For the Arts Photo Exhibition
1994/95/96/97/98/99/00/01/02/03/04/05 Ontario Arts Council A.I.E. Grants
1996/97 Ontario Arts Council Residency Grant
1996 Ontario Arts Council Visual Arts Grant
1996 Ontario Arts Council Special Project Grant for Individuals
1994 Supon Design Award of Merit 'Rod Prouse/MacLaren Gallery catalogue'
1979 to 1993 inclusive- Ontario Arts Council C.A.I.S. Grants
1985 Canada Council Project Grant
1983 T.V. Ontario Travelling Art Workshops
1972-74 Pickering College, Newmarket - Art Teacher, grades 6-10
1969 Central Technical School, Toronto -Art Instructor, night school
1968 Graduate of The Ontario College of Art, A.O.C.A. Drawing and Painting
Selected Bibliographies~Reviews:
Price, Jill - Curator, ‘PERIFERAL’ , Quest Art, 2017
"..whimsical and imbued with energy, ‘PERIFERAL’ is an exemplary body of work that uses both humour and speculation to imagine untold narratives… Prouse’s rhythmic and dynamic approach to storytelling still leaves room for audiences to imagine their own stories in the work.”
Greenwood,Gary - Artist, Curator, Professor of Art and Design-’PRO TEMPORE’ (Catalogue 2011), Agnes Jaimeson Gallery
“The quest for authenticity distinguishes the art of Rod Prouse from contemporary painters whose landscapes are bloodlessly pretty. PRO TEMPORE is a demonstration of artistic honesty."
McKnight, Claudia -ARTCITY MAGAZINE Sept. 2001 'ROD PROUSE-PERCEPTION'-
"The colours were saturated and celebratory; the brush strokes were a rich staccato that galloped across the tightly packed composition. It was a landscape quite unlike anything I had experienced before. It seemed to lift and breathe, almost float off its wood panel."
Moore, William – Director/curator, MACLAREN ART CENTRE, '1993 BLOCK PRINTS AND PAINTED WOOD ASSEMBLEDGES’ (Catalogue)-
“Working with drawing tools as unlikely as routers, skill saws and grinders, Rod Prouse creates intact universes embedded in line and shape. His assemblages resemble the garish quality of pet store fish tanks – enclosed and interrelated. The woodcuts are done directly from his sketchbook. Unfettered and direct, these unions of wood and paper respond to the ‘moment within a scene’ – they bring us to his sketchbook and to his experience. Within the work of Prouse we sense the scraping of surface to reveal places of energy and places of life.”
Hartman, John - Artist, Curator–'SECOND NATURE, An Exhibition of New Pastoral Art' (Catalogue) BARRIE ART PROJECT, 1988- “Prouse’s fascination with popular culture remained and extended to some of the funkier rural environment around his studio. His work gained an intellectual content, as his newly developed rural graffiti style allowed a greater play of ideas and visual images.”
Woods, Kay – ARTS CANADA, December 1979
“Prouse paints with ease and exuberance. He expresses a fresh, and refreshing, new vision with each work.”
Purdy, James – “Colours Dancing to a New Set of Tunes” THE GLOBE AND MAIL October l, 1977-
“Rod Prouse, whose pastel drawings with watercolour are among the most accomplished and inventive of their kind to be produced in Canada since the death of David Milne, appears to be moving effortlessly from strength to strength. His work may one day be ranked with the best being produced anywhere in the world. They are so orchestrated, so full of controlled exuberance and dancing energies of line and colour, that most viewers, myself included, find the pictures a rewarding experience.”