articule has the pleasure to present a Soup n'... event with long-time articule member Graham Hall. Soup n'... events are fundraisers for the centre where audience members pay $5 to get an artist talk and a delcious bowl of soup, which is donated by a local sponsor.

La Città sull'Arno: Florence, a personal view
with Graham Hall
soup: Ribollita
made and donated by: Ray Punter

“Fifteen years ago I had the good fortune to study with the Ontario College of Art and Design in Florence, Italy. I was immersed in the daily hurly burly of modern Italy, even as I was delving into its Renaissance baptismal font. I came to understand the breadth of history and meaning that has made the world we live in today. It was an experience that moved me deeply, and I have been back with increasing regularity in the intervening years, further cementing this love affair.

Because Florence means so much to me, I wish for those who are visiting for the first time to have a rich and rewarding experience. I feel it my duty to help achieve this, and so it is with this in mind that I present ‘my’ Florence.

Florence is a city overflowing with art history, and is often considered and offered up with equally overflowing Romanticism. Rather than focus solely on the canonized (though deservedly so) monuments and frescoes, I will be speaking to the things about this great city that escape the average tourist guide book. From hidden or overlooked corners, to curious history and the nature and rhythm of Florentine life, I will be revealing the quotidian treasures that make the beautiful city on the river Arno such a magnet not just for myself, but all those who call it home in one way or another.”

Graham Hall is a visual artist living and working in Montreal. A graduate of OCAD (Drawing and Painting, 2000), he also spent a year in Florence, Italy, with the OCAD off-campus programme (2001).  This experience remains an important touchstone in his life and art.  Graham is a long-time member of articule, and returns to Italy again in the spring of 2015.