URBAN REFLECTIONS
An Exhibition of Visions of Hamilton by five outstanding local
Artists!
Opening Night: Thursday, April 6th from 7-10pm
Show runs from April 6th – April 30th, 2023
From April 6 through April 30, 2023, the Paul Elia Gallery will present a major exhibition
of works by Lee Munn, Carol Priamo, E. Robert Ross, Paul Elia and Gordon Anderson –
five artists who live, work and play in Hamilton’s urban setting. Through their own
unique artistic expressions, they reflect different aspects of Hamilton’s environment that
we all experience, from the architectural structure of the city to the imposing industrial
shells of our manufacturing history, to the natural wild spaces that provide a refuge for
us all.
1165 Cannon Street East, Hamilton, ON
Gallery is open is open to the public Wed – Sat 12-5pm. No appointment necessary.
Lee Munn is a firm believer in painting in his home city and province. Born in Hamilton, Ontario,
he travels all over Ontario in all seasons painting small pieces on location and taking
photographs, then bringing them home to his studio to turn them into larger paintings. As a
landscape artist working in a highly detailed realistic style in acrylic and watercolour, nature and
the outdoors play a strong role in his art.
During the painting process, Lee will listen to music ensuring only one band informs the piece
by listening to them exclusively until the painting is complete. Every painting is completed this
way. This process also informs the titles of the work because all paintings are titled with a lyric
from the band that influenced the piece during its creation.
His art education is in Fine Arts from the Dundas Valley School of Art and Arts and Graphic
Design from George Brown and Sheridan College. Lee is a proud member of SCA; The Society
of Canadian Artists and OSA; The Ontario Society of Artists and has exhibited his artwork
across Canada, the U.S.A and Europe where it is in both private and public collections.
Lee Munn, ‘Just a Few Blocks Away’ – Westdale Village, 2022, 52”x28”, Acrylic on Canvas
Carol’s artistic expression draws direct inspiration from the urban environment, its architecture
and design. Born in Guelph and now living in Hamilton, by way of Toronto and Victoria BC, she
holds an Art History degree from the University of Toronto, has studied art and design at the
Ontario College of Art and Dundas Valley School of Art and architectural photography at
Ryerson.
Combining her art practices in collage, photography and design, she creates multi-layered,
tapestry-like compositions of heightened colour, pattern and texture using both traditional and
digital techniques. Thousands of photographic images captured both at home and on her travels
form the basis of her distinctive artwork. She is passionate about preserving our architectural
heritage and her art reflects a commitment to celebrating the inherent beauty and endless
variety of our urban environment. “My aim is to engage viewers’ curiosity and imagination and
evoke a shift in their perception of everyday reality.”
Her artwork has been exhibited at several galleries in the Hamilton Region and the West Coast
with many of her pieces in private collections. A teacher of collage, photography and digital art,
she is also the author of two photographic books on Canadian architecture.
Carol Priamo, Looming Large, 2023, 16″ x 20″, Mixed Media Collage
Paul Elia is a graduate of The Ontario College of Art and Design, where he began integrating
Drawing and Painting with Digital Media. In 2007 Paul moved back to his hometown of Hamilton
and began creating his large format cityscapes. The work has grabbed the hearts and
imaginations of the Hamilton community.
In 2012 Paul opened a studio gallery in a unique mid-century modern home in West Hamilton.
Then in 2018 he took on an ambitious adaptive re-use project converting a large industrial
building in Hamilton’s East End into an incredible new gallery for his work with a modern loft
style home above.
His digitally illustrated images depict daily life in Southern Ontario’s post-industrial streetscapes.
Creating a visual narrative, often highlighting the surreal tension between the imposing industrial shells from a manufacturing history and the residential/commercial development around it.”
Paul is interested in the way the built environment around us expresses the history and culture
of a city, and reflects the story of the people who live in it. Empty factories loom over century-old
row houses. Victorian brick homes line leafy streets with smokestacks peeking through in the
distance.
Paul Elia, Barton and Ottawa, Hamilton, ON, 2022, 16×96”, Limited Edition Archival Giclée Print
Gordon Anderson
Gordon Anderson graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1989 and for the past eleven
years has exhibited in Toronto, Chicago and Frankfurt, Germany.
Anderson’s work is rooted in the tradition of reductive formalism. He often incorporates a photo
component of an architectural detail from a variety of monumental structures, such as: sports
stadiums, factories, silos and power plants. These images are centrally located within a
surrounding monochromatic colourfield. In this most recent body of work Anderson has inserted
this imagery amongst large fields of corrugated sheet metal, some of which has been found and
appropriated with its natural rusted patina and others utilize new corrugated metal, painted with
exotic car paint.
Born in 1965 in Oakville, Ontario, he graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1989.
Anderson’s canvases and photographs depict enormous sites of industry, eerily absent of the
workers. Featuring a collection of empty sports stadiums, steel mills, and motionless assembly
plants, these works are meant to illustrate the evolving landscape of the large-scale industry in
the once illustrious rust belt in Ohio, Detroit, and Hamilton landscape. The factory complex that
is usually seen as ugly and uninviting, Anderson transforms into real sculptures.
Gordon Anderson, Michigan Central Station, 2017, 74”x72”, Photograph and glitter on board
E Robert Ross
@erobertross.landscapes
E. Robert Ross was born and raised in the Hamilton area and has been a full time artist since
1975, exhibiting primarily in Southern Ontario with solo exhibitions at the public Art Galleries of
Hamilton and Burlington, as well as in private galleries. Ross has always enjoyed being
outdoors; for hikes in local conservation areas, to wilderness adventures such as
mountaineering, or canoe tripping. One is reminded that we, as humans, are a part of nature and
can learn from studying the natural world. This is the central theme of his artwork.
An early interest in the work of landscape photographers led to his realistic style of painting in
acrylics. However, the most important part of painting landscapes is the symbolism of the
elements, and the association one can imagine from the depiction of the scenes. Ross hopes to
suggest "going beyond" the landscapes. It is the underlying spirit of nature that ties the
landscape together with our human existence.
“With my work I hope to encourage a greater appreciation of the past, present and future of the
landscape, and view as essential work toward its preservation, given the environmental stresses
of climate change and development.” E. Robert Ross
E Robert Ross, Sherman Falls, Ancaster, 2023, acrylics, 13×16″