Artist CV

Louis Helbig

1-149 Patterson Ave, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1S 1Y4 (613) 263 0264

louis (at) helbig (dot) ca twitter: @louishelbig facebook: Louis Helbig

louishelbig.com | sunkenvillages.com | beautifuldestruction.ca

 

As of Jan 12, 2012

 

Select Awards, Grants & Associations

 

- Ottawa Art Expo 2011: Tom Thomson Trailblazer Award (first repeat winner)

- Elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists, Nov 2010

- Honourable Mention Best Visual Arts Exhibit in Ottawa 2010, Express Ottawa, for “Beautiful Destruction” at Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery.

- Ontario Arts Council, Recipient Exhibition Assistance Grant, 2010

- Ottawa Art Expo 2009: Tom Thomson Trailblazer Award

- Ottawa New Art Festival 2009: Best Work on Paper (Printmaking & Photography)

 

Selected Exhibitions

 

- Corridor Gallery, Mississippi Mills & Almonte Library & Chambers: Almonte, ON, Canada. Beautiful Destruction. Feb 2 – Apr 12, 2012

- John B Aird Gallery, Queens Park, Toronto, ON, Canada. Ontario Society of Artists New Members Show, Dec 2011 - Jan 2012. joint exhibition

- Francescos, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Oct 2011. selected works

- Jordan Art Gallery, Jordan, ON. June 2011. “Aerial Abstractions”

- Canvas Gallery, Toronto. Inaugural exhibition of “Sunken Villages,” Toronto Contact Photography Festival 2011. May 2011.

- Shanghai, Ottawa. April-May 2011. selected works

- Ottawa Art Gallery. Mar-Apr, 2011. Inaugural “Confessions” exhibition

- Exposure Gallery, Ottawa. Jan-Mar 2011. “Aerial Abstractions”

- Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery, July-Sept, 2010. “Beautiful Destruction – Alberta Tar Sands Aerial Photographs” Juried selection in 2009 for Ottawa’s premier public professional art gallery.

- The Rivoli, Toronto. May-July 2010. Contact Toronto Photography Festival. “Beautiful Destruction”

- galleryDK, Toronto. March 2010. “Beautiful Destruction”

- Snapdragon Gallery, Ottawa. Dec 2009 – Jan 2010. selected works

- Frederic Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg, New York, USA. 5th biannual International Juried Art Exhibit Nov 2009 – Jan 2010. Juried: select work, joint exhibition.

- University of Ottawa. Campus. Nov 2009 – Jan 2010. “Beautiful Destruction”

- Arts and Architecture Gallery, Ottawa. July 2009. “Beautiful Destruction”

- Koma Designs, Toronto. “Beautiful Destruction” Contact Toronto Photography Festival

- Viva Vida Gallery, Pointe-Claire (Montréal) QC, Canada. June - July 2009, selected works.

- Ottawa International Writers’ Festival & Saint Brigids Centre for the Arts & Humanities. April, 2009 “Beautiful Destruction”

- Red Wall Gallery, School of Photographic Arts Ottawa (SPAO) “Over and Under, Aerial & Underwater Photographs.” joint exhibition with Ric Frazier. May, 2008.

 

Selected Artist Talks & Presentations

- Artist Talk, “Aerial Art by Louis Helbig,” Mississauga Camera Club, Cawthra Community Centre (Seniors’ Centre), 1399 Cawthra Road, Mississauga, ON. Thursday April 5, 2012. 7:30-9:00 pm.

- Artist Talk, “Sunken Villages in the St Lawrence,” Ontario Power Generation Visitors’ Centre, 2500B 2nd St West, Cornwall, ON. Saturday, March 24, 2012, 2-4pm.

- Artist Talk, “Louis Helbig on Aerial Art,” Latow Photographers’ Guild, Burlington Art Centre, 1333 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ON. Tuesday Jan 31, 2012, 7:30-9:30 pm

- Ottawa Art Gallery. Inaugural “Confessions” lecture March 2010.

- Joint lectures with Kristin Reimer: University of Ottawa, “Art and Social Activism in the Classroom.” Feb & March 2011.

- Ottawa Carleton District School Board, Social Sciences Teachers Professional Development. Lecture/Presentation Using Art to Engage Students in Contemporary Issues. Feb 2010.

- Toronto Camera Club, Ottawa RA Photo Club, Ottawa Mixed Media Artists. Lectures and slideshows "Beautiful Destruction - Alberta Tar Sands Aerial Photographs" Oct & Nov, 2010

- National Art Gallery, Ottawa: Art in View Lectures "Beautiful Destruction - Alberta Tar Sands Aerial Photographs" Sept 29 & 30, 2010.

 

Selected Art Shows

- Ottawa Art Expo. Juried. Oct 29-30, 2011. Winner Tom Thomson Trailblazer Award.

- Montreal Tall Ships Festival with Canadian Wildlife Federation: Sept 15-18, 2011. “Sunken Villages”

- New Art Festival, Ottawa June 4-5, 2011. Juried

- Toronto One of Kind Show. Nov 25-29, 2010. Juried

- Ottawa Art Expo. Oct 29-30, 2010. Juried. Nominated Ken Danby award.

- Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Nathan Phillips Square. July 9-11, 2010. Juried

- New Art Festival, Ottawa. June 5-6, 2010. Juried

- Toronto Art Expo. Feb 25-28, 2010. Juried

- Haitian Disaster Fundraiser, Cube Gallery, Ottawa. Feb 9, 2010. Residual Bitumen donated.

- Toronto One of Kind Show. Nov 26 - Dec 6, 2009. Juried.

- Ottawa Art Expo. Oct 30-31, 2009. Winner Tom Thomson Trailblazer Award & Nominated Emily Carr Legacy Award.

- Art in the Park, Ottawa. June 7-8, 2008. Juried

 

Media – Reviews & Photo Essays (select):

- Citytv, Edmonton Breakfast TV (Jan 5, 2012). Live studio interview with Ryan Jespersen. Beautiful Destruction: The oilsands are a subject for tireless debate and discussion. But as debates are getting increasingly polarized, are civil, balanced discussions slipping away?

- Ottawa Outdoors (Fall 2011). The Sunken Villages Story.

- CTV, Regional Contact (Nov 21, 2011) “Aerial Art – Louis Helbig,” documentary by Joel Haslam.

- CHCH Hamilton, Morning Live TV (June 17, 2011). Live studio interview with Jaclyn Colville.

- National Post (May 27, 2011). A River Runs Over It, Photographer takes to the skies to uncover St. Lawrence's 'lost' villages. Angela Hickman. Full-page article, ‘Avenue’ section.

- CBC Radio Ontario Morning (May 5, 2011). Live interview with Wei Chen about the Sunken Villages exhibition.

- CBC TV News Ottawa with Adrian Harewood (Apr 7, 2011). News spot about exhibition at the Shanghai, Ottawa.

- Ottawa Magazine, The Interior Design Issue (Feb 2011). "The Aerialist: Louis Helbig," Paul Gessell and Tony Fouhse.

- Ottawa Citizen (Jan 27, 2011) View from Above: Bush-pilot artist transforms landscapes into gorgeous abstractions. Peter Simpson.

- CBC Radio One, Ottawa Morning (Jan 21, 2011) Live interview with host Hallie Cotnam about "Aerial Abstractions" at Exposure Gallery.

- Ottawa Express (Nov 11, 2010), Honourable Mention as Best Visual Arts Exhibit of 2010.

- Live 88.5, Ottawa, ON, Canada (Nov 8, 2010). Interview with Katfish Morgan on Live 88.5 Start-Up.

- Ottawa Citizen (Sept 22, 2010) Full Exposure: 10 Picks from the X Photo Festival. Peter Simpson.

- Ethical Consumer (UK, Sept/Oct, 2010). Destruction from above: (two page photo essay).

- The McGill Daily (Sept. 16, 2010) Bitumen Beautiful, Aerial Photographs show another side of the Alberta Tar Sands. Seble Gameda.

- Voir (Gatineau et Ottawa, Aug 19, 2010) Louis Helbig Splendeur pétroliéres, Katy Le Van

- Ottawa Express (Aug 5, 2010) Louis Helbig's Beautiful Destruction Tar sands in the hourglass. Adam Volk.

- Centretown News (Ottawa, Aug 5, 2010) Beautiful destruction disturbs and enchants. Ryan Lux.

- Hill Times (Aug 2, 2010) Ottawa artist opens tar sands exhibit. Bea Vongdouangchanh

- Business Insider (New York, July 12, 2010). Big Beautiful Photos Of Canada's Lucrative And Destructive Oil Sands. Isabelle Schafer,

- TerraInforma, (Edmonton, June 8, 2010) Feature Interview: Louis Helbig’s Birds Eye View of the Tar Sands.

- New York Times. (May 19, 2010) FREAK Shots: The Oil Sands, Freakonomics, the Hidden Side of Everything.

- FUTURÉALE Toronto Arts & Culture Magazine (July 1, 2009) Cover and inside photos and exclusive interview. “CONTACTing the Public: Louis Helbig’s Beautiful Destruction.”

- Toronto Star (May 25, 2009) A Photo a Day: Contact 2009. Murray Whyte.

- Los Angeles Anthem Magazine (May 1, 2009)

- Toronto Now Magazine (April 30, 2009) "Beautiful Destruction worth seeing ... as part of the Contact Photography Festival."

- CBC Radio Ottawa, All In A Day (April 21, 2009). Live interview with host Adrian Harewood, who described the Beautiful Destruction images as "stunning."

 

Publications, Film & Other Contributions:

- Wild and Scenic Film Festival (Nevada City, CA, USA, Jan 13-15, 2012). Screening of film/slideshow: “Beautiful Destruction – Alberta Tar Sands Aerial Photographs” with music by Johannes Welsch & Bill Chambers.

- Near and Far (Blurb, 2011). Anne Carlyle, Louis Helbig, Louise Tanguay and Guy Lavigueur. 80 matched pairs of ground and aerial photos for 80 rooms at Ronald McDonald House Toronto.

- Pipedreams (USA, 2011), documentary film by Leslie Iwerks. Still photo contributions.

- Planning, Magazine of the American Planning Association (Aug/Sept, 2011). Opening photo for “El Dorado North” article by Andrew Nikiforuk.

- Alternatives Journal (University of Waterloo, Sep-Oct, 2011). Opening photo for “Our Wicked Addiction,” by Stephen Bocking.

- Global Warming: A personal guide to causes and solutions (2011) by Sneed B. Collard. Lifelong Learning, Kalispell, MT, USA. Inside photo.

- Alternatives Journal (University of Waterloo, May-June, 2011). Opening photo for “The Devil’s Tears, Ezra Levant buries the truth in Alberta’s magic sandbox,” by Andrew Nikiforuk.

- 2010 Fall Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada. “Case Study: Environment Canada has insufficient data to monitor oil sands development.” Inside photo.

- Les sables bitumineux: la honte du Canada (2010), translation of Tar Sands Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent by Andrew Nikiforuk. Écosociété, Montreal. Cover photo.

- Powerful: Energy For Everyone, full-length documentary film directed by David Chernushenko (Premiere November 2010). Still photographs and speaking role on the tar sands and civil society.

- Reader’s Digest (July 2010), opening photos for two-page spread “Cleaning up the Oil Sands,” by Andrew Nikiforuk.

- Writing Matters: A Handbook for Writing and Research, McGraw-Hill Higher Education Publishers (2010, Columbus, OH, USA) Author: Rebecca Moore Howard. With Ric Frazier photos from Over/Under exhibition.

- Dirty Oil, full-length feature film directed by Academy Award nominated director Leslie Iwerks. Narration by Neve Campbell. Still photographs. Premier Oct 11, 2009.

- Canadian Dimension (Nov/Dec, 2009). Opening photo “The Road to Copenhagen Doesn’t go through the Tar Sands.” Keith Stewart.

- Manitoba Eco-Journal (Sept/Oct, 2009). Photo Essay: Beautiful Destruction.

- Art not Oil: 2010 Diary published by Rising Tide UK, Oct 2009. Bitumen Slick selected one of “52 of the strongest” worldwide submissions.

- United Church Observer (Canada, Sept 2009) Cover and inside photos for editorial column by David Wilson and feature story “Black Gold or Green Disaster?” Larry Krotz.

- “Divided We Fall: The Tar Sands vs. The Rest of Canada,” (May 2009) Matt Price, Environmental Defence, Gillian McEachern, Forest Ethics, & Jacque LaCroix, Equiterre. Cover photo.

- Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives (USA, April 2009). “Oil Sands Development: A Health Risk Worth Taking?” lead story by David Tenenbaum. Cover and inside photo.

- SCAN, Sierra Club of Canada (Apr 2009). “Obama visits the Tar Nation,” Cover photo to accompany lead story.

- “Freedom from Dirty Oil: Ontario’s Tar Sands Decision,” (Jan 2009) Matt Price, Environmental Defence and Gillian McEachern, Forest Ethics. Cover and some inside photos.

- SPAO Spring-Summer Calendar 2008. School of Photograhic Arts: Ottawa. Cover photo to introduce Louis Helbig’s workshop/course: “Go Up, Look Down and See: Aerial Photography”

 

Previous Employment

2006 – present

- egamiimage.ca – self-employed. Art and commercial photography, Ottawa.

Until 2006

- consulting/employment as economist, policy analyst, conference director, university economics instructor, research assistant, commercial pilot, editor etc, variously with Foreign Affairs Canada, Canadian Diabetes Association, Sharp Wings, CUSO, Canadian Co-op Association, Government of British Columbia, University College of the Cariboo, etc.

 

Education

- 2007-2008 The Art of Inkjet Printmaking & Photojournalism & Documentary Photography courses at the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO)

- 2006-2007 Photoshop (Introduction & Advanced) courses at Algonquin College, Ottawa

- 1996-1997 Uppsala University, Sweden. preliminary Ph.D. studies

- 1995-1996 London School of Economics. Master of Science, Economic History

- 1991-1995 McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Bachelor of Arts, Great Distinction: Political Science, Economics, & International Development

 

Languages & Other

English & German. Functional Swedish & French.

Extensive travel/residence throughout Asia & Europe.

Extensive backcountry experience in Canadian wilderness.