Discussion about the exhibition Blue Skies with Kristi Ropeleski and Edwin Janzen.

Kristi Ropeleski is a Montreal based artist. Her paintings have been exhibited internationally over the span of the past 10 years in diverse venues such as The Philoctetes Center for the Study of the Imagination in New York city and at the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art. She has studied at Dawson College, Concordia University and holds a Master's degree in Visual Arts from York University in Toronto. She is a member of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Dawson College and The Visual Arts Center.

Winnipeg-born visual artist Edwin Janzen works in digital imaging, photography, video, installation, artist books and other media. Edwin creates fantasies of security, surveillance and technology inspired by the Cold War period. His work draws upon the political and popular culture of the period, and appropriates the period’s themes and styles, narratives and traditions. Edwin’s work investigates how human character and knowledge are shaped in a climate of suspicion and a dearth of reliable information, with public and policy makers alike in the grip of irresolvable ideological fantasies and an insufficiently critical embrace of technology.

Edwin completed his MFA at the University of Ottawa (2010) and his BFA at Concordia University (2008). He also holds a BA in history (Byzantine Empire) from the University of Manitoba (1993). Edwin serves on the board of directors of articule in Montreal and is a founding member of Atelier au Deuxième, where he keeps his studio. He also works as a freelance writer and editor.