A boy hangs off the Rouche, an iconic rock formation on Beirut’s coast, yelling,“Oh my God!” He is preparing to jump 50 feet into the polluted waters of the Mediterranean Sea. There are two other boys; one has a camera (the same camera that allows us to re-watch the event), and the other, exasperated, blurts out, “This guy is stupid!” As we watch the video we are witnessing a transformation. The transformation could be minor, one in which he changes from a boy to a man. Or we could be witnessing a traumatic transformation, one that can mean death, or the loss of a limb or consciousness. I constantly think about the moment one realizes their identity has transformed, like the moment one realizes that they are no longer a virgin, that someone has passed, that they are unhappy. Those moments of realization are never at the exact moment of the event, but always come after. There are no immediately noticeable consequences to most of these transformations; your life still moves forward. You still eat, drink and sleep. When you realize the transformation it is only because you have a memory; your memory makes you realize that something has changed. And the time between the moments before and after the transformation is critical and curious. If the thing that makes you transform is destructive, your transformation is destructive; if what makes you transform is productive, your transformation is productive. In either case a complete disfiguration takes place, a force that shakes up your identity to form a new one.
iamboulos (at) g m ail .c om
EDUCATION
2017 Master of Fine Arts, Visual Arts, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.
2013 Bachelor’s Degree with Honours, Fine Arts Visual Arts, York University, Toronto, ON.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2022 Half Way Between the Imaginary and the Real, Wallack Galleries Gallery, Ottawa, ON
2022 Snag Against, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS (Solo)
2022 View Loser, The Bows, Calgary, AB (Two person show with Shannon Garden-Smith)
2021 Wheels, A Room With A View Gallery, Toronto, ON (Solo)
2021 Platform Art Inc + Arsenal Contemporary, New York, NY
2021 Chop Chop, Lollipop, the plumb, Toronto, ON
2021 Mother Water, Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montreal, QC (Solo)
2021 She can cook a potato in her hand, and make it taste like chocolate, Curated by Jasmine Reimer as a creative and academic reference for Humboldt Universität, Berlin
2021 IWD, Embassy Culture House, London, ON
2020/21 The Sacred Vessel III, Arsenal Contemporary, New York, NY
2020 Pits, Seeds, the plumb, Toronto, ON
2019 Club Dynamite, Edmundo, Toronto, ON (Solo)
2019 Long Winter Year 7, Volume 4, Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, ON (Curated by jes sachse and Andrew Finlay Stewart), Toronto, ON
2018 20th Annual RBC Painting Competition, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, ON
2018 There’s Something in the Way , Cold Cuts Video Festival, SOVA Gallery, Dawson City, YT (Curated by Christina Battle)
2017 Pouring Horizons, Dupont Projects, Toronto, ON (Solo)
2017 19th Annual RBC Painting Competition, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
2017 the moving copy, Trinity Square Video, Toronto, ON
2017 YES FRILLS, Erin Stump Projects, Toronto, ON
2017 Hidden Offerings, Boarding House Gallery, Guelph, ON (Solo)
2016 Split Spit Mound, Studio Sixty Six, Ottawa, ON (Solo)
2016 Found Footing, (Film Screening) Whippersnapper and the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
2016 Prattle Combat, Boarding House Gallery, Guelph, ON
2016 The Third Thing, Boarding House Gallery, Guelph, ON (Curated by John Haney)
2015 Hard Rest. Boarding House Gallery, Guelph, ON
2015 UNTAPPED Artist Project Toronto, Better Living Centre, Toronto, ON
2014 Don’t Touch. Red Head Gallery, 401 Richmond Art Centre Toronto, ON
2014 Alternative Energies, TAVES Art Gallery, Sheraton Hotel, Toronto, ON
2013 44 Clumsy Legs, Gales Gallery, Toronto, ON (Solo)
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2022 Canada Council for the Arts, Concept to Realization
2022 William and Isabel Pope Artist’s Residency, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
2019 Canada Council for the Arts, Explore and Create
2019 Ontario Arts Council, Visual Artists Creation Projects
2019 Toronto Arts Council, Individual Visual Artist
2018 Winner, 20th Annual RBC Painting Competition
2017 Finalist, 19th Annual RBC Painting Competition
2012/3 Willowdale Group Painting Award - Willowdale Group of Artists, Toronto
COLLECTIONS
The RBC Collection
Equitable Bank
ARTIST PUBLICATIONS, REVIEWS, AND INTERVIEWS
2022 Interview. “Images of Mothers with Breasts: A Conversation between Amanda Boulos and Jasmine Reimer.” Peripheral Review.
2021 Tatum Dooley. “Fictional Fragments From Amanda Boulos.” Canadian Art Forecast.
2021 Robert Enright. “Family Archive. Interview with Amanda Boulos.” Border Crossings Magazine
2020 Leah Sandals and Jadda Tsui. “In the Studio with Amanda Boulos.” Canadian Art Magazine
2019 Anna Kovler. “Off the Wall.” Canadian Art Magazine
2018 Anna Kovler. “Ill Drones: In the Studio with Amanda Boulos.” Arsenal Contemporary
2018 Christina Battle. “There’s something in the way.” exhibition essay for the Cold Cuts Video Festival in Dawson City, Yukon.
2018 NUT II Artist Book, An All Women’s Publication A.I.R. Gallery in Dumbo, New York
2017 Terence Dick. “Amanda Boulos at Richard Rhodes Dupont Projects.” Akimblog
2017 Richard Rhodes. “Pouring Horizons.” Dupont Projects Gallery Catalogue
2016 Vince Rozario. “Homeward Currents: Ephemera, Belonging, and the Spaces in Between.” Whippersnapper Gallery Catalogue
2016 Daphne Attis. “Amanda Boulos’ Split Spit Mound.” Shifter Magazine
2016 Danuta Sierhuis. “Ottawa, Meet Toronto Based Artist Amanda Boulos.” Sight Sixty Six
2016 Meaghan Richens. “Split Spit Mound Explores Identity and Conflict.” The Charlatan
2013 Sarah Milroy. “Vs. Separate: York University BFA Show at Graven Feather.” The Globe and Mail (Arts and Culture)
2012 Rebecca Morton. “Artists cash in at Psychopomp.” Excalibur Publications.
2012 John Nyman. “From campus setting to Toronto galleries.” Excalibur Publications
2012 Mike Mannarino. “Finding beauty in chaos in 24 hours.” Excalibur Publications
LECTURES AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS
2022 Artist Talk, Nova Scotia School of Art and Design, Halifax NS
2021 Artist Talk, York University, Toronto, ON
2020 Artist Talk, Coptic Museum of Canada, Scarborough, ON
2020 Artist Talk, University of Regina, Regina, SK
2020 Artist Talk, OCADU, Toronto, ON
2020 Undoing Painting Panel Discussion with Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Lyse Lemieux, in Partnership with Canadian Art Magazine and Art Toronto, Toronto, ON
2019 ArtWORKS Conference, Hart House Art Committee, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
2018 Artist Talk, York University, Toronto, ON
2018 Artist Talk, Sheridan College, Oakville, ON
2017 Artist Talk, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
2017 Artist Talk, Dupont Projects, Toronto, ON
2016 Found Footing Panel Discussion with Deanna Bowen, of Cora-Allan Wickcliffe, Fallon Simard and Zinnia Naqvi and Whippersnapper Gallery, Toronto, ON
2016 Artist Talk Foundation Studios, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2020-ongoing Sessional Instructor, Sheridan College
2018-ongoing Sessional Instructor, University of Toronto
2020-2021 Sessional Instructor, Guelph University
2020-ongoing Collective Member, co-founder of the plumb, Toronto, ON
2017-ongoing Volunteer Programmer, Toronto Palestine Film Festival
A special thank you to the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council!