3 to see — and hear — in Ottawa this weekend
Spinning art in full view, a musical voyage to 1930s Paris and an East Coast artist's softer side top Sandra Abma's weekend list.
Spin doctor
Montreal-based artist Callen Schaub has invented his own Rube Goldberg contraption out of bicycle parts, a pottery wheel and troughs of paint to create his multi-coloured artwork.
For the past month, the social media phenom has been artist-in-residence at Ottawa's The Sussex Contemporary, where he's been splashing paint over swirling canvases in the gallery's front window.
Part performance art, part Jackson Pollock, it's a messy, creative display resulting is huge, glossy works of art.
"People get to see how I get so physically and mentally immersed in the process," Schaub said.
Schaub will take part in an open house at the gallery, where his most recent paintings are on display this Saturday evening.
Where: The Sussex Contemporary, 531 Sussex Dr.
When: Saturday, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Cost: Free.
Gypsy muse
"I usually don't like jazz music, but I like this."
That's the reaction local guitarist Justin Duhaime says he often gets when he performs the music of Django Reinhardt.
Reinhardt, who famously learned to play with only two fingers of his left hand after he was injured in a fire, was a guitar virtuoso who, along with violinist Stephane Grappelli, pioneered the swinging style dubbed "gypsy jazz" in 1930s Paris, where he formed what's believed to be the first all-string jazz band.
Duhaime has rounded up a group of like-minded musicians who revere Reinhardt's music. The ensemble includes fellow guitarist Nabil Yaghi, violinist Brenn Dalle and Normand Glaude on standup base.Together, their performance will whisk you back to the smoky bars of Paris.
Where: Pressed, 750 Gladstone Ave.
When: 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Cost: Tickets can be purchased for $8 here or for $10 at the door.
A new leaf
Newfoundland's Mark Bragg is known for his rollicking and flamboyant performances, backed up a by a crackerjack group of East Coast rockers who work to get everyone up on the dance floor.
This weekend's visit to Ottawa will show off Bragg's other side. He's written a series of quiet, contemplative songs for this solo tour that finds him alone on the stage with a piano.
Where: Fourth Stage, National Arts Centre, 1 Elgin St.
When: Saturday, 8:30 p.m.
Cost: Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here.
