TORONTO, Sept. 10, 2015 /CNW/ - Leon Frazer & Associates is pleased to present the works of Montreal native Andrew Ross, a museum placed artist (Albright Knox Museum permanent collection). The previously unseen 9/11 Step 11 collection brings to life the horror of 9/11 through the artist's first-hand account of the tragic events. The opening of the exhibition is Thursday, Sept. 24 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at 26 Wellington St. E. suite 800.
"We are honored that Andrew Ross has agreed to showcase the 9/11 Step 11 body of works at Leon Frazer. Andrew has experienced and endured ... and more importantly … evolved with grace and dignity. His talent has allowed him to transcend the unthinkable and share it with the world," said Dona Eull-Schultz, President, Leon Frazer & Associates Inc.
Early success as a museum placed artist before the age of 30 together with a self-proclaimed tremendous ego and equally tremendous insecurities created the perfect alcoholic storm. All ego was smashed while standing on the corner of Avenue C and Houston at 9:03 a.m. as he witnessed the second plane scream across the west side of Manhattan to slam through the south tower. Every major trauma - of which there had been many in his life - broke to the surface.
"Witnessing the events of 9/11 was the last straw I could cope with. The only hope I had was to create … and create I did, involving my neighbors, friends, street pals, and fellow sufferers. I threw myself into my passion, my art - making work I'd only dared dream to create - inspired by Karl Appel's Toy Series," he said.
"My obsessions ruled my physical state to the point of certain death. My survivor's guilt, omnipresent in my personal and professional life was yet untreated. My passion survived. By the grace of a higher power my obsessions were arrested by recovery. My surviving passions were given room to develop and settle."
The works present a union of meditation and form, meditation and prayer, paint and color. It is the play of light, the light of spiritual joy bringing together images of childhood places, inner rhythms and ancient lines which fuel his desire to let go of closed mindedness and embrace an open acceptance towards the world.
"By exhibiting these bodies of work and installation, Leon Frazer & Associates has allowed me to bring the events of 9/11 back to full circle by commemorating the glass and steel of the Twin Towers, the senseless loss of lives and the bravery, in many cases unsung, of so many on that dreadful day," said Ross. "The pain of 9/11 changed all our lives in profound ways, but pain can be a healer. Through acceptance and love there lives a simple truth, the truth of sharing and baring one's soul and knowing that we are heard. This is the gift of my journey as a painter. My gift of a human being, being human - defects and strengths of character exposed, accepted and understood."
About The Leon Frazer Client Art Gallery
The Leon Frazer Client Art Gallery features the works of select clients of Leon Frazer & Associates. The gallery, in the main office of Leon Frazer at 26 Wellington St. E. suite 800, is curated by Virginia Trieloff, a visual artist/curator and vice-president of OCAD University Alumni Association. All exhibited work is for sale with the proceeds paid to the artists. To date, more than $30,000 of the clients' work has been sold.
"Presented by one of Canada's oldest, established investment management companies, Leon Frazer & Associates, the works in 9/11 Step 11 are being exhibited on the boardroom, reception and executive walls of its office in downtown Toronto which usually display the artwork of those of Leon Frazer's clients who are also practising artists," said Trieloff.
"This type of initiative puts a new spin on how we define an 'art patron,' but takes it to a whole new level when a financial institution stands behind the courage of its convictions and supports the work of an artist who not only witnessed and documented a seismic assault on the most powerful financial symbol in the Western World, but also confronted his demons and gained control of his life."
About Leon Frazer & Associates
Established in 1939 as one of Canada's first investment counselling firms, Leon Frazer & Associates has built an enviable track record investing in Canadian companies and has established a reputation as one of Canada's leading authorities on dividend investing. Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. (Industrial Alliance) acquired Jovian Capital Corporation, the parent company of Leon Frazer & Associates Inc. on Oct. 1, 2013. With $1.9 billion (as of June 30, 2015) under management and offices in Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary, Leon Frazer & Associates boasts an experienced team of portfolio managers, a well-honed and tested investment philosophy and endures a compelling view of the future of Canadian equity investment.
SOURCE Leon Frazer & Associates
Image with caption: "Leon Frazer & Associates presents Andrew Ross: Step 11 works (CNW Group/Leon Frazer & Associates)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150910_C5453_PHOTO_EN_494061.jpg
For further information: For media enquiries, please contact: Scott Anderson, Manager, Media Relations, National Equicom, Tel: 416-586-1954 [email protected] ; For further information, please contact: Dona Eull-Schultz, President, Leon Frazer & Associates Inc., 416-933-5758, [email protected].
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