About the Artist/CV

My name is Graham Ragan and I am a visual artist and musician based in Montreal, QC.  I create my visual art by using the method of observational drawing and painting.  This means that when I create a drawing or painting I do so by directly observing the scene I am painting.  My landscapes are done in plein-air, my portraits and figures are made with the help of live models and my still-life’s are created by observing displays of arranged objects.

I was taught this method of working early in my art education, at the University of Guelph and I have continued this practice ever since.  As artist I feel a constant desire reach my highest potential as an observer of world. The artworks I create continuously reveal to myself my particular way of perceiving things, feeding my curiosity of reality and my love of nature.

-Graham Ragan

 

 

Education

University of Guelph, Bachelor of Art, Studio Art Major, 2013 (Graduated with Distinction)

Exhibitions

  • 2020, Nuit D’Art, Ishana – ThatNikkiYouKnow – Graham Ragan, Montreal, QC
  • 2018, My Take: recent paintings by Graham Ragan, Front Room Gallery, Waterloo, ON
  • 2016, Artspiration, 10 Carden Street, Guelph, ON
  • 2016, SOFAM Juried Art Show Auction, The eBar, Guelph, ON
  • 2015, SOFAM Juried Art Show Auction, Albion Hotel, Guelph, ON 
  • 2014, SOFAM Juried Art Show Auction, Albion Hotel, Guelph, ON
  • 2013, Picture Jamming, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, ON
  • 2012, Limited Unlimited, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, ON
  • 2012, Apostrophe, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, ON
  • 2012, 44th Annual Juried Art Show, Zavitz Hall, Guelph, ON
  • 2012, If The Chemicals Don’t Kill Us, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, ON
  • 2011, Imagining Things, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, ON
  • 2011, 22 is the New 12, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, ON
  • 2011, 43rd Annual Juried Art Show, Zavitz Hall, Guelph ON
  • 2011, Technicolour, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, ON

Awards and Achievements

  • 2012, Selected to compete in the BMO 1st Art Competition
  • 2011/12, Accepted to University of Guelph Specialized Studio Art Program

Related Work Experience

  • Art Frame Designer, Le Frame Shoppe, Westmount, QC, Feb. 2019 – Mar. 2020
  • Drawing Instructor, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Feb. –  April, 2019
  • Installation and Collection Management Assistant, Art Gallery of Guelph, Guelph, ON, 2011 – 2018