MARK GUSTAV ZIMMERL

Mark Gustav Zimmerl has always created art. Encouraged at an early age to draw and paint, his favorite subjects were animals and nature. Some of his earliest paintings were landscapes. He often visited fine art museums as a child and always related closely to art. He still cites the Group of Seven as an early influence.

In high school art was always his favourite class. When he graduated from Lower Canada College he was awarded the Arthur Lismer Prize for the most outstanding art student. His art teacher at the time recommended that Zimmerl pursue a career in the arts, the first time he had entertained such a notion. While always supported to produce art, it was not necessarily regarded as a viable profession by his family and he pursued Pure and Applied Science in college. Still, he chose to enroll in any art class he could. He also for the first time painted en plein air with local established artists, including Bruce Ledain and Stuart Main among others. Zimmerl regarded this experience as very influential; some people could make a living painting. After completing the science program at Vanier College, he enrolled in art full time.

Zimmerl completed his BFA studies with honours at Concordia University and was awarded the Painting and Drawing prize for most outstanding graduate. While preparing for his application to pursue his Masters studies, he had an awakening. "There I was, sitting in front of over a year's work. I had before me paintings with all sorts of commentary on the state of contemporary painting. Some may have been clever but I had no emotional connection to it at all. It was as if I were looking at someone else's work." Zimmerl left the studio, earned a Diploma in Education in the Arts and soon after began teaching art at St. George's High School in Montreal. "Being exposed to young artists working intuitively with materials and creating for the sheer joy of it - It was a revelation! That was why I had pursued a career in art in the first place." For Zimmerl this was liberating and he quickly returned to the subjects of his earlier inspiration: Landscapes.

In 1995 he joined the Tour des Arts, a collection of artists who would open their studios to visitors in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. While his sales were initially modest, Zimmerl continued to produce and develop a growing clientele. Bolstered by successful sales in his studio, as wells as in Montreal and Toronto, Zimmerl stopped teaching in 2003 to pursue art full time. Zimmerl has chosen to not employ gallery representation and prefers the experience of working directly with clients.

Education

1995Diploma in Education in the Arts, McGill University.

1992BFA with Distinction, Concordia University.

Selected Awards

1992Painting and Drawing Prize, awarded to most outstanding graduate, Concordia University.

Exhibitions

1997-2015Tour des Arts, Eastern Townships, Quebec.

2012Club Sportif MAA, Montreal, Quebec.

2010Hermitage Club, Magog, Quebec.

2009Club Sportif MAA, Montreal, Quebec.

2008private viewing, Toronto, Ontario.

2007Club Sportif MAA, Montreal, Quebec.

2007Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, Sherbrooke, Quebec.

2007private viewing, Ottawa, Ontario.

2006-2007Eastern Townships Alzheimer Society, Sherbrooke, Quebec.

2005-2006Montreal General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec.

2005 Club Sportif MAA, Montreal, Quebec.

2005Place Des Arts, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Montreal, Quebec.

2003-2005Salon des Arts Sutton, Sutton, Quebec.

1997-2005Tour des Arts, Eastern Townships, Quebec.

1992Undergraduate Exhibition, Leonard and Bina Gallery, Montreal, Quebec.

1992VAV Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.

Employment

1995-2003Art Teacher at St. George’s High School, Montreal, Quebec. Resigned 2003 to pursue art career full-time.