New Topographies: Barry Pottle and Leslie Reid

Please join us for the opening of New Topographies: Barry Pottle and Leslie Reid, Sunday March 2, 2025 at 2 – 5 pm
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 50 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON

INTRODUCTION
New Topographies: Barry Pottle and Leslie Reid is the fourth exhibition in the RCA’s series of two-person exhibitions which combine a member — in New Topographies’ case, Leslie Reid, RCA — with a non-member, Barry Pottle. This series, which began in 2023, has so far included Ghost Stations: Amanda Dawn Christie, Thaddeus Holownia and Radio Canada International; Marina Roy, Jinny Yu & the Painted Object; and Pasapkedjiwanong: Mary Anne Barkhouse and Olivia Whetung.
Owing to an affinity of temperament, Leslie herself invited Barry to participate. Barry Pottle describes himself as an “Inuk urban photographer” while Leslie Reid identifies as “a settler urban dweller.” While Pottle has largely photographed the urban scene, Reid has travelled numerous times to the Canadian Arctic in recent years in order to create works in painting, photography and video. Each artist here presents new works that address social justice through depictions of landscape.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT: LESLIE REID
“I am currently working with photographs that I took while in the Kluane Icefield, Yukon Territory. In 2022 I was invited to join Professor Luke Copland, Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa, and his graduate students on their maintenance trip to the Icefield and glacier systems.
I am continuing my focus on climate change in the Canadian North, exploring not only the changing terrain as I have done in the past, but now looking into the scientific activities and research that provide critical knowledge. The underlying theme of this exhibition is ice, in images from the air and ground of glaciers as they form and flow in every direction from their source in the Kluane Icefield. The images speak to the effects of diminishing ice on the geographies of the Arctic.”

ARTIST’S STATEMENT: BARRY POTTLE
“When I started out, the concept of Urban Inuit was relatively new and mostly unexplored, and I have tried to give voice and reality to this concept. I use photography to explore cultural, social, and political themes that affect Inuit living in an urban setting. Originally from Nunatsiavut (Labrador), I now live in Ottawa, I try to stay connected with the community and whether at a community event, cultural gathering, family outing or in the solitude of nature, I capture the essence of Inuit life in Ottawa Valley and beyond.
Initially my focus was photojournalistic and as I gained experience, I shifted my focus to see if I could create art using the camera and as I realized that my creative processes and practice align with making art. I looked to photography to express key parts of daily life for Urban Inuit, and create images that may not have been seen within Inuit Art.”
Acknowledgements
The RCA thanks the RCA Trust, Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Crabtree Foundation for their support; and Tom Bartlett, Mike Elston, Talya Gad, Mike Marshall, Peter Smedley and Henk van Assen for their assistance in presenting this exhibition.

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