Max K Black

 

Max Black is an interdisciplinary artist that has studied at the University of Ottawa, Algonquin College, the Ottawa School of Art and Syn Studios in Montreal. She has worked with the National Gallery of Canada, the National Arts Center, the University of Ottawa, the Ottawa School of Art, the Canada Science and Technology Museum and Summit Studios, among others.

 

She has been creating community engaged artwork and projects since 2011 when she opened the AlphaSoul Café, a community focused business that supported and showcased local music, visual arts, cuisine and artisanal local beer. The café was one of the foundational businesses that helped build the Hintonburg community into the cultural arts destination that it is known for today. AlphaSoul also came to the rescue of the 2013 TD International Jazz Festival Late Night Jam Sessions when they were cancelled due to lack of funding. Providing the funds to keep it going and offering itself as host, the café was able to welcome premier artists from around the world including Matt Brubeck and David Murray along with many others.

 

Max currently works as a freelance artist and splits her time between her own artwork and her community engaged projects and workshops. As Resident Artist of DeSerres St-Laurent, Max offers professional arts workshops and ‘community engagement in the arts’ workshops to local high schools across multiple school boards in both English and French. Project “Laundry, Learning and Philanthropy” resulted in her receiving the Sharon Moon Award for her contribution to the community and in May 2023 the event won a MAXI, an international award that recognizes innovative events, programs and technology that add value to the marketplaces industry. Her most recent project “Passages” gained the attention of Mayor Sutcliffe, city councillors and a private audience with the Governor General of Canada.

 

Her current body of artwork explores the role that myths, both ancient and contemporary, play in our lives. Her work searches for existing connections between ancient myth and archetypes in contemporary pop culture, politics and new technologies. Observing these relationships and expressing her findings through diverse media, she looks to see how fiction and myth shapes not only our political and technological landscape, but also the nature of humanity itself.

 

Max K Black has been Awarded the Ted Marshall Award for her photography.

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