Durham Art Gallery Opens marginalia, a Haunting Photographic Meditation by Nicholas X Bent
Durham Art Gallery presents marginalia, a new exhibition by Nicholas X Bent exploring the margins of human-altered landscapes. On view January 31 to March 29.
Durham Art Gallery has opened its latest exhibition, marginalia, featuring the photographic work of Nicholas X Bent. The exhibition opened with a public reception on Saturday, January 31, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., and will remain on view until March 29, 2026.
According to the Gallery, marginalia presents a series of photographs that bring together image and process to explore themes of ephemerality and ecological disruption.
The exhibition focuses on trees that remain along property edges and borders—described by the gallery as “remnant forests with uprooted trees, broken limbs and damaged trunks.” These trees, shaped by both use and neglect, are presented as visual records of past human activity and environmental stress.
In an exhibition statement written by Durham Art Gallery Director Jennifer Norman, the photographs are described as evoking “a haunting sense of ephemerality,” and likened to “scribbled notes in the margins of a book.”
Norman states that the show invites reflection on “suppressed histories, eccentricities, and alternate narratives,” and positions these marginal spaces as symbols of “resistance, resilience, and becoming.”
The exhibiting artist, Nicholas X Bent, was raised in a northern Ontario mining town and now lives on a farm in southern Ontario. According to a biographical note released by the gallery, Bent’s photographic interests have long centred on altered landscapes and the remnants of human presence.
His early experiences witnessing the impact of mining operations on lakes and forests inform his current practice, which includes landscape, figurative, and street photography.
The gallery biography notes that Bent’s artistic approach is influenced by his childhood experiences observing light, motion, and reflection, often from the window of a moving vehicle.
“I would drift into a trance and watch light collide with trees or squint through tears to create optical illusions,” Bent is quoted as saying. The gallery describes his photographs as incorporating narrative elements that expand the interpretive possibilities of traditional photographic subjects.
Durham Art Gallery is a non-profit, exhibition-driven contemporary art space located in West Grey. It has served the regional arts community for over 40 years and emphasizes accessibility, inclusion, and community engagement.
The gallery states that it is committed to anti-racism and guided by organizational values including appreciation, gathering and sharing, inspiration, reciprocity, and stewardship.
The exhibition is supported by the Ontario Arts Council, the Arts Response Initiative Grant, Grey Bruce Community Foundation, and a partnership with Grey Roots Museum & Archives.
More information about the exhibition and related programming can be found at durhamartgallery.com or on Instagram and Facebook at @durham.art.gallery.
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