Learning to Talk is the first exhibition of Tim Zuck's work in Montréal since 1989. Organized by Gordon Hatt, curator at Cambridge Galleries in Cambridge, Ontario, this exhibition includes twenty-eight paintings Zuck completed between 1976 and the present. The exhibition includes some of Zuck's early work when he turned away from Conceptual and performance art to painting. The simple imagery he dealt with in this work is based in personal narrative but depicted on the level of the ideogram. As his work developed over the years, Zuck's painting became more refined and "realistic" yet it retained an essentially abstract quality. From the mid eighties onward Zuck's work appears to become more concerned with the purely material, physical presence of common objects, familiar places, and known genres. These subjects are typically depicted against an unspecified ground, or when he portrays places, the site under observation is normally sectioned off, or in another manner imbued with a sense of isolation. However, the familiarity of Zuck's work and its seemingly "pure" representation is deceptive. Underlying his recognizable imagery is a pictorial structure which relates back to abstract art. The objects and places he represents become iconic, appearing to exist outside time and beyond narrative. The paintings in this exhibition have been assembled from private and public collections across Canada. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition, featuring essays by Jeffrey Spalding, Katherine Govier and Gordon Hatt.

Also at the Ellen Art Gallery, Selections from the Permanent Collection, a small exhibition of contemporary photography drawn from the Gallery's art collection. While photography is often associated with truth and reality because of its apparent documentary function, this show explores alternative approaches Canadian artists have taken to the medium. Among the works included in this display are photographs by Angela Grauerholz, Alain Paiement, Jennifer Dickson, Cheryl Simon, Roberto Pellegrinuzzi, and Denis Farley.

The Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery gratefully acknowledges the assistance of The Canada Council for the Arts, Assistance to Art Museums and Public Galleries for Operations and Programming in Contemporary Art.