BARBARA EDWARDS

Barbara Edwards discovered her passion for contemporary art at an early age when she experienced a Gerhard Richter exhibition while visiting the Art Gallery of Ontario. This fascination led Edwards to pursue a career in contemporary art. She studied under Professor Mark Cheetham at The University of Western Ontario and earned her Master's Degree in Art History in 1999. She developed her thesis on Toronto's contemporary art scene and its place in an international context while working for the Power Plant Gallery from 1992 until 1999, the later part under Philip Monk.

Edwards has lectured extensively in colleges and universities on the subject of the dealer's role in championing contemporary art. She has also been invited by prestigious universities throughout Canada to host and participate in academic conferences including the University of Toronto, Concordia University, The University of Western Ontario, York University, White Mountain Academy of the Arts and Fanshawe College to name a few.

As Director of the renowned Sable-Castelli Gallery from 1999 to 2005 under the mentorship of senior Canadian dealer Jared Sable (partner of Leo Castelli) Edwards built a reputation for presenting challenging contemporary art within a commercial context. In addition to representing Canada's leading contemporary artists, she developed an annual invitational exhibition that helped launch the careers of now-prominent Canadian artists and brought internationally-renowned artists to Toronto for solo commercial exhibitions. Gallery artist Jessica Stockholder was among those exhibited in this series. Having placed works in some of the most significant private and public collections, Edwards' knowledge of collecting is extensive.

With this experience Barbara Edwards presents a selection of the best Canadian and international artists to you under the aegis Barbara Edwards Contemporary.

barbara@becontemporary.com