In its inaugural art exhibition, Toronto’s Henderson Lee Gallery presents PARA-OPTICAL, a breathtaking limited-edition photographic series by artist-educator Vlad Spicanovic, former Dean of the Faculty of Art at OCAD University. The show reimagines how we see and relate to images through Spicanovic’s annotations of visual and material cultures.

Taken during his travels to Hangzhou, Berlin and Dubai, Spicanovic’s collection of photographic prints transform seemingly ordinary cityscapes and structures into extraordinary passages between observation and imagination and the poetics of the seen and the unseen. His long-time interest in cities and architecture, and his research into aesthetics and visual perception drive the photo-based works in this exhibition.

Spicanovic’s artwork investigates the intersections of photography and painting and the notions of perception, temporality and critical visual literacy. In PARA-OPTICAL, Spicanovic explores the mechanics of vision by engaging the psychologies and para-psychologies of looking.

A master of pictorial language, Toronto-based Spicanovic holds a BFA in Painting & Drawing from Concordia University and an MA and PhD in Culture & Values in Education from McGill University. Since 1989, he has been exhibiting and curating art in tandem with his commitments to teaching, academic leadership, and arts advocacy. Spicanovic’s work can be found in the BMO Corporate Collection, the Donovan Collection at the University of St. Michael’s College, and numerous private collections. Spicanovic is a professor in the Faculty of Art at OCAD University.