“... With continuing grand gestures Pachter has staked out cultural territory of his own and celebrated it unabashedly… He is a serious minded humorist who possesses the gift to be roguish and poignant at once.” Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov
"THE ARTIST WHO CREATED CANADA’S MODERN MYTHOLOGY: Renowned for his iconic renderings of the Canadian flag, the Queen astride a moose and cultural icons from Margaret Atwood to Pierre Trudeau, painter and printmaker Charles Pachter has himself become an icon of this country's art scene. Over his 40-year career, his boldly graphic works and uncloying patriotism have presented a cheeky yet defining vision of Canada and its culture unlike any other."
Betty Ann Jordan
"...Pachter's works address larger concerns that speak to a wider audience than perhaps any other artist in Canada." ...Christopher Hume, Toronto Star
Ironical work that is both serious and self-parodying. Pachter works hard, even at the trivial. The paintings are beautiful in one way or another, like joke panels that take your breath away. These witty, occasionally dry images are more than urban jokes; they have emotional staying power. Pachter invades Pop culture with surreal wit. He sometimes paints as an insider to culture and at others like a true outcast. His work escapes a tendency towards intellectualism through the sheer power of talent and love of image.
David MacLean, Vancouver Sun, Jan 93
May 5-June 7 "Mythologies", 53 Pachter paintings at the Elmwood Spa
open by appointment 416 260 1600 pachter@sympatico.ca
New AGO & OCAD from roof of Pachter Hall
Five flag paintings from Pachter's 1981 inaugural exhibition now hang in the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa
NOW IN STORES ACROSS CANADA
MOOSEPLUNGE 2000, PAINTED FIBERGLASS, CITY HALL PLAZA, TORONTO
A royal visitor admires "Mooseconstrue", Pachter's 10ft corten steel sculpture on the downtown campus of the University of Toronto
Queen of Canada, acrylic & pencil on canvas, 1972
LOVE PAT, acrylic on canvas, 2008
Charles presents a memento to Canada's
governor-general, Her Excellency Michaelle Jean.
Charles with Kanowakeron, David Hill Morrison, a direct descendant of Mohawk chief Joseph Brant
CONCLUSION, acrylic & pastel on canvas, 2007
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PACHTER HALL & MOOSE FACTORY
Over the past four decades Charles has renovated 24 buildings in downtown Toronto. In 1996 he purchased the ultimate dump, an abandoned warehouse in Chinatown, a block from the Art Gallery of Ontario. The garage at the front was removed, creating a parking lot leading up to the rear building which Pachter named Moose Factory, transforming it into galleries and a painting studio. After seven years of shows and events, he decided to create a new live-work structure in front that would completely redefine the property.
Pachter hired award winning Canadian architect Stephen Teeple who came up with a daring design consisting of three levels of zinc-clad stacked steel and glass boxes that cantilever dramatically out to the street.
Pachter and project architect Bernard Jin carefully tweaked the new space as it took shape. The result is a 5-level structure containing a studio and archives with a courtyard, pond, fountain and enclosed glass linkway to the existing Moose Factory; a first floor gallery and performance space; and a top floor residential loft accessed by a glass enclosed elevator. The total area of 6200 square feet covers the entire 160 foot lot, creating a spacious live-work facility under one roof, and one of Toronto's finest private contemporary museums.
PACHTER HALL has received:
DESIGN EXCHANGE Award of Excellence 2006
ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS Award of Excellence 2007
MICHAEL & WANDA PLACHTA Award of Merit 2007
Courtyard pond
Contemporary Galleries
Courtyard studio