Cathy Daley

Newzones is saddened and heartbroken to have lost a dear friend. Cathy Daley passed away peacefully on March 2, 2022, in her home surrounded by her dear friends Rob and Katy.

Cathy was at the forefront of drawing in Canada, a leading visual artist and educator.

Helen Zenith remembers:

As if it was yesterday, my first visit to Cathy’s studio on John Street in Toronto. A small perky redhead invites me in and as I do a swift glance around the room, I note the stacks are filled with rolls of vellum. Stapled to every inch of wall, leaning plywood, and boards on the floor are drawings made with black oil sticks, graphite, etc. Some are complete, some just started and some midway… lots of smudges, marks (included on her face, neck, hands, T-shirt), but the ones in vellum commanded your full attention. These amazing marks and smudges evolved into shapes and forms of movement; energy which resembled a sea of black dresses swaying all over. After this first experience with Cathy and her work, I knew I wanted to exhibit this extraordinary artists!!! Fast forward almost three decades, Newzones and Cathy together had an incredibly rich journey. Cathy had several solo and group exhibits, and she exhibited at art fairs worldwide, which produced shows and representation in NYC, LA, London, Berlin, Paris, etc.

Tamar Zenith states:

Early on as an art dealer, Cathy’s sexy, sassy, energy-driven drawings came into my life. I was so proud of Cathy’s accomplishments and loved telling artists, collectors and art enthusiasts that Canada’s National Gallery had acquired her work through purchase and not donation!!! I had spent 28 years exhibiting at art fairs all over the world and Cathy was always front and center in our booth. At the beginning of December, while Cathy was in the hospital, we had a difficult conversation about postponing her exhibit, which was to open Saturday, March 5th. Her goal was to get back home and into the studio. Most don’t know, but the exquisite water colours and digital drawings on her Instagram @daley.cathy are from a long stay in the hospital for most of November, December, and part of January.

Cathy was generous, always donating her work to raise money for causes she embraced. She was humble, shy and quiet, but her power and strength were expressed in her drawings!

Cathy’s drawings were authentic; her very own signature and her own unique statement. Her process, her marks, her gestures… the drawings were Cathy Daley! Her art practice was her life and her life was art. She never missed a day in her studio. She worked until the end, despite her failing health.

In her honor and memory, Newzones has mounted an exhibition of Cathy’s drawings as had previously been scheduled in our programming.

We have truly lost – too early – one of Canada’s greatest visual artists. Rest in Peace our dear friend. XOXO