Misshapen Pearl: The Baroque Era

Curated by Patricia Kidd, Stephen Topfer & Tamara Schweeder

Initially used as a derogatory term by art critics the word baroque is the French translation of the Portuguese word borrocco, meaning misshapen pearl. It was not long, however, before Baroque became synonymous with the darkly shadowed, richly coloured and evocative works of the time following the…

Peculiar Culture: The Contemporary Baroque

Curated by Lisa Baldissera

Peculiar Culture explores contemporary expressions of the Baroque through the works of Victoria-based artist Luanne Martineau and British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman.

Like the Baroque artists, they combine beauty, perversity, humour and horror to engage the audience with their elaborate executions. Luanne Martineau addresses social realism, racism and conceits of high modernism….

Ancient Bronzes of the Asian Grasslands

Curated by Trudy S. Kawami, The Sackler Foundation ?Great art, like science and the humanities, can never remain as the possession of one individual, creator or collector ? great art and all culture belongs to all humankind.?

Arthur M. Sackler, MD The Eurasian grasslands, also known as the steppes, cover a region extending from northern China…

Kappazuri

Japanese Stencil Prints

These innovative Japanese stencil prints are the inspiration of Mori Yoshitoshi and Sadao Watanabe

who adapted a printmaking technique that was initially used for dyeing clothes. Originally working with kimono textiles, Yoshitoshi?s prints have been shown around the world. Watanabe?s prints, which have also received international acclaim, are set apart from traditional Japanese prints due to…

LAB 6.3: In Growing

Curated by Lisa Baldissera. Painter Stephen B. Nguyen and sculptor Wade Kavanaugh create collaborative installations using elements from their independent practice to address the uncertain territory between imagined and physical space….

Live Art 2: TimePieces

Curated by Lisa Baldissera This four-day interdisciplinary performance event presents time as a fantastic framework in contemporary music and performance art. After the ultra successful Live Art Nitely in 2002, the Gallery again explores performance art, new music, theatre and this year, durational and performative installations….

Fantastic Frameworks: Architectural Utopias + Designs for Life

Curated by Lisa Baldissera. How do individuals organize themselves in private and public spaces social, temporal, geographic, psychological, political, architectural and erotic and participate in the design of everyday experience Fantastic Frameworks examines utopian ideals and design impulses used to structure, formalize and contemplate daily life. This exhibition offers experimental models for experience and examines…

LAB 6.2. Romances

Curated by Lisa Baldissera. Following his 10-day journey through the Canadian Forces Artist Program on the HMCS Calgary from Pearl Harbour to the Esquimalt Naval Base….

Bill Burns: Safety Gear for Small Animals

Curated by Annette Hurtig. Safety Gear for Small Animals addresses animal rescue, relocation and rehabilitation. Bill Burns is the Director of the Safety Gear for Small Animals, “the largest safety gear for small animals producer in the world.” Using the conventions of a traditional natural history museum, Burns humorously juxtaposes his tiny rescue and safety…