The LAB 2.5: Althea Thauberger: New Day Jubilee

Althea Thauberger, with the assistance of mural artist Dwight Lockhart, creates a photography and painting exhibition inspired by the public mural projects that tell stories and beautify the urban landscape. “I am also interested in the figure in the environment,” says Thauberger, “and in a wider cultural sense, the work in some way responds to…

Sandra Meigs: Reverie

Reverie presents two painting installations by artist Sandra Meigs which incorporate the activities of journey, storytelling and fascination.

The Newborn (2001) was created after a trip the artist took to Boat Basin Farm, located on the West Coast of Vancouver Island in Clayoquot Sound. Also known as Cougar Annie’s Garden, the farm is named for Ada-Annie…

Ukiyo-e: Images of a Floating World

Ukiyo-e, or images of a floating world, are Japanese woodblock prints from the 17th to early 20th century. The term “ukiyo-e” came to refer to the depiction of the light-hearted entertainment and pleasures characteristic of the wealthy merchant class who inhabited the big cities during the Edo period (1615-1868).

The prints mirror the life of this class in rich and vibrant detail. However, ukiyo-e were cheap, mass-produced and served as posters or pin-up art for the common people, and were often purchased from street vendors. They were also incorporated into calendars, memorials, greeting cards and advertisements. Ukiyo-e were the result of a team effort which included the artist, an engraver, a printer and a publisher. They feature four main subject matters: kabuki theatre; courtesans and geishas; landscapes; and historical and legendary events.

Erotica in Japanese Prints

Erotic prints, known as shunga or “spring pictures,” were an acceptable subject in Japan’s Edo society until the second half of the 19th century when the influence of Western puritanism began to influence popular opinion against them. Shunga are an integral part of the ukiyo-e tradition. To omit these examples of shunga from a survey…

The LAB 2.4: Catherine Fern Lewis: Sanctuary

Sanctuary is an interdisciplinary project which incorporates objects from the Art Gallery?s permanent collection with sound and music by new music performer Catherine Lewis. It examines stories of faith and bravery of conviction. “The objects [I selected for the exhibition] spoke of journey and transformation,” says Lewis, “which parallel the activity of a traveling musician…

LIVE ART NITELY!!!

Performances nightly at 8:00pm & 9:30pm

In conjunction with the Tic-Toc Festival, the Art Gallery presents Live Art Nitely!!! This mini festival showcases performance-based art with an impressive collection of artists using a seemingly countless number of media.

For full performance descriptions, please check out our Program Calendar…

Tibetan Monks

The Art Gallery and the Canada Tibet Committee are proud to host Tibetan Monks for the creation of a sacred Sand Mandala. Over a period of days or weeks, exquisite details are formed as millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place using cone-shaped, fine-tipped funnels. it is believed that each grain of sand is charged with powerful blessings. Because mandala making symbolizes the impermanence of all that exists, it will be ritualistically dismantled not long after it is finished.

The LAB 2.3: Fran Benton Chrysalides

A vase from the Japanese Banko ware works reminded Benton of an infestation of winter moths in Victoria. Green caterpillars were hanging in threads and tangled in people’s hair and coats; nature interfering with our daily lives. Chrysalides is Benton’s own screen of insects in transition. Images of pine needles, flower petals, seedpods, cloth and…

Japanese Lacquer

Witness the tremendous talent, patience and devotion to detail of the Japanese lacquer artists of the past with works from the Art Gallery’s impressive collection of ancient Japanese lacquer. On exhibition will be lacquer art objects including magnificent Noh masks, statues, containers, writing boxes, sets of inro, ojime and netsuke and smoking boxes.

Lacquer is made from the resinous sap extracted from a certain type of tree which is indigenous only to certain countries in the Far East. It was applied to all sorts of media including wood, bamboo, leather, textile, ceramics and metal bases.

This luminous substance has played an important role in Japanese society from Neolithic times to the present in both its use for utilitarian objects and in display objects. Through its detailed designs, fabrication and functional purposes, the use of lacquer thoroughly reflects the various intricacies of Japanese culture.