Yoko Takashima: face-scape

The Art Gallery has commissioned a work by Victoria artist Yoko Takashima. For this exhibition, she addresses the Group of Seven’s status as an icon of national identity. At the same time, she questions the undercurrent of Euro-centrism, colonialism and patriarchy that is embedded in the readings of their work. Takashima’s time-based, interactive project will incorporate ongoing responses of Gallery visitors and generate a cumulative image to reflect the “face” of these consumers of Canadian identity.

Japanese Print Masters: Hiroshi Yoshida and his Son Toshi

Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) was a prominent figure in the modern Japanese print movement. Keenly aware of the influence of ukiyo-e prints on Post-Impressionism, Yoshida combined artistic theories native to the West with traditional techniques rooted in Japan. The result was an updated, Westernized version of the traditional ukiyo-e print. His output was tremendous and he…

The LAB 3.1: Roy Green Black Lab

Nostalgia, loss and humour inform this mixed media project, comprised of photography, drawing, painting and video. Green investigates fictive narrative, family history and the adoration of pets through the devotion of his grandfather’s favorite pet, a black Labrador retriever named “Champion High-Park Buddy.”…

Pierre Dorion: Solo

A 20-year retrospective of the paintings of this prominent Montreal artist exploring themes of
isolation and the isolation of the work of the painter. Dorion’s work has reflected his interest in
art history, with his paintings evoking imagery of little known artists or Renaissance masters,
inventors of perspective boxes and the camera obscura. Architecture plays an important role…

The LAB 3.0: Tyler Hodgins The Work Project

This project explores the idea of “artist’s work”. For the past ten years I have supported myself and my family by working at an orthotics laboratory, says Hodgins.

Hodgins utilizes the castings produced at the orthotics factory to create cumulative, process-based work in the LAB space which transforms these utilitarian items into fine art objects. The…

A Little Bit of Funk

This exhibition offers a look at some of the newest items in our growing collection of almost 16,000 works, focusing on Western and contemporary art and includes recently acquired works spanning the last 30 years by artists: Mowry Baden, Joan Balzar, Tom Burrows, Gathie Falk, Sam Francis, Medrie MacPhee, Susan Point, Mary Pratt, Taras Polataiko, Robert Rauschonberg, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Robert Youds, among others.

Asian Ceramics

This exhibition examines the fascinating development of ceramics in Asia and traces the movement of styles and techniques, particularly those from China, which had a tremendous impact on other nations of Asia such as Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and even countries in the Near East. There will be approximately 150-200 stunning examples of ceramics from Asia and a few from the Near East and Europe, showing Asian influences.

Catalogue will be available in the Gallery Shop.

The LAB 2.6: Daniel Laskarin Relapse (just like that)

Relapse ( just like that ) came about as a continuation of my interest in those moments just before extreme events, during which our certainties collapse, our knowing becomes unsettled. It is at these times that something else is possible, even while we don’t know what it might be. It seems to me that the…

Robert Wise: Dynaflow

Over the past decade, Robert Wise has established himself as a unique figure within the West Coast
sculpture scene through a series of interactive, and mechanically sophisticated machines. His most
recent and ambitious work, Roulette, a new public sculpture for the Victoria International Airport
addition, opened to the public this fall.

“Dynaflow” is a new body of work organized by independent curator and sometimes creative collaborator Christian Giroux. Works in the show range from large kinetic pieces, such as: Loach — a latex “pickle” that spontaneously twitches; to small structures like Burr-2, formed using only disentangled nylon rope.

Wise draws upon his engineering and mechanical skills to activate or re-animate the material world of mass production, creating playful objects that compel investigation and contemplation. Most importantly, he invites us to think of how different technologies can connect us to our social or urban environment, while others can effectively separate us from it. For Wise, sculpture is a holistic form of technology, combining engineering and craftsmanship to either shock or charm us out of our complacency within the given world of objects.

Catalogue will be available in the Gallery Shop.