Contours: Extended Painting in the Pacific Northwest

The shared history of the Seattle and Victoria art communities is a productive one, and can be traced back to the solo Seattle artist exhibitions mounted by former Art Gallery director Colin Graham in the 1970s. Seattle Now, a major group exhibition, curated by Greg Bellerby in 1984, revisited Graham’s efforts to examine the eclectic and dynamic visual arts south of the border. CONTOURS, co-curated by Matthew Kangas (Seattle) and Lisa Baldissera (Victoria), takes this model one step further, examining contemporary art production in both cities.

“Despite reports of premature death, painting not only continues to live in Seattle and Victoria, it is thriving.” states Kangas. “Part of its rehabilitation, however has meant artists seek strategies for extending the limits and parameters of painting: beyond the rectangle; beyond paint; beyond the wall.”

CONTOURS is characterized by inventive uses of materials and processes, coupled with ironic twists of painting languages. The exhibition features the works of Isabel Kahn, Jesse Paul Miller, Susan Dory, Mark Takamichi Miller and Patrick Holderfield from Seattle and Jeremy Borsos, Stephanie Aitken, Caroline James, Brian G. White and Tom Burrows from Victoria. The artists refer to the rich history of painting to invent new forms and display their confidence in the medium – and its future – along the way.

From Geisha to Diva: The Kimonos of Ichimaru

The Art Gallery has just received a wonderful donation of kimonos worn by the geisha, Ichimaru, one of Japan’s greatest classical folk singers.

Ichimaru was born into a poor family and became a geisha in the 1920s and early 30s. She gained a reputation as an elegant and beautiful geisha who possessed a “nightingale-like voice”. She signed a recording contract with RCA Victor Records and expanded her popularity internationally, performing in beautiful and intricate kimonos from the 1930s to the 1970s.

The kimonos on display in From Geisha to Diva are preserved in pristine condition and provide excellent examples of the types of costumes she would have worn as a geisha during her career, showing different styles and decorations from this time. The exhibition will also include albums, souvenirs and memorabilia, as well as prints of Ichimaru and other woodblock prints illustrating the life of a geisha. An exhibition catalogue will be available.

Emily Carr From the Collection of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Victoria is home to Emily Carr, one of Canada’s best known and most beloved artists. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is a great place to explore Carr’s art and writings through an exhibition drawn from our permanent collection.

Carr studied in San Francisco, London, and Paris where she received solid classical training and an exposure…

Splendour of Chinese Textiles

One of the greatest achievements of China in world culture is the production of silk fabric from silkworms. This fabric is often beautifully embroidered and richly decorated and has been used in the costumes of royalty and the nobility. Splendour of Chinese Textiles showcases the rich heritage of costumes and textiles from the Chinese Qing dynasty from the Gallery’s collection.

spilled edge soft corners

spilled edge soft corners takes an oblique look at the current state of abstraction in painting by presenting artists who extend the strict definition of painting as a rectangular stretched canvas. Although some make reference to the traditional grid, all the works in the exhibition begin with the end of the stretcher.

At the point where canvas, cloth, paint and even objects of representation become discombobulated material, painting reemerges in frayed folds, tight knots, wound up bundles or blown-up piles. Many of the works evoke a sense of physicality, like “falling apart”, “hanging by a thread”, “wound up” or “hanging loose”.

This exhibition features the works of eight Canadian and American artists: Polly Apfelbaum (New York), Francois-Marie Bertrand (Chicoutimi), Eric Cameron (Calgary), Jessica Stockholder (New York) and Robert Youds (Victoria). These not-so-painting-like paintings unsettle the categories of both abstraction and representation in painting.

Decades: Part II Cold War / Hot Abstractions The Art of the 50s

The second exhibition of our four part series profiling works from our permanent collection produced in each decade and demonstrating a relationship between art, its time and history. Watch for related events with each decade that delve into other art disciplines, like music, film, literature and dance, to investigate the interrelationships in the arts during these eras.

Emily Carr: Drawing the Forest

Drawing the Forest offers a rare insight into the creative process of Emily Carr through 39 charcoal drawings of the West Coast Forest. This exhibition marks the first time this collection of Carr’s charcoal drawings from the Vancouver Art Gallery has been shown in its entirety and the works themselves are seldom seen due to their fragility.

The drawings, executed from 1929 – 1931, reveal Carr’s skilled draughtsmanship and show the role of drawing in her work as well as a growing influence of modernism. They offer a wonderful glimpse into Carr’s creative process, her exploration of the BC landscape and the artistic contributions of the First Nations. This exhibition is curated by Ian Thom and organized and circulated by the Vancouver Art Gallery.

This exhibition coincides with Emily Carr: Eccentric Artist, Author, Genius, an exhibition that partners the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Royal BC Museum and the BC Archives and includes several important works from the Art Gallery.

Joe Norris: Painted Visions of Nova Scotia

by Bernard Riordon, Curator of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia from Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Journal

Joe Norris found joy in simple pleasures. He never questioned the hand that life dealt him. Having to recreate his life at age forty-nine after a devas-tating heart attack, Joe translated his energy into paintings. His cove scenes and seagull paintings have become icons for the Nova Scotian experi-ence over the past quarter century, and many people consider Joe Norris to be a national treasure.

His paintings conjure up an ideal and better world, one in which peace and happiness are predomi-nant and the problems of everyday reality should not exist. Joe?s fishing villages and cove scenes transport us into a world of blue skies, calm waters, and endless summer. A half-forgotten world of winter sleigh rides through shimmering fields of snow becomes a vivid, tangible here-and-now in Joe?s magical ?starry night? paintings.

Myfanwy Pavelic: Images

In honour of Myfanwy Pavelic being announced as a recipient of the Order of BC, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria will be presenting an exhibition of her work from our permanent collection. Myfanwy Pavelic’s portraits and paintings document succeeding generations of artists, musicians, composers and statesmen, from Yehudi Menuhin to Pierre Trudeau.

Her work has been exhibited from Victoria to the National Gallery in London, England; and her philanthropy has helped many people and organizations in Victoria and beyond.