China’s Favourite Pottery for Tea, Yixing Ware

July 1 – October 16, 2016 | Founders Gallery | Curated by Barry Till

The brown Yixing stoneware teapots caught the fancy of many tea connoisseurs throughout the years. They rose to prominence with the Chinese literati of the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties who used the stoneware as their preferred vessels. To this day, they…

Kinky

Ancient Chinese and Japanese Erotic Images

June 18 – October 16, 2016 | Drury Gallery | Curated by Barry Till

The exhibition offers about one hundred erotic works of art from China and Japan.  These works contain sexual content and may not be suitable for all audiences.

Most early Chinese erotic images were quite tame, but by the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) erotica became…

Trans-Pacific Transmissions

Video Art Across the Pacific

June 4 – September 5, 2016 | Curated by Haema Sivanesan | Centennial and Ker Galleries

Trans-Pacific Transmissions: Video Art Across the Pacific brings together the work of artists from around the Pacific Rim* to examine a broad history of trans-Pacific exchange as it has captured the imaginations of artists working in video. The works in this…

Modernization in Meiji Japan (1868-1912)

Images of Changing Architecture, Transportation and Wars

April 22 – August 28, 2016 | Pollard Gallery | Curated by Barry Till

Meiji woodblock prints are fascinating in that they reveal to us a country in total transition. During the short period of Emperor Meiji’s reign (1868-1912) of nearly 45 years, Japan made an astonishingly swift metamorphosis from a feudal state into a modern…

Nanga

Literati Painting of Old Japan

April 9 – June 26, 2016 | Curated by Barry Till | Founders Gallery 

It was only in the 18th century that the literati style Chinese Southern School painting of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911), came to be studied on a regular basis in Japan. The works that resulted in Japan were called bunjinga (paintings in…

Water + Pigment + Paper

Experiments in Watercolour from the AGGV Collection

Curated by Michelle Jacques and Nicole Stanbridge | Centennial and Ker Galleries | January 30 – May 23, 2016

How do you define watercolour? While it is one of the more challenging mediums to work with, it has at times throughout history been seen as a medium of leisure, used for studies or sketches, or as a precursor…

Sosaku Hanga

Japan's Creative Print Movement

January 16 – April 17, 2016 | Pollard Gallery | Curated by Barry Till

During the early 20th century, Japanese artists studying in Europe discovered that many internationally acclaimed Western artists handled all aspects of the printmaking process from the first sketch to the last pull of the print. This discovery had a profound effect on…

Paƛšiʔaƛma (The Fire is Just Starting)

Klehwetua, Rodney Sayers and Emily Luce

January 14 – May 15, 2016 | Curated by Michelle Jacques | The LAB

Paƛšiʔaƛma (The Fire is Just Starting) is a new work by Port Alberni artists Klehwetua, Rodney Sayers and Emily Luce. Constructed from local, rough-cut cedar and fir from two Port Alberni mills, the artists re-sawed and dressed their material before incorporating it into their beautifully…

Recent Asian Art Acquisitions

(2013-2015)

November 27 – April 3, 2016 | Founders Gallery | Curated by Barry Till

Patronage of the arts is a very noble act. Throughout its history, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria has received a remarkable number of Asian art donations, which in terms of numbers is now approximately 43-44% of the entire collection. Every few years,…