2008 Exhibitions

Gary Pearson

The End is My Beginning

March 30 to May 25, 2008

Sponsored by Pollard Banknote Limited

Media Sponsors: 98.3 CIFM and Off-Centre Magazine

The Kamloops Art Gallery is proud to present a solo exhibition by Gary Pearson, one of British Columbia’s most dynamic contemporary painters. The End is My Beginning features new paintings and works from the last half decade. It is Pearson’s first solo exhibition in Kamloops.

The surfaces of Pearson’s paintings are highly worked and richly textured. They are often close to monochromatic, punctuated by surprising, off-key bursts of colour. Although Pearson began as an abstract painter, today most of his works portray individuals and groups of people in semi-public and transient venues, such as bars, diners, or hotels. Patterns remain an important feature of all his compositions, and may consist of words, palm trees, architectural features, and other images or symbols. His drawing style is deliberately crude, which gives his works a direct and earthy character.

There are narratives in Pearson’s art, but they are all unresolved or indeterminate. The works therefore draw heavily on what the viewer brings to them for their meaning, posing possibilities for deep resonance, and reflections on melancholy, humour, isolation, human dignity, longing, and resolve. Along with paintings and drawings, Pearson produces videos, which share a painterly quality in their production style and visual appearance.

At the Kamloops Art Gallery, Pearson presents some of his latest work from 2007, a selection from his 2005 Greenville series, which was inspired in part by the songs of Lucinda Williams, some earlier drawings, and two videos. All of the works feature scenes from everyday life in unnamed places.

Gary Pearson is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Kelowna. He has shown his work widely across Canada as well as in Germany, Norway, Poland, the USA, and Australia.

The exhibition is accompanied by a full-colour catalogue with a feature essay by former Thompson Rivers University instructor, poet, and performance artist David Bateman, and an interview with the artist by KAG curator, Jen Budney.

Marge Mitchell
Herd Bull, 2003
bronze

Yellowhead Artists’ Co-operative

From the Brushes of Barriere

March 1 to April 13, 2008

The Cube

The exhibition features work by Barriere’s Yellowhead Artists’ Co-operative. Meeting once a week to paint in studio or en plein air, Marge Mitchell, Shirley Kristensen, Wayne Broomfield, Robert Bambrick, and Jean Cartier have formed a tightly knit unit to provide each other criticism, support, and camaraderie. In this exhibition, the five members exhibit some of their finest works, including oil and watercolour paintings, sculpture, and scrimshaw. Representing life in the North Thompson Valley, the exhibition is rich in landscape views and images of life on the ranch. The exhibition coincides with The Kamloops Cowboy Festival, which runs March 7 to 9, 2008.

Paraskeva Clark, Petroushka, 1937
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Photo © NGC
© Clive and Benedict Clark

Art and Society in Canada 1913-1950

Organized by the National Gallery of Canada

January 20 to March 16, 2008

Presentation of this exhibition in Kamloops is made possible in part through a grant from the Museums Assistance Program, Department of Canadian Heritage and with support from the Mapping Quality of Life and the Cultural Future of Small Cities CURA, a community-university research alliance sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Media sponsor: Radio NL

The Kamloops Art Gallery is proud to host another prestigious exhibition from the National Gallery of Canada. Art and Society in Canada 1913-1950 includes approximately 45 works of art by some of Canada’s most famous artists from the first half of the twentieth century. Many artists from this period were dedicated to the ideals of nationalism, political awareness, and a liberated society. They also believed that art could powerfully affect and shape society. This exhibit explores three distinct artistic movements that shaped Canadian art and Canadian society: the Group of Seven, the Social Realists, and Les Automatistes.

During the 1920s, members of the Group of Seven, such as AY Jackson and Lawren Harris, argued that the idea of “North” was central to Canadian identity and that artists should explore, paint, and validate the northern landscape for Canadians. In their view, art was a means of revealing the spiritual values of nature, which they felt crucial to the emerging national identity.

For the generation that emerged in the 1930s, art had a more direct role in confronting the political, economic and social crises of their time. Claiming that earlier ideals were "escapist," the Social Realists sought to reflect the social, political, and economic issues of the day and resist what they felt were increasing threats to freedom. During this period, organizations such as the Federation of Canadian Artists and the Labour Arts Guild promoted the integration of art and society.

In the 1940s, the Quebec-based group Les Automatistes, which included such renowned artists as Paul-Emile Borduas and Jean-Paul Riopelle, rejected the Social Realists’ preoccupation with subject matter. Inspired by Surrealism, they associated the spontaneity of automatic painting with personal liberation and believed that their art could create a New World. Their goals were summarized in the 1948 manifesto “Refus global” in which Fernand Leduc called for "works of art sister to the atom bomb."

Art and Society is a portrait of our nation in its youth, when Canadian artists had faith in the future and in their power to shape it. The exhibition contains exquisite paintings and sculpture from the National Gallery of Canada, and gives Kamloops residents an opportunity to see first-hand works by some of Canada’s all-time greatest artists, including Lawren Harris, AY Jackson, Jean Paul Riopelle, and Paul Emile Borduas.

Alexander Young Jackson
Mount Paul, Kamloops, B.C., 1945
oil on board
Kamloops Art Gallery Collection

At Home in Our Own Country: Group of Seven Works from the Permanent Collection

January 20 to March 16, 2008

To complement the feature exhibition, Art and Society, the Gallery’s curatorial staff has selected several delightful works by Group of Seven members A.Y. Jackson, Fred Varley, Arthur Lismer, and Franklin Carmichael for display in the north corridor. All the works are from the Kamloops Art Gallery’s permanent collection, and represent the beautiful landscapes of Interior British Columbia and Ontario. “The great purpose of landscape art is to make us at home in our own country,” wrote the members of the Group of Seven. This intimate exhibition takes a look at our own home through the eyes of four of Canada’s most famous artists.

Over the years, these works were acquired for the permanent collection either through purchase or donation. Of special note is Quesnel River by A.Y. Jackson. One of the first works of art in the KAG collection, it was donated as a bequest from the estate of former mayor of Kamloops J.E. Fitzwater. He specified in his will that the work be held “on loan and in trust until such time as Kamloops shall have an Art Gallery of its own.”

Marisa Phillips, Ktunaxa Nation
Final Dream, 2007
digital print

Renewing our Spirit: Ktunaxa - Secwepemc Aboriginal Youth Art Exchange

January 26 to March 2, 2008

BMO Open Gallery

Chris Bose from the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society and Marisa Phillips from Ktunaxa First Nations are facilitating an art exchange. This collaborative effort features art by Aboriginal youth from the Cranbrook and Kamloops regions. After this winter exhibition in Kamloops, the exhibition travels to Cranbrook for display.

Martin Tuba
Repent Sinner, 2005
acrylic on canvas

Shazam! Breaking out of the Box

January 20 to February 24, 2008

The Cube

Shazam! Breaking out of the Box is an exhibition of locally produced art that breaks out of the moulds that separate fine art from commercial art. Inspired by popular culture, artists Laura Bittante, Martin Tuba, Andrew Enpaauk Dexel and Randall Eustache have created an array of contemporary artworks inspired by mass culture, particularly cartoons and animation. A fun and inspiring exhibition, Shazam! is an exploration of the “highs” and “lows” of pop art by artists from our region.

Martha Atara

Tallado con Nuestras Manos

January 12 to February 17, 2008

Gallery Under Glass

Originally from Columbia, Martha Atara paints and engraves aluminum panels. Her unique method of creation involves carving shallow grooves onto soft and flexible sheets of thick aluminum. She then paints her intricate designs with bright colours. Tallado con nuestras Manos, or Carving with our Hands, is an exhibition of some of her nature-inspired designs. Vibrant with colour, these works shimmer under the light.