ON THE NATURE OF THINGS
Central Gallery
October 15 to December 31, 2011
Curated by Patrik Andersson
To many Canadians the title of this exhibition will bring to mind David Suzuki’s longstanding science and nature television series of a similar name. However, in the context of this art exhibition the title is meant to summon up the words and images created by Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius in his epic poem De rerum natura. Its purpose was to explain Epicurean philosophy to Roman audiences in the 1st century BC.
THE ART OF THE CELEBRITY PORTRAIT
Edward Steichen // Yousuf Karsh
Central Gallery
October 15 to December 31, 2011
Curated by Ann Thomas
The aim and the art of the portraitist who works with a camera are not merely to produce a likeness but to reveal the mind and the soul behind the human face. When I have had the opportunity of studying those who have left their mark upon our time, I have tried to focus my camera on that quality which has made my subjects stand out from among their contemporaries. I have always been in quest of a secret, for that quality is elusive, indefinable. — Yousuf Karsh in Portraits of Greatness
THE BONES
Tara Look
The Cube
September 17 to October 29, 2011
Curated by Craig Willms, Kamloops Art Gallery
The Cube is transformed into a projection room for Tara Look’s The Bones. Look explores her family history through a digitally recorded performance of herself playing a Celtic instrument called the bones. The instrument was one of the few creative endeavours passed on to the artist by her father who valued hard work and utilitarian skills over creativity and artistry. The movement required to play this instrument and the framing of the work draw the viewer in while the practice of playing the music serves as a reminder of the artist’s father and a way of dealing with grief after his passing in 2009. Look blends traditional with contemporary music playing along to country songs on the artist’s MP3 player.
GLOBAL NATURE
Lorraine Gilbert // Sarah Anne Johnson
Central Gallery
June 11 to September 3, 2011
The unique art of Winnipeg’s Sarah Anne Johnson come into being through personal memories and histories. Pieces in the KAG show include work inspired by a 12-day-expedition to the Arctic Circle. Johnson has been a featured artist at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and at the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. In 2008, Johnson’s work earned her the Grange Prize for photography. She is a graduate of the University of Manitoba Fine Arts program and a holds Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale.
SUBLIME MOMENTS
Victor Hamm
Central Gallery
June 11 to September 3, 2011
Curated by Jann LM Bailey
The exhibition of photographs by Kamloops artist Victor Hamm can be scrutinized from many different perspectives—technically, spiritually, politically and aesthetically. They are images of architectural or natural elements which can function on a more personal level as metaphors for subjective experience. Like the cracking and crumbling surface of the work in the Kamloops Art Gallery’s permanent collection, The Men’s Residence, Tranquille, these exquisite and overtly detailed images imply a certain fragility and vulnerability. To those of us living in the Thompson/Nicola region of British Columbia the images are deeply authentic.
CURATOR’S CHOICE
Eric Fagervik
The Cube
June 11 to September 3, 2011
Curated by Craig Willms, Kamloops Art Gallery
Curator’s Choice is the seventh annual exhibition of work by students graduating from Thompson Rivers University. Selected by Kamloops Art Gallery Assistant Curator Craig Willms, Curator’s Choice highlights some of the talent from TRU’s Bachelor of Fine Arts graduating class. Eric Fagervik’s installation is the second version of an actual camper recreated for The Cube at the Kamloops Art Gallery. The work draws attention to sensory experiences and physical awareness of the body’s position in space. Sitting down, opening an overhead compartment and simply entering the space triggers different actions within the camper.
ALMOST EVERYTHING
Karla Griffin
The Cube
March 26 to May 28, 2011
Curated by Craig Willms, Kamloops Art Gallery
Almost Everything is an exhibition of Griffin’s large scale drawings examining the relationship between individuals and the consumer objects they surround themselves with. The drawings function similar to advertisements, isolating the objects and presenting them as goods of want, desire and consumption. Most of the items are common household objects. Others are luxury items connected to status or the desire to satisfy a particular need. The exhibition is an opportunity for viewers to contemplate how they value, respond to and build relationships with the things around them. Whether conscious of it or not, all of these items build on individual and social identity.
THE OPTIMISM OF COLOUR: WILLIAM PEREHUDOFF, A RETROSPECTIVE
William Perehudoff
Central Gallery
March 26 to May 28, 2011
Curated by Karen Wilkin
For six decades, since his first solo exhibition in 1950, William Perehudoff has been regarded as a leading Canadian artist and one of the most influential abstract painters in Western Canada.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
A.Y. Jackson // Ted Smith
Central Gallery
March 26 to May 28, 2011
Curated by Jann LM Bailey
Visions of our dynamic land are scored deep in the heart and mind of every Canadian. Artists from coast to coast to coast have captured many of those very Canadian images in their work.
RANGE: MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK PHOTOGRAPHS
Mike Andrew McLean
The Cube
March 26 to May 28, 2011
Curated by Craig Willms, Kamloops Art Gallery
The large format photographs presented in McLean’s Range reflect on the Rocky Mountain National parks and their role in shaping the identity of Western Canadians. The Rockies provide a myriad of industrial opportunity, employment and recreation for tens of thousands of Canadians. Every year, it draws more and more admiring tourists from around the world. Canada’s National park system is vital to the protection and conservation of the region. McLean’s work follows in the tradition of historical mountain photography, capturing the natural beauty of these spectacular ranges and documenting human alterations to the terrain. The exhibition looks at our mountain National Parks in an attempt to better understand their complexities and provide a contemporary perspective on the changing roles and usage of these mountain landscapes.
HIS LIFE’S WORK
Bob Boyer
Central Gallery
January 15 to March 12, 2011
In 2004 just before Bob Boyer’s death, Kamloops Art Gallery added one of his most significant works to its permanent collection. The Gallery is honoured that Boyer’s Just Another Indian Cowgirl in Iraq has been selected to be part of the celebrated national touring exhibition Bob Boyer: His Life’s Work.