SPRING INTO ART! VANCOUVER ART GALLERY OFFERS FREE VIRTUAL SPRING BREAK FAMILY PROGRAMS MARCH 15-19

 

US citizens may not be able to visit Canada during COVID-19 due to the US-Canada border closure, but families on both sides of the border can tap into the Vancouver Art Gallery's Spring Into Art,  offered online from March 15-19, 2021. The daily online art making sessions are free, and workshops are led by Family Programs Coordinator Christina Jones and/or a local artist, who will share their artworks and demonstrate activities. Open to all ages and abilities. 

MARCH 15 - 1PM | Amabie Postcard Project w/Cindy Mochizuki

Learn about Amabie, a Japanese yokai first documented in the Higo prefecture (now known as Kumamoto). Create your own Amabie postcard to send to a friend or family member with a lucky message of care and good health. This yokai is the subject of visual artist Cindy Mochizuki's animated film Amabie, on view in the exhibition Stories that animate us. In the story, a mermaid-like creature appeared as a glowing green light with three fish-like legs, scales and a beak. She was said to have passed the message to those who spotted her: "Good harvests will continue for six years, but, if disease spreads, show a picture of me to those who fall ill, and they will be cured." This story was largely forgotten until the 2020 pandemic, when people took to social media creating their own illustrated versions of Amabie as part of the #amabiechallenge. 

MARCH 16 - 1PM | Virtual Studio Tour with Sonny Assu

Find out more about the materials, stories and ideas that inspire interdisciplinary artist Sonny Assu as he gives a private tour of his art studio. The tour includes behind-the-scenes access into Assu's artistic practice and how his creations come to life. Assu's work is on view in the exhibition Uncommon Language. 

MARCH 17 - 1PM | Playing with Sound and Movement

A special screening of Allison Hrabluik's film The Splits will be shown. Hrabluik contacted people for the film who she thought moved in interesting ways -- starting with gymnasts, a hula hooper and weightlifters who moved in athletic ways. she also incorporated other ways of performing like opera, burlesque, amateur music and how people move at work and with animals. "I also incorporated elements of our lives that lean toward the grotesque -- the salmi makers and the hotdog eater," explained Hrabluik. "I was interested in the similarities between the different actions performed." Taking inspiration from The Splits, participants will experiment with surprising combinations of actions and sounds effects. 

MARCH 18 - 1PM | Space Comics with Cole Pauls

Award-winning writer, printmaker and illustraor Cole Pauls uses comic arts as a way to celebrate his Tahitan culture. Inspired by settings in outer space, participants will work with Pauls to create a zine that tells your story. 

MARCH 19 - 1PM | Transformation and Imagination: Animal Collages with Sandeep Johal

Sandeep Johal uses shapes and lines inspired by her South Asian heritage to tell stories. Participants will tell their stories by transforming shapes, patterns and colored paper in creating their own imagined animal collage.

REGISTRATION | PROGRAM COST IS FREE

https://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/exhibitions/spring-into-art

EMILY CARR: FRESH SEEING - French Modernism and the West Coast opens at Victoria's Royal BC Museum

Emily Carr, T’anuu ‘Llnagaay, Haida Gwaii. Carr painted T'anuu on her first trip to Haida Gwaii after her return from France. The Post-Impressionist influce may be seen in the cloud details. 

Here is yet another reason why I'm missing my adventures in British Columbia and beyond during the global pandemic. Emily Carr: Fresh Seeing ~ French Modernism and the West Coast has opened at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria. It's the last stop on the exhibition's cross-Canada tour, with the addition of paintings and archival materials from the museum's permanent collection. The exhibition captures the moment Carr revolutionized her painting style -- emerging as a Canadian modernist -- following her 16-month trip to France in 1911. 

Picnic with Haida guides and old Billie dog, 1912

On her return from France, Emily Carr (center) travelled to Haida Gwaii with her dog, Billie. She was hosted by the Russ family (Clara Russ at right) and other Indigenous families who offered support and guidance.

The exhibition takes visitors on a journey from Victoria to France and back to British Columbia as Carr immerses herself in the world of modernist art. Her paintings from this period are displayed chronologically, growing in size/scope/color that developed into the iconic style for which Carr is known internationally. Says co-curator Dr. Kathryn Bridge, "I honestly believe that without her time in France, Emily Carr would never have become the great artist we know today."

                                             Emily Carr: Crecy-en-Brie

Carr visited Crecy-en-Brie while in France. This painting is part of the Royal BC Museum's permanent collection. 

Emily Carr: Fresh Seeing includes 67 artworks by Carr and her compatriots in France, which chart Carr's transformation into an artist of the Canadian avant-garde. An additional exhibition, Everyday Emily Carr, features 22 examples of Carr's portraiture from the Royal BC Museum's own collections -- they range from sketches to small watercolors, along with one of Carr's hooked rugs. 

Emily Carr: Fresh Seeing - French Modernism and the West Coast 

Royal BC Museum 

675 Belleville Street

Victoria, BC 

All visitors required timed tickets, available online for advance purchase. 

Adults $22.95 - Students & Seniors $14.95 - Youth $13.95

The exhibition runs through January 24, 2021

 Photos courtesy Royal BC Museum

Alexander Calder: Radical Inventor | Canadian restrospective of the artist opens in Montreal

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) presents the first Canadian retrospective of Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976), showcasing the full scope of the American artist who set art in motion. The exhibition sheds new light on Calder's works, as seen through the perspective of innovation. It runs September 21, 2018 to February 24, 2019. 

Alexander Calder: Radical Inventor includes more than 150 works by the artist. Calder's multidisciplinary practice is shown through his wire portraits, paintings, graphics, sculpture, jewelry, and his invention of the mobile. The artist worked in a variety of fields including drawing, sculpture, painting, design and performance; his half-century career took his creations to five continents. Alexander Calder (1898-1976), Red Gongs, 1950, aluminum, brass, steel rod, wire and paint. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Fletcher Fund, 1955. © 2018 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOCAN, Montreal. Photo courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, New York

Among the 150 objects are numerous works and documents rarely or never before on public display -- they have been specifically restored for the exhibition: 

• The Brass Family (1929), sculptures on loan from the Whitney Museum of Art
• Kiki de Montparnasse (II) (1930), on loan from the Centre Pompidou, Paris
• White Panel (1936), on loan from the Calder Foundation;
• Red Gongs (1950), a mobile on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (pictured above)

Also in the exhibition are little-known sculptures made by Calder in his childhood. 

Alexander Calder:

Radical Inventor

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

1380 Rue Sherbrooke O, Montreal

September 21, 2018 ~ February 24, 2019 

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria: Gallery Associates' 65th annual House Tour

One of the six homes on the 2018 House Tour. 

Now in its 65th year, the Gallery Associates House Tour in Victoria, BC is scheduled for Sunday, September 23, from 10AM - 4PM. Hosted by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) and the Gallery Associates, the six featured homes are diverse in their architecture and interior design and located in unique locations throughout Greater Victoria -- from Oak Bay to Saanich to West Saanich and North Saanich.

In addition to touring the residences, which all feature impressive art collections, visitors will be able to chat with local artists working at each location. This year's artists in action include:

Andy Wooldridge, painter

Ken Faulks, plein air artist/illustrator

Monica Reekle, photojournalist

Katherine Farris, painter

Irene Khurana, painter

Sherry Tompalski, painter 

Tickets for the self-guided tour are $35 and on sale at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1040 Moss Street or online at aggv.ca/house-tour. They are also available at GardenEorks in Oak Bay, Saanich and Colwood; Dig This in Sidney; Munro's Books, Victoria; and Ivy's Bookshop in Oak Bay. Funds raised support programs and operational expenses of the AGGV.

For more things to do in Victoria, visit Tourism Victoria's website. 

'Treasures of the Chinese Scholar's Studio' opens at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

A Gathering of Literati handscroll, ink and colours on silk attributed to Qiu Ying (1494? – 1552), but an exquisite 18th century copy Intended Gift of Robin Bassett.

Traditional Chinese culture highly values all things related to the scholar's studio -- where most of the nation's art and literature were created. To appreciate the scholar's studio up close, see the new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Treasures of the Chinese Scholar's Studio opened August 14 and runs through November 15, 2015. 

According to AGGV's Asian Art curator Barry Till, Chinese scholars were the educated and privileged elite -- officials, academics, poets, calligraphers, painters and connoisseurs. "They were highly esteemed," said Till. "Their tastes and artwork had tremendous influence on their country's culture." 

The AGGV's collection of 200 treasures on display gives a glimpse into the life of a Chinese scholar. The exhibition includes pieces from the Shang dynasty (16 to 11 century BCE), to the later Ming dynasty (17 century ADE) and Qing dynasty (early 19 century ADE). It includes many recently donated pieces that have never been previously exhibited. Among the artifacts are the scholars' studio materials, antiques and works of art.

Till says that a Chinese scholar's studio would have been strewn with brushes, inkstones, paper, seals, paper weights, teapots, wine cups, incense burners and paper. "The most important were known as the four treasures, and they were the essentials: brush, ink, inkstone and paper," said Till.

The exhibition includes 20 important ancient inkstones recently donated to the AGGV. Inkstones are the stones used for the grinding and containment of ink. Because the stone affects the texture of the ink, a good inkstone is as important as good ink for serious calligraphers and painters.

Running in conjunction with the exhibition are a lecture and a tour, both included with Gallery admission or membership:

• The Rocks, Stones and Seals: An Excursion into Daoist Aesthetics. September 9, 2PM. Dr. Jordan Paper highlights the relevance of sealstones, inkstones and rocks as they pertain to Daoist aesthetics upheld by Chinese scholars. 
• Curator's Tour led by Barry Till. September 30, 2-3PM. 

Seattle Art Museum presents first major US exhibition by Haida artist Robert Davidson

Last week, the Seattle Art Museum opened the first major US exhibition of work by Haida artist Robert Davidson. The 67-year-old Canadian artist's work has been pivotal in the revitalization of Northwest Coast Native art. Robert Davidson: Abstract Impulse is on view at SAM through February 16, 2014. The exhibition features Davidson's recent works, along with key works from his early career. 

In 1969, Davidson erected the first totem pole in nearly a century in his ancestral British Columbia village of Masset, located in Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands). He has since worked for more than 40 years absorbing the bedrock art traditions of Haida art and craft. He first learned from his great-grandfather, Haida artist Charles Edenshaw, and gradually explored new directions within the highly disciplined structure of the old Northwest Coast models -- in wood sculpture, ceremonial arts, jewelry and prints. 

Abstract Impulse showcases Davidson's recent forays into abstraction in his easel paintings, graphic work and sculpture. Using non-traditional media, he pushes the colors and forms of the Haida art form, making him one of the most important Northwest Coast Native artists working today. The exhibition features 45 paintings, sculptures and prints that Davidson has created since 2005, along with works from his earlier years. 

The Seattle Art Museum has an impressive collection of historic Haida art, including key pieces by Davidson's ancestors. "We are especially pleased to present Davidson's contemporary work and connect it to the culture that he has worked so hard to revitalize," said SAM's Kimberly Rorschach. Davidson most recently had a retrospective exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1993. Another Haida artist's works, Charles Edenshaw (1839-1920), are at the VAG in an exhibition that runs through February 2, 2014.

Following its three months at SAM, Robert Davidson: Abstract Impulse will travel to New York's Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian from April 12 to September 28, 2014.

"Robert Davidson is one of Canada's most respected and important contemporary visual artists. A Northwest Coast Native of Haida and Tlingit descent, he is a master carver of totem poles and masks and works in a variety of other media as a printmaker, painter and jeweler. He is best known as an impeccable craftsman whose creative and personal interpretation of traditional Haida form is unparalleled. His distinctive style is appreciated by the Haida community and contemporary arts scholars alike, with many of his works considered post-modern masterpieces. His work is sought by collectors internationally." Robert Davidson | Eagle of the Dawn Artist LTD.

Interior Design Show West in Vancouver: Western Canada's Premiere Residential Design Show

Exhibition area of the 2012 show

The 2013 edition of the Interior Design Show West, which opens in Vancouver on September 19, is Western Canada's premiere residential design show, The four-day event at the Vancouver Convention Centre West runs through September 22 and features 300 exhibits of the latest home and lifestyle products and services. The show typically draws more than 30,000 design enthusiasts, architects and designers. This year's speakers include Brian Gluckstein, The Design Agency, Kelly Deck, Tommy Smythe, and Anna Abbruzzo and Alain Courchesne of Igloodgn.

The H&L Laneway Feature Home, built by Alair Homes, focuses on small-space living. The unique concept home by interior designer (and Pinterest celeb) Gaile Guevara and her team at Modern 604 "promises to upend preconceived notions of laneway living" (I'm not sure what laneway living is!). In addition to touring the H&L Laneway Feature Home, attendees may bid to own. A live auction will be held at the show on Saturday, September 21, with net proceeds going to the Alzheimer Society of B.C. in honor of World Alzheimer's Day. 

Speakers Anna Abbruzzo and Aain Courchesne will address the topic of Maximal Minimalism: The New Canadian Design Aesthetic on Sunday, September 22 at 3PM. The award winning interior design duo behind Igloodgn, established in 2005 in Montreal, has a growing international clientele and opened a second office in Shanghai in 2012. They bring a passion and fresh approach to design, focusing on building a detailed brand identity from inception to completion. 

What's Your Design Dilemma?

Design queries will be answered during free 10-minute consultations with Interior Designers of Canada Registered Interior Designers. Bring photos, samples or floor plans and discuss your design dilemma with a qualified professional.

Interior Design Show 
Vancouver Convention Centre West 
1055 Canada Place
September 19-22, 2013
778.331.7720

Second Annual Victoria International Chalk Art Festival Features Professional Chalk Artists

Leon Keer is a Dutch pop-surrealist artist from the Netherlands who is a world leading artist in anamorphic (3D) street art.

The second annual Victoria International Chalk Art Festival returns to Vancouver Island September 14-15, 2013. The free festival, the largest of its kind in Canada, features  professional chalk artists at three venues in Victoria: Centennial Square, Government Street, and Bay Centre's lower centre court. 

This year's chalk artists represent the region and the world, and include Amsterdam's Leon Keer. One of the world's leading 3D chalk artists, Kerr will present a 20' x 20' 3D chalk painting at Bay Centre. He started his painting September 11, three days prior to the festival weekend, so he'll be able to complete his work by the conclusion of the festival. 

This year's festival theme is First Nations in British Columbia. A number of the artists, including Keer, will be painting First Nations' scenes or people. Prominent First Nations' artist Jamin Zuroski will be painting with San Diego artist Lori Escalera at Centennial Square. 

In addition to the chalk art, there will be a performance stage at Centennial Square featuring singers, dancers, drummers and local music acts. The Square will also host a kids' chalk zone. 

Organizers are expecting more than 30,000 people to attend the festival, sponsored by the Victoria International Chalk Art Society. Executive Director John Vickers says his organization took deliver of approximately 10,000 pieces of chalk and they're looking forward to a weekend of sunshine!

Note to Festival Goers: Government Street will be closed to vehicle traffic from Fort to Yates Street, and will feature as many as 40 artists who will create 8' x 10' chalk paintings within the closure zone.

Susanne Ma was born in Germany and raised in Taiwan. She started street painting in 2002.

Free Whale Watching on Vancouver Island? Head for Victoria's Inner Harbour

"Surfacing," by artist Sandra Bilawich. Photo by Sue Frause.

OK, that headline is a little misleading. Yes, you can go whale watching on Vancouver Island, but it will cost you (one of my favorite operators is the Prince of Whales in Victoria). But there's a different kind of whale watching happening in BC's capital city, and it's on dry land. 

Although I visit Victoria several times a year, this summer was the first time I noticed an eco sculpture on a corner near The Fairmont Empress. Titled Surfacing, it was created in 2010 by artist Sandra Bilawich of Elemental Designs in Vancouver, a joint venture of the City of Victoria and the Downtown Victoria Business Association. It's located at the southeast corner of Humboldt and Government Streets, across from Tourism Victoria's Visitor Centre.

The sculpture features a mother and baby orca in the form of a three-dimensional horticultural display. Unfortunately, I took a picture of the side where the baby orca doesn't show (top photo), but you can see both the mother and baby below. Commonly referred to as The Orcas, it's 14 feet high and 21 feet long. Or in Canuck talk, four metres tall and six metres long.

The garden display of a mother and baby orca riding a wave was inspired by similar three-dimensional garden structures in Burnaby, BC and Montreal's Mosaiculture Garden. The sculpture is re-installed in May every year and is a popular photo op for residents and visitors throughout the summer. In the fall, mom and baby orca return to their Beacon Hill Park nursery to spend the winter in a greenhouse.

Surfacing by Sandra Bilawich. Photo courtesy City of Victoria.

The project started in 2010 with two phases of construction: the design and manufacturing of the frame, and the preparation and planting of it as a three-dimensional garden bed. The frame took five months to build, utilizing steel in a grid-like fashion (the interior is hollow). The planting takes place over two weeks in February at the Beacon Hill Park nursery. That's when the frame is covered with a landscape fabric that's filled with 5.5 cubic metres of soil mixed with sand for drainage. Then 15,000 plants are added, including two varieties of Alternanthera and one variety of Santolina, annuals known for their colorful foliage and low maintenance. To maintain the display, the sculpture is trimmed bi-monthly and receives regular watering. 

Fun Facts About Surfacing (The Orcas)

• Mother orca weighs 3,750 lbs.
• Baby orca weighs 1,050 lbs.
• Mother's dorsal fin weighs 80 lbs.
• Wave and base weigh 6,500 lbs.
• Total display weighs 11,380 lbs.

Black Ice: David Blackwood's Prints of Newfoundland on exhibit in Victoria, BC

Fire Down on the Labrador
Etching and aquatine on wove paper
Gift of David and Anita Blackwood, Port Hope, Ontario - 1999

Newfoundland and Labrador are on my Canadian bucket list, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen in 2013. But I will be in Victoria this summer, and am looking forward to seeing the work of Newfoundlander David Blackwood, one of Canada's leading printmakers and most popular artists. Here's a short film about Blackwood from the National Film Board of Canada (1976). 

Black Ice: David Blackwood's Prints of Newfoundland is a new exhibition that opened May 3 at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Telling the story of Newfoundland's history and the people who settled there, this will be the first opportunity to view it in Western Canada. The exhibition drew large crowds at both the AGO in Toronto in 2011 and last year at The Rooms in St. John's. 

Black Ice showcases some of Blackwood's iconic works for the first time. The artist has been sharing his visual stories of Newfoundland for more than 40 years, exploring the struggle for survival between humans and nature in Newfoundland's harsh climate. 

David Blackwood's etchings are rooted in the artist's home town of Wesleyville, a small Protestant outport in Bonavista Bay on the Cape Freels Peninsula. That's where the son and grandson of fishermen discovered his love of art, both at the local library and in etchings in his family Bible. Blackwood left his hometown at in 1959 at the age of 18, heading west for Toronto and the Ontario College of Art. 

The exhibition features more than 70 prints along with letters, photographs, nautical artifacts, flags and historical maps from the artist's collection. It also provides an in-depth view of Blackwood's 1980 masterpiece, Fire Down on the Labrador (above), which includes preparatory drawings, the original etched copper plate, trial proofs and final impressions. 

Black Ice: David Blackwood's Prints of Newfoundland runs through September 8, 2013 at the AGGV. On July 4 at 7 PM is Blackwood's Visual Narrative Talk with William Gough. The novelist, screenwriter and fellow Newfoundlander will share his poetic insights about the culture and landscape that inspired David Blackwood's prints.

'A Postcard from Victoria' and 'Wish You Were Here' | Two Celebrations of the Picture Postcard

The Empress Hotel pictured on a popular postcard prior to its opening
 Courtesy Empress Hotel Archives

A number of years ago I picked up Peter Grant's Wish You Were Here: Life on Vancouver Island in Historical Postcards. The 2002 TouchWood Editions book includes images that Grant collected, most of them previously unpublished. They trace the social history of Vancouver Island from 1904-1918, capturing the life and times on the island. Many of the photographs were created by artistic photographers, often amateurs, who wandered the streets or the backcountry looking for business. Chapter Two of the book, Postcard Pioneers, includes profiles of 19 Vancouver Island photographers who made real-photo postcards. 

Opening on May 2 at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's LAB gallery is A Postcard from Victoria, running through July 7, 2013. The exhibit is based on a 16-minute docudrama of the same name produced in 1983 by Quebec artists Robert Morin and Lorraine Dufour. A Western Front Media Residency production, the video is the "eerie" story of an English visitor interviewed for a job as a tour guide at Anne Hathaway's Cottage, a now-closed tourist attraction in nearby Esquimalt. As with most of their video work, the narrative is loosely constructed and straddles the line between reality and fiction. But at the core of the work are questions of place, class, authenticity and belonging.

In addition to the video, the exhibition includes a table, chair and place setting from The Fairmont Empress Hotel's Tea Room, where the tour guide in the video enjoyed high tea after a day's work. There are also numerous historic postcards of the Empress Hotel from the 1900's -1940's, collected by Philip Francis. Specially commissioned postcards inspired by the video were created by three BC artists for the exhibition: Raymond Boisjoly of Langley; Geoffrey Farmer of Vancouver; and Julia Feyrer of Victoria. They are available for purchase in the AGGV Gallery shop. 

The exhibition also examines technology, travel and the practice of sending postcards in the 21st century. Guest Curator Michael Turner, a Vancouver-based musician and writer, gives this explanation: "Today, the speed and relative affordability of travel is matched by technologies that allow us to take a picture with our phone, add a text message and send it in an instant -- making the postcard less a redundancy than something twee and endearing, like the city of Victoria is said to be by those who visit." Turner will speak about the exhibition at the opening reception on May 16 at 7:30 PM.

Victoria International Chalk Art Festival includes 3D chalk art at The Bay Centre

Chalk artist at work in downtown Toronto. Photo by Sue Frause.

The Victoria International Chalk Art Festival is making its debut in downtown Victoria Sept. 12-16, 2012. The brainchild of John Vickers, who also brought the International Buskers Festival to Victoria in 2011, it's a free festival for the whole family. Both local and international chalk artists will be participating and include:

Lorelle Avone Miller

Tracy Lee Strum

Jeanie Burns

Ian Morris

Lori Escalera

Michael Las Casas

Cathy Gallatin

International 3D chalk artist Tracy Lee Strum will begin creating a 26-ft., 3D chalk art drawing on Wednesday, Sept. 12 in The Bay Centre's lower level, centre court. Stop in each day to see how it evolves. On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 15-16, chalk art creations will be emerge on Government Street (closed to vehicles). 

Chalk art at 2010 Canada Media Marketplace, San Francisco. Photo by Sue Frause.

One of the largest chalk festivals is the Sarasota Chalk Festival in Sarasota, Florida. Now in its sixth year, it will be held Oct. 28-Nov. 6, 2012. This year's theme is Circus City, USA.

Vancouver Art Gallery: Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters | The Cone Sisters of Baltimore

When I recently posted on Facebook that I was off to see the Matisse exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery, somebody commented, "Looking forward to hearing your impression of the Matisse exhibit. Worth the trip? Or maybe not..." Definitely worth the trip!

Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore opened on May 26, 2012 at the VAG. The exhibition includes nearly 50 paintings, sculpture and drawings from one of the world's greatest holdings of European Modernism. The story behind the collection is fascinating. Sisters Claribel and Etta Cone, early patrons of the avant-garde art of their time, made frequent trips to Europe beginning in the early 1900s. From those voyages, they acquired a large collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and decorative art. During their European adventures, the Cone sisters were introduced to Matisse and Picasso through Gertrude Stein and her family.

Henri Matisse | Striped Robe, Fruit, and Anemones | 1940 oil on canvas | The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland

The sisters eventually collected nearly 3,000 works of art, including more than 500 by Matisse alone. Claribel and Etta made arrangements to leave their entire collection to The Baltimore Museum of Art, along with personal photographs and papers documenting the creation of the collection. A selection of the archival material is included in the exhibition at the VAG.

The exhibition, an exclusive presentation in Canada, includes 27 works by Matisse. Other works from the mid-to-late 19th century include artists Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. Noted works in the exhibition include Matisse's Large Reclining Nude and Striped Robe, Fruit and Anemones (above); Picasso's Blue period Woman with Bangs; and Gauguin's Tahitian masterpiece Vahine no te vi (Woman of the Mango).

Make sure you take time to watch excerpts from the 2003 BBC One film The Ladies Who Loved Matisse, narrated by Michael Palin. There's also a touch-screen computer tour of the sister's adjoining apartments in Baltimore, showing how the Cones co-habitated with their art and objects. I purchased the 80-page exhibition catalogue, co-published by The Jewish Museum and Yale University Press, which contains 62 color and 18 black-and-white illustrations and Karen Levitov's story of the Cone sisters, A Collection of Collections.

The Vancouver Art Gallery partnered with The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Jewish Museum, New York to bring the exhibition to Vancouver. Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore runs at the VAG through Sept. 30, 2012.

Photos of Vancouver Art Gallery by Sue Frause
Photo of Henri Matisse art courtesy of The Baltimore Museum of Art

Clint Neufeld's 'Powertrains and Peacocks' opens at Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Canadian artist Clint Neufeld's exploration of beauty in the design and craftsmanship of everyday objects will be exhibited in Powertrains and Peacocks, opening next week in the Art Gallery Of Greater Victoria's LAB Gallery. The LAB is a contemporary experimental space designed for presenting challenging and dynamic projects within the AGGV.

Neufeld's exhibition demonstrates the artist's engagement in the structure of the objects he uses, plus the history and context implied by the materials used to make them. Sounds like heady stuff, but it's all very accessible. His skill as a sculptor is represented with Sad Seahorse (pictured above), a ceramic replica of a wilted Seahorse boat engine glazed in the color of celadon china. Instead of being presented on a pedestal, Sad Seahorse is draped over an antique floral upholstered settee -- an unusual juxtaposition of elegant repose and an unexpected object from the sea.

Also in the exhibition is a new series of light boxes utilizing clean, contemporary aesthetics in the structure of their frames. They conatin silhouette-like portraits of three opulent subjects: the peacock, the Trans-Am and the chandelier.

Saskatchewan based artist Clint Neufeld has exhibited across Canada. His art is currently featured in Oh Canada, the largest survey of contemporary Canadian art produced outside Canada at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts. The exhibition runs through April 1, 2013. Neufeld attended the University of Manitoba and received his BFA at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. He completed his MFA at Concordia University in Montreal in 2006.

There will be a public opening and artist talk on Thursday, August 16 at 7:30 PM. Powertrains and Peacocks runs August 17-October 28, 2012.

Photo courtesy of TheRecord, Kitchener, Ontario

Forget LBD's! Vancouver's Little Green Dress Projekt unveiled at VanDusen Botanical Garden

This is one of the more fun "green" projects that's landed in my email box in some time. Vancouver BC environmental artist Nicole Dextras has created The Little Green Dress Projekt that is part of the Earth Art 2012 exhibit at VanDusen Botanical Garden this summer. The outdoor installation will eventually include 28 organic dresses draped over wooden stands.

The concept evolved out of that longtime fashion adage that harkens back to the 1920s when every woman needed to own a little black dress ... today referred to simply as a LBD. Dextras proposes that instead of having a LBD, why not have at least one item of clothing that's produced in a sustainable and equitable manner? The purpose of her project is to "promote awareness of the impact of industry on our environment and to offer a realistic opportunity for change by creating a demand for better practices through consumer purchasing." To that end, the dresses will be made entirely from organic materials, with the tagline being: Wear it and Compost it!

The 28 dresses will be made from locally sourced leaves and flowers, with the design based on the classic sleeveless dress introduced in the 1960's by designer Coco Chanel. Each dress will be created and built on site for a woman selected for her support and involvement in eco-fashion. The creations will be made for a cross-section of women representing all ages and sizes, from fashionistas to gardeners. Here are some fun facts about The Little Green Dress Projekt:

• The 28 dresses reflect the lunar cycle
• Each dress will be designed specifically for the participant's measurements
• The basic design is a sleeveless, knee-length shift dress
• The structure for each dress will be made from basketry reed and seagrass
• Dresses will be covered with plant material reflecting the participant's personality
• A participant's statement will be displayed along with each dress
• Vancouver participants will supply their own plant material
• International participants' dresses will be covered with local plant materials harvested by Dextras
• It will take hundreds of leaves to complete each dress
• The dresses will be installed on VanDusen's Great Lawn as they are completed
• Ms. Dextras will attempt to create one dress a day beginning July 16
• Each dress will be titled with the participant's first name
• Each dress will be photographed when complete and left outside to wilt and decompose
• Progress on the project and photos of each dress will be posted at The Little Green Dress Projekt

First prototype for a dress by Nicole Dextras
Photo courtesy Nicole Dextras

Vancouver underfoot includes mosaic art tiles

An art project that I recently heard about through the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association has been brightening the sidewalks of the city for the past few years. Art Under Foot | Mosaic Art Tiles | Downtown Vancouver City Sidewalks was developed by the DVBIA to beautify the city's streets with 18 original mosaic art tiles located in a 90-block area.

The mosaic art tiles each measure nine square feet and feature a common border anchored with images of Vancouver's natural environment: evergreen tree, mountain skyline, billowing wind and ocean waves. A commemorative bronze medallion designed to recognize the sponsors and the DVBIA's 15th anniversary is positioned within the asymmetrical border of each mosaic tiles. Different bronze medallions recognize participation in the 2010 Cultural Olympiad and each mosaic tile has a circular center with a different abstract design reflecting a dynamic theme: people, entertainment, architecture, music, logging and fishing. These themes capture the essence of downtown Vancouver from both a historical and contemporary perspective.

Local mosaic artists Liz Calvin and Bruce Walther designed, produced and installed the tiles. Each mosaic contained between 3,500-4,000 hand cut ceramic pieces and took approximately 160 hours to create. The final grouting of the mosaics took place when they were permanently installed in the sidewalks.

The next time I'm in Vancouver, hopefully before summer's end, I plan to take a self-guided walking tour of Art Under Foot. It's about 1.5-2 hours depending on your pace, and how often you stop along the way. Simply click on the Art Under Foot link above and print out the map, it's as easy as that. And it's open 24 hours a day, rain or shine, admission is free. Detailed descriptions of the 18 mosaic art tiles may be found here, along with more information about the project.

Fireworks Over English Bay 
NE corner Burrard St. and Pacific Ave.
"It's a mark of summer when the huge fireworks show begins in the West End. This mosaic by artist Bruce Walther depicts fireworks bursting over the Burrard St. Bridge (built in 1932). On the right is Eugenia Place, an apartment building with a tree on top designed by architect Richard Henriquez, and the neon sign from the Sylvia Hotel built in 1912. To the left of the bridge is Vanier Park, side of The Bard on the Beach and the Vancouver Children's Festivals, and the Vancouver Museum and H.R. MacMillan Space Centre and the beloved "Crab" sculpture by George Norris out front."

VAG's 'Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters'

It should be a lively summer at the Vancouver Art Gallery with its new exhibition opening on May 26, 2012. Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore includes nearly 50 paintings, drawings and sculpture from one of the world's great holdings of early European Modernism. The exhibition includes works by artists Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Pierre-August Renoir and other luminaries of modern art. The exhibition was organized by The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Jewish Museum in New York and the Vancouver Art Gallery. It runs through September 30, 2012.

The Baltimore Museum of Art has the largest collection of works by Matisse in the world, and this exclusive Canadian presentation includes a section of the artist's signature works from the Cone Collection. It's a rare overview that includes 27 works by Matisse. Noted works in the exhibition include Matisse's Large Reclining Nude and Striped Robe, Fruit and Anemones; Picasso's Blue period Woman with Bangs; and Gauguin's Tahitian masterpiece Vahine no te vi (Woman of the Mango).

Claribel and Etta Cone were early patrons of the avant-garde art of their time. They traveled frequently from America to Europe starting in the early 1900s, acquiring an impressive collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and decorative art. They became important patrons of Matisse and Picaso, having met the two artists through Gertrude Stein and her family. Eventually, they acquired nearly 3,000 works of art, including more than 500 by Matisse alone. The sisters arranged to leave their entire collection to The Baltimore Museum of Art, along with personal papers and photographs documenting the formation of the collection. A selection of this archival material in included in the exhibition.

Six Vancouver hotels have put together artful packages in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery. They include The Wedgewood Hotel & Spa, The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Coast Coal Harbour Hotel, Four Seasons, Westin Grand Vancouver and Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver. The packages start at $169 CAD. Details may be found at Vancouver Hotels Offer Special Packages for Art Lovers.

Pictured Above: Henri Matisse, Striped Robe, Fruit, and Anemones, 1940, oil on canvas, The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, BMA.

Metropolitan at UBC's Museum of Anthropology

I have a thing about Nash Metropolitans, and now there's a customized one on display at UBC's Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. The "Lois Lane Car" (she drove one in the original Superman series) may be seen at MOA's Great Hall, a gallery and performance space that has been temporarily transformed into a parking lot.

The unusual exhibit by Annie Ross, titled Forest One, is a full-size, 1956 Nash Metropolitan that Ross wrapped, twined and plaited with cedar bark and other reclaimed materials. Dr. Ross, a weaver and Assistant Professor in First Nations Studies at Simon Fraser University, used bark salvaged from clear-cut urban forests -- completely transforming the car inside and out.

According to the artist, Forest One speaks of "colonization, urban sprawl, trash and remediating the urban landscape through acts of salvage."

Forest One photo courtesy Annie Ross

Vancouver's Wedgewood Hotel: BC Residents' Rates

If you're a resident of British Columbia, the lovely Wedgewood Hotel & Spa in downtown Vancouver has a spring gift for you: a special BC Resident Rate of $159 per night double occupancy, now through Easter Monday (April 9, 2012). The offer includes:

• Luxurious accommodation in category of your choice
• Complimentary valet parking
• Complimentary European Continental Breakfast in Bacchus Restaurant
• 10% off dinner menu in Bacchus Restaurant

Reservations must be made directly with the hotel. Call 604.689.7777 or 800.663.0666. Or book online at www.wedgewoodhotel.com and enter promo code: BCRES. Here are some spring events in the city. Check Tourism Vancouver's website for other calendar items:

• Hockey: Home games of the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on March 28, 30, 31 and April 3 and 7.
• The Wizard of Oz:  Watch this classic movie with the original score performed live by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on April 2 at the Orpheum Theatre.
• Easter in the Park: Take a ride on the Stanley Park Miniature Train, go on an Easter Egg Hunt, meet Easter bunny and watch the Easter Chick and Puppet Shows. April 6-9.
• The Great A-Mazing Egg Hunt: Meet Mr. E. Bunny at the VanDusen Botanical Garden, plus take part in crafts and hunt for eggs in and around the maze. April 6. 
• Emily Carr and the Theatre of Transcendence: Paintings and drawings of the forest in the 1930s and early 1940s at the Vancouver Art Galley through Sept. 9, 2012.

The Wedgewood Hotel & Spa is located at 845 Hornby Street, just off Robson.

Photo by Sue Frause.

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria presents a five-artist 'Throw Down'

Another reason to stay at Fairholme Manor in the lush Rockland area of Victoria, BC is its proximity to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. After delicious Sunday morning breakfast from innkeeper Sylvia Main (who is working on her second cookbook, Easy Elegance from Fabulous Fairholme), I made the ten-minute walk in the rain to the gallery on nearby Moss Street.


A cool, new exhibition opened at AGGV on January 17 and runs through May 6, 2012. Throw Down features five British Columbia artists: Sonny Assu, Gregory Ball, Megan Dickie, Tyler Hodgins and Alison MacTaggart. So what is a throw down? Nicole Standbridge, AGGV Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, explains it this way: "To throw down can mean many things: to celebrate in a big way, to fight for something meaningful, or to contribute resources to make something happen."


In Throw Down, the five artists contributed work that speaks specifically to issues and ideas that are relevant to each of them. Through sculpture, video, photography and public intervention they address socio-political issues and economic struggles -- invoking a call to action or an invitation to play. "Through humour, satire and critique, the act of throwing down extends into issues of identity, value, preservation, social justice and consumption," said Stanbridge.

The impetus for the exhibition is Megan Dickie's sculptural work Submission, and the video Step into the Ring. Her adult-scale-bop-bag (above), pops back up to meet you after punching it. I missed the fact that it's in the shape of the Canada Council for the Arts logo. According to AGGV, it "speaks dynamically to the shared challenges face dby artists, institutions and funding agencies to keep art thriving."

Alison MacTaggart's The Egg Throwing Apparatus (above) appears to be a functional gadget for the act of egg throwing. The artist uses unique design and humor to shed light on the metaphorical egg throwing that could occur as a result of intolerance and discrimination "when individuals identify themselves to their community as queer." 

You Suck is a video installation and series of drawings by Gregory Ball that addresses natural landscape, industrial practices and consumer culture. The installation component, an oil drum etched and beaten with images from the video, was inspired by a recent act of solidarity by Ball and his colleagues during the 2011strike at Vancouver Island University. People convened around a wood-burning oil drum that kept the striking employees warm, and the unusual meeting place resulted in discussion and sharing of stories.

Artist Sonny Assu's contribution is a new series of found objects. Assu took cuts of cedar from a log home development on the We Wai Kai Nation reserve where his family lives in Campbell River. The discarded objects have been transformed into masks, and also used as interventions in a photo series titled Artifacts of Authenticity. The series is a collaboration with artist Eric Deis, and the objects were placed in the context of a museum (artifact), commercial gallery (fine art) and gift shop (souvenir).

Victoria artist Tyler Hodgins' Sleeping Bag is a series of temporal sculptural interventions that will be placed throughout the city of Victoria during the run of Throw Down. The sculptures are cast forms of figures in a sleeping bag, made from colored ice. The forms will melt over time, leaving a trace of color from the ice that will eventually wash away with exposure to the elements. The installations address the lack of visibility of the homeless and the issue of homelessness in Victoria. Check aggv.ca for updates on dates and locations of Sleeping Bag. Upcoming events include:

Friday, March 9, 8-11 PM Urbanite: A boisterous night at AGGV of celebrating the creativity by the artists in Throw Down. Cocktails, live performances, spontaneous art production and interactive exhibition tours.  

Sunday, March 18, 2-4 PM Family Sunday: A drop-in afternoon of hands-on art-making inspired by the materials and techniques used by the artists in Throw Down. 

Sunday, April 1, 11 AM - 3 PM Throw Down Art Forum - Vancouver Island School of Art: Interactive discussions, arts advocacy, power talks, education and spontaneous art-making. Throw down your ideas at 2549 Quadra Street. 

Saturday, April 28 Artist Talk and Public Art Bicyle Tour: Join Throw Down Artist Tyler Hodgins and hear / see more about Sleeping Bag. Details at aggv.ca.

Photos by Sue Frause