Order from Chaos: Jane Adams and B.C. Binning

×

Expand

B.C. Binning, "Untitled (Sketch for Night Regatta)," 1953-55

oil on board, 55.5 x 45.5 cm. Collection of the West Vancouver Art Museum, Gift of Estate of Jessie Binning, 2008.003.002.

Opening Reception: June 20, 6 to 8 p.m.

This exhibition explores the art of B.C. Binning and Jane Adams, and how the former influenced the work of the latter. Adams is the daughter of Jean Coulthard, the Canadian composer, and Don Adams, who ran a modern Scandinavian furniture store in Vancouver. The Adams’ were close friends with B.C. Binning and his wife, Jessie. As a child, Adams visited Binning’s studio and became familiar with his paintings and designs. As she developed her own artistic practice, she came to recognize the impact of this early influence. This exhibition includes works by Binning from the Collection of the West Vancouver Art Museum.

About the Artists

Jane Adams was born in Vancouver. From 1962 to 1965, she was a student at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design) where she studied with Jack Shadbolt, Don Jarvis, Roy Kiyooka, and Orville Fisher. She worked with William Townsend in 1965 at the Slade School of Art in London, England. Adams' first solo exhibition took place in 1973 at the Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver. She has since shown across Canada. Her work is held in corporate, private, and public collections, including the National Art Bank, Royal Trust, Price Waterhouse Cooper, BCAA, Teleglobe Canada, Union Life, Via Rail, and Esso Resources.

Bertram Charles Binning was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and grew up in Vancouver. He attended the Vancouver School of Art in the late 1920s, where he studied under Charles H. Scott and Ed Varley. Binning later taught at the School and, after studying abroad, became a professor at the University of British Columbia's School of Architecture, where he also established the fine arts department. Binning was a key figure in the development of West Coast Modernism, which unified art, architecture, and design. In 1941, B.C. Binning and his wife, Jessie, built the first modern residence and the only house in West Vancouver currently designated as a National Historic Site.