Local(i)ty 2 - Curiston, Feist, Widmer and Shunga - Noboru Sawai

February 6

Join us for the first Opening Reception of the year on Saturday, February 6, 2016 from 1-3pm for Local(i)ty 2 and Shunga.

Gallery 2 is excited to be presenting the first two exhibitions of 2016. Local(i)ty 2, curated by Carin Covin, presents the work of artists Nora Curiston, Laura Widmer and Brenda Feist in the Reid and West Galleries. This ambitious exhibition includes work in diverse media from all three artists that explore connection to place, with particular emphasis on artists working in smaller urban centres, as Carin Covin explains: “The title Local(i)ty 2 refers to the location that these artists work from, here in Grand Forks and in Kelowna. In a smaller centre, do we see a difference in the integrity of what art can be seen as today, how it is produced and how it can be given an audience…” Curiston continues her working methodology of pairing the physical and the intangible, with a particular emphasis on the use of wind. Feist investigates the use of metaphor and social mapping of the individual through physical work that includes the use of blackboards and theatre-style sets. Widmer, a printmaker, has begun to make her own paper that she incorporates into her practice in processes that becomes her metaphor for the search for the ultimate meaning of life.

Shunga (Pictures of Spring), an exhibition of work by noted Japanese Canadian artist Noboru Sawai, will be in the east gallery. Sawai has devoted his printmaking practice to making sensuous, erotic art since the 1970s. As with his printmaking techniques, Sawai draws his imagery from diverse sources including the Kama Sutra, traditional Japanese woodblock print styles and the often erotic imagery of The Pillow Book, as well as images from Inuit legends. Be sure to come and witness the amazing work of Noboru Sawai.

Gallery 2 is pleased to be presenting a new travelling heritage exhibit from The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre (NNMCC), A Call for Justice - Fighting for Japanese Canadian Redress (1977-1988) inspired by the 25th Anniversary of the signing of the Redress agreement. Please keep watch for this exhibit, which will be open from March-June.