The Poetics of Space

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Annie Pootoogook, "Listening to the Radio," 2005–06

pencil crayon, ink on paper, 41.6 x 51.0 cm,Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Gift of Claudia Beck and Andrew Gruft, Photo: Trevor Mills, Vancouver Art Gallery

Entitled The Poetics of Space, the exhibition presents a range of historical and contemporary works by 29 artists that together contemplate some of the countless ways artists consider space. It features works from the early twentieth century to present day, including historical West Coast works by Emily Carr and B.C. Binning, and showcases contemporary artists such as Rebecca Belmore, Jason McLean, and Annie Pootoogook.

The exhibition owes its title to a 1958 book of the same name by philosopher Gaston Bachelard. The Poetics of Space explores the way personal surroundings affect perception, memory, and experience.

Through painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, and video, visitors will have the opportunity to see how different artists have explored notions of space. The exhibition is itself physically divided into three distinct sections that look at: how artists have approached the transformation of a three-dimensional space onto a two-dimensional plane; the emotional impact of space; and finally mapping space—how it is created and contained.

The Poetics of Space is organized and circulated by the Vancouver Art Gallery and curated by Daina Augaitis, Chief Curator Emerita and Emmy Lee Wall, Assistant Curator, Vancouver Art Gallery. This exhibition is part of the Across the Province touring program, which is generously supported by the Killy Foundation.

A tour and talk with exhibition co-curator Emmy Lee Wall will be held on Friday, February 1, 2019, at 5 pm. It will then be followed by an opening reception, from 6 to 8 pm. This is a free event, open to Gallery members and guests, by invitation. The reception is sponsored in part by GENESIS Kelowna.