From the Editor - December 27, 2022 Issue

December 26, 2022

9:30 PM

Western Canada's art magazine since 2002

Portia Priegert

From the Editor

Well, 2022, it’s been a journey. But soon we bid adieu.

There has been much to process this year – from the lingering pandemic and an overwhelmed medical system to worrisome inflation, environmental crisis and disinformation campaigns that stoke intolerance, all of this stacked atop systemic legacies of inequity. As William Butler Yeats so eloquently put it in the pandemic-ridden days after the First World War, it sometimes seems like “the centre cannot hold.”

The art world faced challenges but there were also positive developments. Major art festivals, both in Canada and internationally, started again in 2022. And, importantly, galleries continued to show more work by artists from under-represented communities.

This, of course, is a time when magazines create lists of the year’s “best” shows. While it’s hard for one person to choose a truly national list, one remarkable show that toured here to Victoria was by Trinidadian-born painter Denyse Thomasos.

I would have loved to beam down into many other exhibitions: Jean-Michel Basquiat in Montreal; Kent Monkman, Robert Houle and Shary Boyle in Toronto; General Idea in Ottawa; Conceptions of White in Regina; Esmaa Mohamoud and Manuel Mathieu in Winnipeg; Conceptions of White in Regina; Britta Marakatt-Labba, in Lethbridge, Alta., and Kelly Richardson in Kamloops, B.C. For good measure, let’s add two international shows: the Venice Biennale and, in New York, the Whitney Biennial, both with strong Canadian representation.

What promise does the coming year hold? The mood continues to be cautious, as we discovered when we researched Art to See in 2023, a survey of upcoming programming in galleries across the country. In this final issue of the year, we also look at 10 artists who died in 2022; making art with artificial intelligence (spoiler alert: it’s dark, disturbing and incredibly fast to produce); artists who have stepped up to help Ukraine since Russia’s invasion; how craft fosters a culture of care; and three national cultural institutions at urgent crossroads.

I’m enjoying much-needed downtime over the next week but will return in early January to launch our first issue of the New Year, which includes our regular semi-annual roundup of recent auctions and a review of a major Saskatoon show by Métis artists.

It’s been such a privilege to spend 2022 immersed in art. I’m grateful to all our freelance writers, and, of course, our growing community of readers. On behalf of the Galleries West team – publisher Tom Tait, events editor Marianne Elder and intern Joe Paris – I wish you much health and happiness in 2023.

Until next time,