Western Canada’s art magazine since 2002
16 April 2024 Vol 9 No 8 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2024
Shelley Boettcher
From the Editor
Every art lover knows the name Pablo Picasso. But not everyone knows about the French painter Françoise Gilot. She is perhaps best known as the woman who dared to leave Picasso. She was 21 when they met; he was 61. They had two children together and, when she walked out on him, he did his best to destroy her career.
He failed. She moved to the U.S. and continued painting until her death in 2023 at the age of 101.
This past week, I visited the temporary exhibit of Gilot’s paintings, on view for the next year or so at the Picasso Museum in Paris. While there have been a few write-ups in international media, the exhibit isn’t well publicized in Paris, even on the Picasso Museum website.
But for fans of Gilot’s art, the recognition is important, a rare opportunity to see a small but well-chosen selection of her art, gathered together in one room. The interest in the work was obvious; the room, on one of the mansion’s upper floors, was crowded with visitors, all eager to learn more. If you’re travelling to Paris this spring, consider checking it out, even if you’ve visited the museum before.
“She was an artist in her own right with a very long career,” Joanne Snrech, a Picasso Museum curator, told The Guardian earlier this year. “We thought it was important to show not just her place in Picasso’s life but also that she was much more than just his companion.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Strong women are also the subject of Yani Kong’s latest feature for Galleries West, Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot at The Polygon. She examines the importance of this exiled Russian performance group and their show, on now in Vancouver. “The installation, while unabashedly punk in fashion, is infinitely Instagrammable and undeniably cool,” Kong writes.
And Agnieszka Matejko reviews Bianca Bosker’s new book, Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See. It’s a long title, but a fascinating read, about an award-winning journalist who wasn’t particularly interested in art. “Why does art matter? What message does it convey?,” Matejko writes. “Bosker’s mind teemed with such questions, and she set out to answer them.”
Paul Gessell, who wrote about Marcel Dzama for us last issue, takes a look at Bertram Brooker: When We Awake! at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, on now through June 2. Largely ignored during his lifetime, Brooker is now getting his recognition, almost 70 years after his death in 1955.
There’s still time to see Bridget Moser’s A Malevolently Bad Map at on view through April 20 at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery. Writer Zoltan Varadi, clearly a fan, says Moser “routinely employs a dark bordering-on-absurd sense of humour.”
And if you're heading to Saskatoon, be sure to stop at the Remai for Views from the Blue House: The Remai Modern Collection, which offers a look at six decades of art acquisitions, including works from Emily Carr, Lawren Harris and William Perehudoff.
Billed as Western Canada’s largest art fair, the 2024 edition of Art Vancouver wrapped up on Sunday but featured Portuguese-Canadian Surrealist João Artur da Silva. Still creatively active at the age of 95, he has lived in Canada since 1991. We need to hear more about him.
I also hope you had a chance to see ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᒻᒪᕆᒃ Double Vision at the Kamloops Art Gallery, which wrapped up April 6. Developed by the Textile Museum of Canada for the 2022 Toronto Biennial of Art, it featured the work of three Inuit textile artists: Jessie Oonark, Janet Kigusiuq, and Victoria Mamnguqsualuk.
And please do consider shopping with us: We have an association with Amazon that lets you support independent arts journalism in Canada by buying books directly through our site. If you purchase a book by clicking on the Amazon link in a review, Galleries West may receive a small commission.
Thanks for reading,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Yani Kong, Agnieszka Matejko
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Periodical Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
