Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
24 September 2019 Vol 4 No 20 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2019
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
This issue encompasses some of the breadth of today's art world.
So many strands co-exist – the art world really is a community of communities – and Galleries West is democratic in its approach, trying to sample both the latest contemporary art showing in Western Canada, as well a range of commercial artists, craft exhibitions, public art initiatives, community-based projects and, in this issue, even architecture.
Growing up in Edmonton, I was never much inspired by the architecture I saw around town. So it was interesting to learn more about a handful of the city's Bauhaus-influenced buildings, the theme of a show at the Harcourt House artist-run centre organized by executive director Jacek Malec.
The show is on display for only a week, but Edmonton artist and writer Fish Griwkowsky was lucky enough to get a sneak preview. The experience seems to have interested him. “I ended up buying a nice little Bauhaus book from the Art Gallery of Alberta that opened my world up a little,” he wrote after filing the story.
Last week, I spent several hours transcribing my conversation with Vancouver artist Carol Sawyer, whose show about dismantling her late father’s study struck a chord. We don’t do a lot of articles in the Q-and-A format, but Carol and I both thought it worked well. I’m also pleased with the response from readers.
Indeed, one commented at the bottom of the story: “Images of her father's study are hauntingly beautiful. So still and quiet, so beautiful. I think a lot of people find similar transitions challenging in life – the person you love is gone, the stuff remains. Kudos for exhibiting this sensitive and studied material.”
Please let us know if you would like to see more of these in-depth Q-and-A features.
This issue also includes Calgary writer Lissa Robinson’s thoughtful review of Michael Smith’s dramatic paintings, which hover between landscape and abstraction, at TrépanierBaer.
Vancouver arts writer Dorothy Woodend weighs in with a story about Spill, a group exhibition at UBC's Belkin gallery that considers humanity’s troubling impact on rivers and oceans.
In the meantime, Barbara Tyner writes about Okanagan artist Jane Everett’s lyrical images of trees, on display at Edmonton’s Bugera Matheson Gallery. Tyner, who is based in Kelowna, wrote the story from Mexico, where she is doing doctoral research on expatriate artists.
This issue's final story, by long-time Ottawa arts journalist Paul Gessell, looks at a community art project, Tiny Pricks, led by Victoria-based artist Diana Weymar. She, along with a small army of enthusiastic volunteers, has been embroidering various quotations from Donald Trump. A selection of work from these textile terrorists is now on display in New York City.
Here at Galleries West, we do our best to cover artists and exhibitions in cities large and small across Western Canada. We deeply appreciate the people who let us know about interesting things that are happening, whether in galleries or out in the larger community.
We are also grateful to the generous contributions of our freelance writers as well as myriad artists, curators and arts administrators who make time to help us bring you news of the latest shows and happenings.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Fish Griwkowsky, Lissa Robinson, Barbara Tyner, Dorothy Woodend