Graeme Patterson, “Strange Birds,” video still, 2023 (courtesy of Beaverbook Art Gallery)
Strange Birds Spotted in New Brunswick
Weird and wonderful birds — sculpture, projected animation and virtual reality — are the subject of Graeme Patterson's latest exhibition. Curated by Ray Cronin, Strange Birds is on view Jan. 16 to May 12 at Beaverbrook Art Gallery. “The starlings in Strange Birds are an invasive species, propagating uncontrollably until they overwhelm the fragile eco-system of the marshland. Eventually the sea overwhelms the world constructed by these strange birds, erasing all evidence of their presence, leaving just the water and a great blue heron who has acted as a kind of observer of the antics of the birds who settled in its ecosystem,” according to the gallery notes. Now based in Sackville, N.B., Patterson grew up in Saskatchewan and graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2002. A Sobey Art Award winner in 2020, Patterson has exhibited his work across Canada, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Montreal Biennale and the Philadelphia Film Festival.
Shen Xin, Grounds of Coherence #1, but this is the language we met in / 天雨粟 #1, 我们在这个语言中相遇》, 2023, video still, (courtesy of the artist)
The first major Canadian art exhibition by Chinese artist Shen Xin, but this is the language we met in; 我们在这个语言中相遇, will be on view at the Richmond Art Gallery Jan. 20 to March 31.
The show takes a look at communication — gestures, speech, words and digital — that links people, animals and nature across cultures, time and space. A video installation at the centre of the exhibition addresses the artist’s wish to understand language at its most primal.
Born in 1999, Xin holds an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art and has had exhibitions around the world, including work in the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the 14th Shanghai Biennale and the SeMA Seoul Museum of Art. They currently split their time between Scotland and Minnesota.
Francois Boutet, “Royal Love” (courtesy of Francois Boutet and DesignTO); second pic if you prefer it, cutline info: Francois Boutet with some of his works (courtesy of DesignTO)
DesignTO on now in Toronto
DesignTO, Toronto's winter festival of art and design is on Jan. 16 to 28, 2024 and features a slew of interesting things to see across the city. More than 100 events — pop-up art shows, window installations, gallery exhibitions, parties, tours and talks — are part of the 10-day festival, and several shows continue on past the festival's end date. A few to check out: Quebec artist Francois Boutet's lively interactive digital art during the Boutet Studio Showcase in the Beauchamp Art Gallery windows, through Feb. 25; Anna Pogossyan's All Eyes On You, a mirror installation exploring the “connection between self-reflection, perception and the human experience” at Boxcar Social Riverside, Jan. 19 to Feb. 2; and Illuminate at Harbourfront Centre, a series of shows featuring several artists, all examining the concept of light, on view Jan. 19 through April 28.
George Littlechild, “Unidentified Child From The Ermineskin Indian Residential School #3,” 2019, mixed media on paper, 30" x 22" (courtesy of the artist; this work was supported by the British Columbia Arts Council)
The Art of Remembrance
Remembering and honouring the Indigenous children who were forced to attend residential school. That’s the subject of George Littlechild’s powerful new exhibition, Here I am — can you see me?, on now through April 6 at the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre in Medicine Hat, Alta. The show is a series of 22 drawings of First Nations children who died at residential school in Maskwacis, Alta. “I seek to legitimize their lives and restore a modicum of dignity and importance to their short existence in the world,” said George Littlechild in a news release.
Born in Edmonton, Littlechild was taken from his family as part of the ’60s Scoop. He holds a diploma in art and design from Red Deer College and a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. He is the award-winning author of several books and his artwork has been exhibited around the world.
The Medicine Hat exhibition is curated by Métis artist MJ Belcourt Moses.
Nicole Bauberger, “fish,” recycled plastic bike reflectors, waxed imitation sinew (photo courtesy of Nicole Bauberger and Northern Front Studio)
Recycled Bike Reflectors as Art
Inspired by her residencies at Raven ReCentre, Yukon artist Nicole Bauberger — and occasional Galleries West contributor — has a new exhibition, Fish and Fire, on view now at Northern Front Studio in Whitehorse through Jan. 26.
Touching on climate change, waste and what we discard, the show features “fish” made from repurposed bike reflectors gathered at Cadence Cycle in Whitehorse. Another uses only orange and white reflectors, strung together to resemble a forest fire — an especially poignant piece given the fires in Canada this past summer. Some of the fish have also been on view at Dalton Trail Trail Gallery and Theatre in the Bush in Whitehorse. ■
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