Exhibitions and Events
Bedrock: Six Contemporary Artists from Iceland
In this introduction I am delighted to be able to identify a number of "firsts". Bedrock: Six Contemporary Artists from Iceland marks the first occasion that a group exhibition of works by prominent contemporary Icelandic artists will be shown in a public art gallery in Nova Scotia. While individual artists from Iceland, or with Icelandic connections, have occasionally exhibited their art here, such a gathering of recent works by major Icelandic artists (all currently living in Reykjavík) has rarely occurred anywhere in Canada, let alone in Halifax.
Ship Portraits in Nova Scotian Collections
In 1985, the Dalhousie Art Gallery invited Dr. Chalres Armour, then the University Archivist (now retired), to organize an exhibition of ship portraits. The exhibition, which included 24 fine examples of marine portraiture and was accompanied by an illustrated brochure, proved to be of great interest to the community, whether art-lovers or marine enthusiasts. It is with great pleasure, then, that we are once again able to work with Dr. Armour on a similar but much more comprehensive look at ship portraiture.
Engaging the Virtual
Engaging the Virtual brings together some of Canada's foremost artists in the area of new media. Guest curator Doug Porter spent the past two years researching this exhibition, travelling across Canada, making studio visits, and attending confrences and symposia on new media and digital technologies. Doug is a digital and video artist himself, as well as a teacher and graphic designer, and his knowledge and experience in these areas have undoubtedly contributed to his thoughtful selections.
The Very Thing
How do we experience the "thingness" of sculpture, or discuss its"object-ness" in a postmodern critical climate? Co-curators Robin Metcalfe and Susan Gibson Garvey selected some elegant and provocative works by six contemporary Canadian sculptors whose practices may be described as "object-based" and whose works often revisit sculptural issues from the earlier 20th century - but with a contemporary twist. Quirky, mysterious, solemn, or amusing, these sculptures are experienced first as physical phenomena (as formal and sensuous objects) before specific contents may be ascribed to them.
