Exhibitions and Events
London Life Young Contemporaries ‘96
Works by contemporary artists under 35 years old from across Canada were selected by curator James Patten from a national for submissions that elicited over 400 entries for this, the most recent in the recurring series of Young Contemporary exhibitions that have been organized by the London Regional Art and Historical Museums since 1950.
Human/Nature: Seven Irish Artists
Mainly created between 1991 and 1996, at a time when peace at last seemed possible (ironically, more so last year than this), the works of these contemporary artists from Northern Ireland and the Republic deal with individual memory and psychology, the power of the ancient past, and the constant physical presence of the land itself. Consciously avoiding "The Troubles" as subject matter, these (mainly younger) artists have focused on more intimate personal histories, often in relation to nature and natural processes.
Jocelyne Alloucherie: Paysages généraux
In six elegant works, Montréal artist Jocelyne Alloucherie combines large, densely grained black and white photographs with wood and glass structures that act variously as framing devices, literal supports, and elements suggesting viewlines. Alluding not so much to the real environment as to the internalized and aestheticized idea of "landscape", the images are at once familiar and strange: the hint of a tree-lined avenue, groomed hedges, a silhouetted escarpment.
Cross Words and Guilty Pleasures
Halifax artist Peter Dykhuis combines the intellectual fun of word-play with the "guilty pleasure" of painting in these scrabble-like constructions. Superimposing familiar expressions onto partial maps of North America -- which, in turn, are overlaid with patterns and symbols taken from military and media sources -- these encaustic paintings strategically position an array of issues on the map. The front alcove exhibition has been organized by the Dalhousie Art Gallery.
The 43rd Annual Student, Staff, Faculty and Alumni Exhibition
Our annual celebration of the Dalhousie community's creativity, in painting, graphic art, photography, mixed media, sculpture and crafts, makes no distinction between amateurs and professionals. The exhibitions is also open to students, staff, faculty and alumni of the University of King's College. Entries will be accepted during Gallery hours, from 4 November to 17 November. Entry forms available 14 October.
Mabel Killam Day: The Art Spirit
Yarmouth artist Mabel Killam Day (1884-1960) studied at Mount Allison University, and in New York under Robert Henri. She painted the industrialized cityscapes of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and the rugged, picturesque landscapes of Nova Scotia with vitality and intensity, as well as a number of luminous portraits. Organized by Franziska Kruschen, Acadia University Art Gallery, Wolfville, with funding from the Museum Assistance Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Nova Scotia Department of Culture and Education.
Monica Tap: Reprise
Monica Tap continues her investigation into floral motifs, which began with her reconstructive analysis of 17th century Dutch flower paintings. Tracing the use of stylized flowers and foliage from their historical origins to more recent wallpaper and fabric patterns, Tap creates intriguingly layered works, in which contemporary distancing techniques in painting, such as appropriation and repetition, are combined with painterly brushwork and a sensuous palette, to reinvest the vegetal traces with meaning. Curated by Susan Gibson Garvey.
Thierry Delva: Box Works
This exhibition of solid stone carvings by Halifax sculptor Thierry Delva combines his training as a stone mason with his ongoing interest in the relationship between the 'container' and the 'contained'. The carved limestone and sandstone objects refer to specific cardboard boxes, as they exist in the world, and are true to the dimensions and physical detailing of their referents. A list of labels on the wall declares the contents of the boxes, suggesting the possibility of finding the actual carved object within the box.
Robert Frank: The Americans
A rare look at one of the most influential series of photographs in the postwar era, this exhibition presents the original images for Robert Frank's groundbreaking 1958 publication The Americans. Captured at the height of the myth of the American Dream, Frank's vision revealed a tragic dimension in the spirit of the American Landscape through a photographic style almost without precedent for its directness and emotional force.
Donna Hiebert: Containment
Sculptor Donna Hiebert's most recent work involves three large enigmatic sculptural forms, situated in relation to three equally evocative wall works. The installation, which explores the nature of containment, is wide-ranging in its allusions - from caskets and sarcophagi, through ancient lingam forms -- always returns the viewer to a sense of the body in relation to sculpture, and to "what might be contained within".
