Exhibitions and Events
Hymn to the Sun: Jack Bush Early Work 1929-1956
This exhibition examines the formative period of the career of Jack Bush (1909-1977), arguably one of Canada’s most important abstract painters, from his early years as a commercial artist, through a critical period of self-examination to his breakthrough in the mid-fifties. Based on recently unsealed diaries from the Art Gallery of Ontario and letters from Bush to Clement Greenberg in the Smithsonian Institute, curator Michael Burtch’s catalogue essay traces the immense inner struggle of this artist, psychologically, spiritually and aesthetically.
Cliff Eyland: Abstract Paintings
Cliff Eyland’s small file-card sized paintings employ an encyclopedic range of media and subject matter divided into related “sets”. A selection from his set of abstract paintings will be displayed in the front alcove gallery. These works are not intended to satirize or even make reference to other abstract works; rather they should be read as a species of conceptual art. Nevertheless, through juxtaposition with the Bush works, comparisons in terms of scale, originality and ambition are interesting and inevitable.
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.
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.
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.
