Yannick Desranleau and Chloe Lum (Séripop) at Open Space

Yannick Desranleau and Chloe Lum (Séripop)

Dates: Tuesday, June 10, to Friday, June 20, 2014
Artists: Yannick Desranleau & Chloe Lum
Genre: Visual arts
Place: Open Space, 510 Fort Street, second floor
Admission: By donation

During the month of June, Yannick Desranleau & Chloe Lum (Séripop) will be instigating a series of site-responsive installations throughout the city of Victoria.
The Montreal-based duo’s interventions—sculpted from sheets of brightly coloured, screen-printed paper—unfold a disorienting collection of narratives, aesthetic references, and histories. Improvisation and experimentation structure the installations that temporarily take over the space until they are trodden and torn by passers-by, revealing the impermanence of monumentality.

Biographies
Yannick Desranleau and Chloe Lum live and work in Montreal. In their installations, sculptures, prints, and other interventions, they explore how material entropy affects readings of a given work through the implementation of strategies displaying diverse mechanical contingency. They have exhibited in Canada and abroad, notably at YYZ artists’ outlet (Toronto, 2013), The Blackwood Gallery (University of Toronto, 2012), Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (Quebec Triennial, 2011), Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna, Austria, 2010), BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (Gateshead, England, 2009), and Whitechapel Project Space (London, England, 2007). Their collaborative work has been acquired by many private and public collections, notably the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Al Frescoes Spring En Plein Air at Coast Collective

George Littlechild at Alcheringa gallery

Lisa Samphire at the Avenue Gallery

Sky Scraper - Murrini glass

 Lisa Samphire

glass artist
April 2014

Lesli Ellis, Irma Soltonovich, John Vander Schilden and Godfrey Stephens at Random House Gallery. April 12th. & 13th. 2014 by Philip Willey.

 

Lesli Ellis has a passion for odd bits of metal, moldings, keys, machine parts etc.. She collects ‘bits and bobs’ and assembles them in ways that suggest narrative possibilities. The results are humorous and aesthetically pleasing. In one piece doll parts emerge, or disappear, into a wooden box. It’s very striking, slightly macabre and open to various interpretations. Ellis gets a lot of joy from the process and causes us to question the multitude of parts and pieces that we produce from the earth to satisfy our complex needs.

Irma Soltonovich creates solid, confident abstracts. The colours are lush…..the paint is thickly applied. In a statement she says she ‘uses simple lines and shapes and subtle shifts of colour to evoke emotions, feelings and memories.’ There’s an obvious pleasure in the application of paint. Her paintings often feature a discreet hint of a horizon line that suggests interior landscapes.

John Vander Schilden only has one piece in the show so it’s hard to say how representative it is of his interests. Perhaps his work can best be described as functional sculpture. He’s been working with wood for many years and enjoys salvaging and recycling found wood. He’s clearly a craftsman and it will be interesting to see how he evolves. This is his first show. He’s in good company.

Godfrey Stephens is a Northwest Coast artist who has travelled extensively, often in boats he built himself. His work is in many collections and public places around the world, something he has achieved largely outside the ‘gallery system’. Most of his paintings are based on First Nations iconography combined with hints of Futurism, Picasso and classical Greek motifs. All these influences are fused with the spirit of the West Coast.

His wood sculptures are simultaneously rough-hewn and finely finished, abstract and organic. They embody a very real sense of place. You can smell the cedar and hear the waves crashing. There’s a freedom in Stephens’ work that evokes memories of Long Beach before it became a popular tourist destination or Tofino in the days before macchiato.

One of his best known pieces is the ‘Weeping Cedar Woman’ which he made in 1984 to protest logging on Meares Island. He’s currently refurbishing the ‘Weeping Cedar Woman’ in his Victoria studio. Hopefully she will soon be returning to the West Coast.

 

There are no obvious connections between these 4 artists and no specific theme but one comes away with an impression of cohesion. It’s a curious little pop-up show well worth a visit. But be warned, Random House, 353 Windemere Place is only open for public viewing on April 12^th and 13^th…..so you need to be quick.

Annual BFA Graduation Exhibit - 2014 UVic

Opening Reception: April, Thurs. 17, 2014 @ 7 pm 

Visual Arts MFA Exhibition 2014 - UVic

Art Battle Day in Canada

TORONTO – March 28th, 2014 – Art Battle Canada (http://artbattle.ca) is announcing ART BATTLE DAY on May 10th 2014. More than 250 artists will compete in same-day events across 20 Canadian communities for the chance to advance to the 2014 Art Battle National Championship.

In each participating community, local organizers will host a three-round live painting competition featuring 12 professional and emerging artists from their local community. Audiences will vote to determine round winners and ultimately one individual event champion.

The Art Battle Day event in Powell River is being organized by Laura Balducci & Shane Bodie and will be hosted at Studio 56.

Winners of Art Battle Day events will advance to compete in regional championships and will be a part of a yearly nationwide tournament that includes winners from 65 Art Battle Canada regular season events held monthly in 12 cities across Canada from September to June.

In July, winners of each Art Battle regional final will compete at the 2014 Art Battle National Championship. Two-time Champion Yared Nigussu of Vancouver BC will defend his title against the best painters from across Canada. One painter will be chosen by audience vote as the 2014 Art Battle National Champion.

Art Battle Canada participating cities:

Ottawa, ON -- Halifax, NS -- Truro, NS -- Moncton, NB -- Saint John, NB -- Red Deer, AB -- Collingwood, ON -- Kingston, ON -- Peterborough, ON -- Montreal, QC -- Mississauga, ON -- Olds, AB -- Calgary, AB -- Wolfville, NS -- Charlottetown, PEI -- Fredericton, NB -- Hamilton, ON -- Shawville, QC -- Powell River, BC -- Toronto, ON -- Edmonton, AB -- Newcastle, ON -- New Minas, NS -- Brampton, ON -- Oakville, ON -- Yellowknife, NT

Web links

• Individual event details can be found at http://artbattle.ca/abd
• Painters are invited to compete  http://artbattle.ca/register
• Event feature videos: http://artbattle.ca/videos

About the local organizers: North Salish Sea artist and punk-rock singer for The Abbie Hoffman Society; Laura Balducci, alongside Studio 56 impresario, Shane Bodie, Tone Gallery & Art Supply, and the Malaspina Art Society - proudly present ART BATTLE! Presented in partnership with local organizers and ART BATTLE CANADA. Please contact: northersalishseaab128@gmail.com

About Art Battle Canada

Art Battle Canada has been promoting Canadian artists through live painting competitions since 2009. Created in Toronto by Simon Plashkes and Chris Pemberton, Art Battle has grown to more than 30 communities across Canada. This 5th season will see more than 100 events and 1600 original artworks created and sold to art lovers across Canada.

To learn more about Art Battle, or for a media pass to attend an event, please contact Art Battle Canada - hello@artbattle.ca or 416-302-5959

Art Battle | http://artbattle.ca | @artbattlecanada | http://www.facebook.com/artbattlecanada

Ron Wilson – April 2014 – Artist of the Month

Joy! Three paintings sold this month - I know that sales come and go like waves, but every purchase is an affirmation that we ARE artists.

Drawing and painting are my bag - throbbing landscapes and seascapes of Greater Victoria are still a favourite - not forgetting portraits. 

My style is a hundred years old 'cos I've been influenced by Sargent, Sorolla and Zorn. The Group of Seven? Brilliant, especially Tom Thomson. Brushwork (with attention to edges) and composition (away with boring) - these are the things I aim for in my work.
 
It's great to be an artist in Victoria  - there are so many brilliant artists here - I have to paint like billy-o to feature in my adopted land. Born and raised in South Africa, I am a Canadian eh and love it - you guys have been very kind to me and my family.

More about art? Just do it, try different media, I find that if I do a watercolour or a pastel then the lessons learn are visited on my home medium, in my case oils.

I think I'm a shy extrovert because I enjoy being invited to demonstrate and "mentor" at local art clubs. I know what you're thinking - Wilson is a show-off. No, Wilson is a passionate painter and shares his enthusiasm with any soul who will listen.

I could rattle on, but let me add my thanks to Efren for including my work this month. His regular video coverage of the arts is wonderful. Keep it up.

http://artist-ron-wilson.blogspot.com

www.ArtistWilson.com - my main website

http://ron-wilson.fineartamerica.com/
 

Renee Van Halm Artist Talk at The Slide Room Gallery

Audrey Hayes, Eleanor Lowden Pidgeon & Glen Melville at Red Art Gallery

Audrey Hayes, Eleanor Lowden Pidgeon
& Glen Melville Show

 Opening Reception: Thursday April 3rd from 6 to 8 p.m.

Artists in Attendance
show runs to April 29, 2014
Red Art Gallery 2249 Oak Bay Avenue www.redartgallery.ca
Hours of Enjoyment: Tuesday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Angela Snieder at the Fifty Fifty Arts Collective

In her print practice, Angela Snieder is interested in concepts of the sublime relating to landscape, as well as notions of ambiguity. She is intrigued by ideas of micro and macrocosm, and to imagery that hovers between representational and abstract space, where the scale and subject matter are unclear. Her recent works address this space through landscapes that are rendered obscure by darkness to become at times nearly indecipherable. There is a particularity within the forms, but also a generalized sense of place. The moments of clarity and specificity slip into a seemingly infinite space, like a fragmented memory or a dream that cannot be fully recalled.

The artist has long been fascinated by works that prompt a certain intimacy and require a closeness of viewing - one that is so inherent to print. With hair as her current subject of thought, she seeks to utilize detail and small scale to heighten the awareness of the materials and their interaction. The small objects act almost as memorials, once part of the body but now isolated and carefully arranged as if in a state of mourning.

Opening Reception: Thursday April 3rd, 7-10pm
Free to attend, everyone welcome.

Show runs April 3rd to April 20th

The Fifty Fifty Arts Collective  2516 DouglasSt

Maureen Calkins at Bubby's Kitchen

 “Inhabitation:  Fixated on Space”

A series of collages that stimulate a reaction to areas we are present in.

 by Maureen Calkins

March 31 – June 8^th

Bubby's Kitchen

355 Cook St.

Avis Rasmussen at Winchester Gallery in Oak Bay

Pacific Northwest Paintings

April 8 – April 29, 2014

Preview:  April 8 -11, 10 -5:30 pm

Opening Reception
Saturday, April 12, 2014   1- 5 pm

 2260 Oak Bay Avenue

Avis Rasmussen:  Pacific Northwest  Paintings includes selections  from  recent plein air works as well as from her sojourn as an artist-in-residence during ArtiShow 2013 at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel (the hotel owns a large collection of  Rasmussen's  paintings, which are displayed in their guestrooms). Rasmussen completed a BFA with distinction and MEd at the University of Victoria, which also has a collection of her works.

William Perehudoff at Winchester Modern

Optimistic Colour

April 5 - 26, 2014 

 This exhibition presents work by celebrated Canadian artist William Perehudoff (1918-2013).  His achievements for Colour Field painting are internationally regarded as being unique, diverse and of high quality.   

Opening Reception:
April 5, 2014, 2:00 – 4:00 pm

 758 Humboldt Street