By Marina DiMaio, Curatorial Assistant
Reflecting on the experience, thus far, working on Haema Sivanesan’s project, In the Present Moment: Buddhism, Contemporary Art, and Social Practice, and, learning what it means to be a curator.
Uncovering Contemporary Art’s Interior Buddhist
By Anita Lahey
In the 1950s, Mark Tobey, a Seattle artist with strong ties to Victoria, championed the work of Japanese-American artists, including Paul Horiuchi, also represented in AGGV’s collection. He later influenced major artists such as Jackson Pollock. As such, he’s a link between Buddhism and 20th Century abstract art.
Granting Buddhist Research: Q&A with AGGV Curator Haema Sivanesan
AGGV Curator Haema Sivanesan is a recent recipient of a Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation research grant in the amount of $150,000. She was also awarded a $50,000 curatorial research fellowship from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. What is Sivanesan working on and why? Hint: it’s infinitely vast with neither a beginning nor an end. Therefore, let’s start with the present moment…
In Conversation with Fiona Tan
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is honoured to present Fiona Tan’s Ascent. This montage film is entirely made up of still photographic images depicting one of Japan’s most recognizable landmarks, Mount Fuji.
Ensô: Inaba Shinden’s Perfect Meditative State
By Jenelle Pasiechnik
Ensô (featured image above) painted by the accomplished, 20th century, Zen master Inaba Shinden depicts a symbol central to Zen meditative practice. The ensô, meaning “circle”, is one of the most common subjects of Japanese calligraphy.
The Aesthetic Perceptions of Art
By Jon Tupper, AGGV Director
What’s really happening when people encounter art? How does it affect them? It’s a mystery researchers have pondered for centuries. Here at the Gallery, I think of visitors regarding Emily Carr’s towering west coast forests; or an intricate Japanese print; or the ghostly digital trees in an installation such as Kelly Richardson’s The Erudition, which appears in our current show Supernatural: Art, Technology and the Forest.