Tanabe devoted much of his time advocating for recognition of artists’ contributions to Canadian life. His tireless canvassing and campaigning came to fruition in 2000 with the setting up of several awards and himself winning the Governor General’s Award in 2003.
The AGGV is honoured to have in its collection a painting by the prominent female artist Paraskeva Clark. Executed in 1948, the watercolour depicts one of the artist’s favourite summer locales of Georgian Bay. It also marks a period of proliferation in her artistic output when her travels to nearby scenic spots allowed her to paint more landscapes.
Calling all you birders! Not only can birdwatching be done through binoculars or telescopes, by listening for bird sounds or watching public webcams, but it can also be done through browsing the AGGV collection with a naked eye. Can you guess what kind of birds are depicted below?
The maritime history of the Pacific Northwest and the connection to these waters endure in the cities and towns along the coasts, and there are an endless amount of artworks through the centuries that celebrate the culture of seafaring in these parts.
Phillips’ work was greatly influenced by his surroundings, first in Manitoba, then in Alberta. The landscapes of these provinces – prairie and mountain views – dominate his oeuvre, which of course also included landscapes of his home country of England and places he visited on his travels.
Abstraction in art is a visual language that uses line, colour, form and composition that are non-representational or independent to a certain degree of any reference to the world.
By Hilary Potosnak, AGGV Exhibition Facilitator
“Open Doors to Art” is a new recurring program that I am running at your Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV). The intention of the series is to clear away inhibitions and help expand the public’s experiences with the art on display by offering everyone a memorable and engaging experience with the works.
The late Canadian artist and art educator Anthony Thorn (1927-2014) loved the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria from the moment he stepped foot into the Gallery more than 30 years ago.
Encounter is a quarterly event developed by the AGGV Education Department to enhance learning and social opportunities for adults who love art and love talking about art. Participants discover new ideas and connections to art and through art, within the context of an exhibition on show at the Gallery.
By Marina DiMaio, AGGV Curatorial Assistant
Horiuchi was a painter and collagist whose work has become an important hybrid of Western-style abstraction, Asian calligraphy, and eastern philosophies. His body of work has helped situate an alternative narrative to the development of modern art in the Pacific Northwest, one that fully considers Japanese and North American relations.