The Vernon Public Art Gallery is about to give exposure to local artists with its annual members exhibition.
Produced by VPAG members, artwork for the exhibition, which opens Thursday, contains two- and three-dimensional works of modest sizes and is a celebration of creativity and artistic production by aspiring artists, said the gallery’s executive director Dauna Kennedy Grant.
“It’s an opportunity for artists to exhibit work in a professional gallery setting as well as showcase their art for sale,” she said. “We want to show our appreciation to our membership and this is one small gesture in doing so.”
The exhibition’s ambiguous title, Exposed!, is open to interpretation.
Member artists have used a variety of themes and choice of mediums and subject matter to interpret the theme.
In 2012, the exhibition featured a number of studies of the human figure. This year, the gallery is encouraging artists to further explore the title and is offering prizes in three categories: photography, the human body, and a people’s choice award.
The exhibition is also a VPAG fundraiser. All the art is available for purchase and proceeds support the artists, who created the work, with a small percentage going back to support the gallery.
“Because the works of art are of a modest size, the price is very reasonable and a great opportunity for art lovers to own or gift an original piece of art,” said Kennedy Grant.
Thursday’s opening reception will also feature special guest Patricia Ainslie, former curator of Calgary’s Glenbow Museum, who will sign copies of her new book, Okanagan Artists in their Studios, which also features photographs by Kelowna’s Glenna Turnbull.
In the book, 13 Okanagan-based artists with national reputations, including Vernon’s Julie Oakes, Falkland’s Ann Kipling and Commonage area artist Bryan Ryley, are shown at work in their home-based studios.
All the artists selected have made a contribution to the development of the visual arts in Canada far beyond the Okanagan, through their own work, as well as teaching, mentoring younger artists and exhibiting their work, said Ainslie.
The opening reception of Exposed! is Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m., with the book signing at 6:30 p.m., at the VPAG, 3228-31st Ave.
The exhibition, along with Stephen Foster’s Re-Mediating Curtis: Remix and the Kama? Aboriginal Arts Collective’s Transformations, runs until Dec. 23. Admission is by donation.
