The first exhibitions of 2017 open this week, offering a colourful exploration of the arts.
This week at Avenue Gallery brings an exhibit of whimsical bronze sculpture by Michael Hermesh, featured through Jan. 18.
Hermesh studied art at Okanagan University College and the Vancouver School of Art (Emily Carr), bringing to his craft extensive experience in furniture design and ornamental carving as well. From his residence and self-constructed studio, he continues to indulge his passion for sculpting, particularly figurative sculpture, and hold drawing workshops and sculpture courses.
Following Jan. 18 to 25 is fine jewellery by Doreen Schneider.
“Throughout my career in biochemistry I had always been interested in the arts so it was with delight, upon my retirement, that I returned to university for a degree in history in art followed by silver-smithing courses at Camosun College,” Schneider says.
Winchester Galleries on Oak Bay Avenue re-opens after its winter break Tuesday, Jan. 24 with Sandra Meigs: En Trance, showing through Feb. 11.
Meigs is a Gershon Iskowitz Prize winner and all of the works will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ontario in September 2017. Join the gallery for a celebratory reception with the artist Saturday, Jan. 28 from 7 to 9 p.m.
In downtown Victoria, Madrona Gallery’s inaugural exhibition of 2017 features a variety of contemporary Canadian artists inspired by their immediate environment to create imagined or abstracted worlds.
Showing through Jan. 20 and curated by Emma Richan and Ryan Hatfield, Invented Spaces explores these fictional spaces
The selected artists come from diverse backgrounds and share their unique processes and perspectives, together helping articulate the Canadian experience and identity with a fresh new view of our day-to-day surroundings.
Artists featured in this exhibition include Meghan Hildebrand, Hashim Hannoon, Megan Dulcie Dill, Sean Yelland, Serge Brunoni, Jeanne Campbell and Megan Dietrich.
Opening Saturday, Jan. 14, the Robert Bateman Centre’s Boxed Sanctuary is a collaborative of local artists’ work as they explore personal expressions of sanctuary.
Selected artists have submitted mixed-media boxes in various forms that are filled with images, reclaimed materials, hand-crafted objects, photographs or drawings that explore the question, “what is sanctuary?”
Through this exhibit, the centre hopes to highlight the importance of sacred spaces. Whether an old growth forest or a childhood home, building a sense of place is a crucial backbone when engaging with our natural world.
University of Victoria’s Legacy Art Gallery Downtown showcases artist and carver Ellen Newman Neel (Kwagiulth, Kwickwasutaineuk and ’Namgis), often described as “the first Northwest Coast woman carver.”
Opening Jan. 14, Ellen Neel: the First Woman Totem Pole Carver commemorates the 100th anniversary of Neel’s birth in Alert Bay and 50th anniversary of her death, and is the first public exhibition of Neel’s work in more than five decades.
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria opens Life with Clay – A retrospective of the life and work of Jan and Helga Grove Jan. 21. Through roughly 60 pieces of pottery and 40 sculptures with bright colours and matte glazes, the exhibition brings into focus the life’s work of two world-renowned Victoria potters. Included will be several experimental pieces highlighting Jan’s modernist forms and glazes and Helga’s unique geometric and fable animal decorations.
The often whimsical and thought-provoking exhibition will also consist of photographs, catalogues and other historical material documenting the work and lives of these extraordinary artists.
“Selected by the Groves from hundreds of examples, this retrospective of their work shows Grove pottery and sculpture at its very best: pottery with a refined sense of form and colour and a mastery of glaze and surface decoration; and sculpture skilfully using animal and human forms to comment on human behaviour and the mysteries of the human psyche,” said exhibition curator Allan Collier. “My hope is that the exhibition – and 128-page catalogue documenting the Groves’ ‘life with clay’ – will confirm the widely held notion that the Groves are among Canada’s most accomplished ceramic artists.”
Also at the AGGV is the About Face Show & Sale in the Massey Sales Gallery to Feb. 28.
Showcasing a collection of figurative representations by local artists, About Face highlights a diverse range of works by artists Liz Dempsey, Ehren Salazar, Nicole Sleeth, Noah Layne, Hovery Eyres and Melanie Furtado. The show touches on themes of ethnic diversity, female sexuality and embraces a broader view of the human form.
In Cadboro Bay, Goward House presents an art show and sale of Chinese brush painting through Jan. 25. Visit weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or view a preview of the exhibition at www.gowardhouse.com/artshow.
