Opening this weekend at Oak Bay’s Avenue Gallery is a much-anticipated solo exhibition of painter Ron Parker’s work, Juan de Fuca Beaches, Oct. 6 to 17.
Celebrating the Avenue Gallery’s 12th year representing Parker’s work, this seventh solo exhibition follows the artist’s hike of the Juan de Fuca trail last year with his daughter. “Capturing the acclaimed shores of the rugged Vancouver Island coast, Ron paints dramatic cloud formations, the subtleties of changing light and the power of the Pacific Ocean,” the gallery notes.
Oak Bay’s Winchester Galleries opens two new exhibits this week. David Ellingsen’s Anthropocene and Mary Fox’s Primordial Beauty: New Explorations in Glass and Slip Casting fill the gallery Oct. 11 to 30.
Anthropocene is the international launch of a new series by Ellingsen, West Coast photographer and environmental artist. “Viewed through the lens of anthropogenic climate change, it is my intention, with the suggested transmutation of human and animal remains, to speak to both the physical and the mystical connections between humans and the natural world.”
Joining Anthropocene is new work by Ladysmith’s Fox, a ceramic artist who is also incorporating glass into her works. “Working with glass has led to new ideas for my clay designs and glazing methods, including the use of molds to create larger clay forms. Mounted into rock, these forms have a breathtaking beauty and balance,” Fox says.
Join the gallery and artists for an opening reception, Saturday, Oct. 15 from 2 to 4 p.m., with Fox discussing her work at 2:30 p.m. and Ellingsen speaking at 3:30 p.m.
Eclectic Gallery welcomes its Autumn Salon exhibit through Nov. 5. Enjoy works by a variety of gallery artists, including Avis Rasmussen, Deryk Houston, Desire Bond, Linda Skalenda and others.
In Broadmead, visit A & A Gallery by appointment to take in the work of painter and gallery owner Andy Shutse Lou, and a variety of Chinese artists.
After learning the art of Chinese brush painting from his father, university studies in the United States led Lou to incorporate Western influences into this Eastern tradition. The result is a passion for landscapes, crafted in both acrylic and watercolour around a foundation of black ink, traditional Chinese brushes and rice paper.
Downtown, West End Gallery welcomes new paintings by local artist Ken Faulks Oct. 15 to 29, coinciding with the 18th annual Victoria Gallery Walk.
Employing methods and media popular with the Group of Seven, oil paint on small wood panels, Faulks paints outside “en plein air” then renders these smaller paintings into impressive larger works on panel – grand skies, log-strewn beaches and other familiar landscapes from southern Vancouver Island.
Faulks will provide painting demonstrations Oct. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. and Oct. 16 from 2 to 4 p.m.
At Madrona Gallery enjoy an exhibit of works by Ontario’s John Lennard Oct. 15 to 29. Known for his distinctive colour palette used to represent the lakes, forests and skies of Eastern Canada, Lennard’s paintings intensify his subject to evoke the remembered sensations of place and time.
Join the gallery for an opening reception Saturday, Oct. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. with the artist in attendance.
Alcheringa Gallery features Re-Envisioning the Past: A Tsimshian Journey, works by Dorothy Jarvis. Join the Fort Street Gallery for the opening reception Saturday, Oct. 15 from 2 to 5 p.m. and an artist talk Saturday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m.
The University of Victoria’s Legacy Gallery downtown premiers a new exhibition Oct. 8, In Defiance, from Iroquois Mohawk artist Lindsay Kat Katsitsakatste Delaronde. Individual portraits dismantle the negative stereotypes of First Nations women by authentically reflecting truth of diversity, power and respect. Each subject decided how and where to be portrayed in her portrait, giving her her own voice and a platform to safely express the most private and sensual aspects of herself.
A moderated discussion Oct. 22 explores issues raised by the photographs.
With two new exhibitions, ongoing shows and special events, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria offers plenty to be thankful for this month.
Carol Sawyer: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive celebrates Sawyer’s reconstruction of the life and work of a fictional artist, the genre-blurring Natalie Brettschneider, enhanced with new chapters inspired by female artists who worked in Vancouver and Victoria in the 1930s and ‘40s.
Opening Oct. 29 is the It’s in the Making exhibition, in which artists with a connection to the West Coast and Victoria – Angela Teng, Shelley Penfold, Jess Willa Wheaton and others – explore materials and highlight relationships between ideas, techniques and space, providing new kinds of objects for us to engage with.
Both exhibits inspire Urbanite Friday, Oct. 28, with hands-on activities, custom cocktails by Little Jumbo and more. Tickets are $20 at aggv.ca/urbanite.
Family Sunday also returns Sunday, Oct. 16. Enjoy an afternoon exploring hands-on art-making for the whole family from 2 to 4 p.m. Cost is included with membership or admission.
