Visitors and locals alike will be able to get an overview of what kind of artwork is being produced in the Okanagan when OK Be St. opens at Headbones Gallery Friday, July 10.
OK Be St. is a group show with recent and significant works by a number of well known artists working throughout the Okanagan and Shuswap regions, from Penticton to Salmon Arm. Many of these artists were featured in the book, Okanagan Artists in their Studios by Patricia Ainslie (Frontenac Press, 2012).
“The Valley is unique with a high concentration of professional artists, many with national and international exhibition schedules,” said Headbones owner and artist Julie Oakes. “Although not representative or entirely inclusive of all the great work being done in the Okanagan, Headbones is proud to present a selection of the some of the best from the area.”
The work is diverse, from the high realism of John Hall, Joice Hall and Diane Feught, through to the distorted zaniness of Jen Dyck, Briar Craig, Leonard Epp and Byron Johnston, to the expressive works of Doug Alcock, David Alexander and Robert Dmytruk.
Vernon artists featured include metal sculptor Doug Alcock, and abstract artists Heidi Thompson and Bryan Ryley.
Also showing in the exhibition is Falkland and Canadian master artist Ann Kipling, who along with Oakes and Salmon Arm’s Jen Dyck and Steve Mennie, is currently exhibiting at the Oh Canada show at The West Beth Center in New York City.
Penticton’s Glenn Clark, whose hockey themed exhibition, Wackem Sackem, was a Headbones’ favourite, is back with new work. He joins Lake Country’s Jim Kalnin and Okanagan Nation artist David Wilson, known for his painted deer hide drums, as well as Kelowna photographer Fern Helfand and Mary McCulloch, who will be reflecting on aspects of Okanagan fruit.
Headbones will also present large, new paintings by Kelowna’s Gary Pearson, which reference to social and psychological subject matter, and a triptych by Kelowna artist Joice Hall, from her Day of the Dead series completed in 1989 and shown in a number of exhibitions in Mexico and Calgary.
OK Be St. opens Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. with the artists in attendance and the public welcome. The exhibition continues to Aug. 29.
Headbones is located at 6700 Old Kamloops Rd. Gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday or call (250) 542-8987 for an appointment.
