The Vernon Public Art Gallery opens to a brave new world of art-making with its upcoming exhibitions, featuring works by David and Jorden Doody as well as UBC Okanagan printmaking students.
The Doodys’ Electric Sleep is a collaborative sculptural installation that incorporates re-purposed, ready-made objects with hand-built sculptural elements juxtaposed with today’s screen culture.
“David and Jorden Doody work collaboratively to create their sculptural installations, which often are difficult to decode or get a hint of what the narrative might be. Their sculptural practice’s basic premise is to contrast the three-dimensional space we inhabit with the virtual reality apprehended on a screen,” gallery curator Lubos Culen said.
Both UBC Okanagan alumni, David and Jorden graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2008. David went on to receive his Master of Fine Arts degree from Montreal’s Concordia University in 2017 and is now a sessional lecturer at UBCO, teaching drawing, painting, sculpture, and, most recently, mural art.
Jorden is currently pursuing her MFA at UBCO and has her work on display in the solo exhibition, I Must be Streaming, at the Kelowna Art Gallery.
Together, they commit to experimenting and improvising to create more accessible works by examining the contextual underpinning of various interesting juxtapositions of sculptural elements, Culen says.
“When viewing or experiencing the Doodys’ work, one inevitably ponders the materials and their use, as they are varied and often inconsistent with the objects’ re-purposed signifiers. The works are situated in a flux of screen culture and the omnipresence and proliferation of images, which are immaterial yet representational of three-dimensional archetypes. In contrast, the Doodys’ sculptures often borrow the aesthetics of images seen on various devices. Still, they manufacture the three-dimensional assemblages that mimic the appearance of images seen on a screen.”
Along with the Doodys’ Electric Sleep, the gallery will show The Repeatable Image: Printmaking at UBCO, which consists of prints created by current fine arts students in UBCO’s Department of Creative Studies.
Produced by traditional and modern methods, including relief prints, intaglio, lithography, and screenprinting, the prints cover various subject matter from questions surrounding the landscape and environmental stewardship, to the human condition, to formal abstract structures.
“Some have used ultraviolet light screenprinting, which uses non-toxic materials to produce highly detailed prints,” said Culen.
Both exhibitions open at the gallery Thursday, Oct. 8 and run to Dec. 22. Please note that there will be no opening reception due to COVID-19 health and safety regulations.
The VPAG is also now receiving applications to its annual members’ exhibition, Exposed!
“Members are at the core of the Vernon Public Art Gallery and Exposed!, our annual member’s exhibition, is one way that we can say thank you for their ongoing support,” executive director Dauna Kennedy said. “This exhibition is a mix of artworks from our membership. Some are established artists, and for others, it will be their first opportunity to display their work publicly. All works are available for sale, so it is a great opportunity to find a special Christmas gift while supporting local art.”
Exposed! opens Nov. 5 and continues to Dec. 22. Those who wish to submit artwork must be current VPAG members. The deadline for submissions is Oct. 28. Applications are available here through the Vernon Public Art Gallery website.
Gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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