When Lyle Schultz moved to Nanaimo in 2003 to begin his career as an artist, one of the first people to check out his work and help him put on a show was sculptor Joel Prevost.
“We’re totally from different art careers but we still get along in the broad sense of how important it is to be creative and actually have your own vision,” Schultz said.
Schultz left Nanaimo in 2006 but the two kept in touch, so when Prevost returned to Nanaimo last year after spending a decade in Montreal, he called up his old friend to discuss putting on a show together.
That show, Year of the Dog, takes place at Prevost’s Vancouver Island Sculpting Studio next weekend. Schultz said it’s his first Nanaimo show since exhibiting at VIU in 2005. Year of the Dog is centred around a cartoonish image of a dog that’s appeared repeatedly in Schultz’s work.
“Since we’re in such different worlds of art, we figured my dog is something simple we can start with,” Schultz explained.
In the show, Schultz will be exhibiting a series of paintings featuring the dog as a unifying element, while Prevost shows a series of sculptures based on the image.
Prevost said the project was an exercise for him to resist his realistic, classic sculpting style in favour of Schultz’s more surreal, whimsical approach.
“No matter what I sculpt it’s always usually reasonably serious. It was fun to stretch to the point of saying, ‘OK, I’m going to keep them playful,'” Prevost said. “Because one of the things that will happen is, of course I’ve done a few, and then right away I was starting to look at the anatomy of the dogs.”
Prevost said they’re planning on expanding upon the concept and hope to bring the show to galleries in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Seattle.
WHAT’S ON … Opening reception for Joel Prevost and Lyle Schultz’s Year of the Dog takes place at the Vancouver Island Sculpting Studio, 294 Harewood Rd., on Friday, Nov. 23 from 5 to 9 p.m. Show runs through the weekend from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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