Current Exhibitions

• Emily Carr and her Contemporaries
• Great New Wave: Contemporary Art from Japan
• Vision into Reality: The Birth of the Collection
• Vision into Reality: The Asian Collection Begins
• Glimpses of Japan: Recent Print Aquisitions

Emily Carr and her Contemporaries

November 6, 2008 to

Sponsored by the Volunteer Committee
of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Emily Carr (1871-1945) achieved the status of
one of Canada’s most beloved and original artists due to her hard work, artistic and spiritual passion, dedication to life-long learning, and exposure to different influences and experiences.

From the permanent collection of the Art Gallery
of Greater Victoria, Carr’s paintings are set in context with the work of artists who inspired her and were inspired by her. This exhibition illustrates the shift in Carr’s painting style from her early roots in 19th century British watercolour tradition alongside other artists like Josephine Crease and Sophie Pemberton, to where she ended up with a unique and modern expression that spoke of her love of Western Canada. On display will also be a selection of works by artist who influenced her including members of the Group of Seven- Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, and Arthur Lismer- and American modernist Mark Tobey. The exhibition also recognizes Carr’s legacy, including younger artists of her circle who were encouraged by her dedication and vision such as Jack Shadbolt, Myfanwy Pavelic, and Statira Frame.

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Great New Wave: Contemporary Art from Japan

January 29, 2010 to May 30, 2010

Catch the new wave of contemporary art from Japan with work from six artists who explore issues of personal and cultural identity in today’s evolving global world. Each artist articulates aspects of this complex theme from their own unique perspective through a variety of media, including drawing, installation, photography, sculpture, textile, and video. For several of the artists, this is the first presentation of their work in Canada. In the work of Sayaka Akiyama we see her negotiation of social and urban space by embroidering textile based maps and paper works that diary her daily encounters reflecting her emotional and physical reaction to visiting a foreign landscape. Manabu Ikeda, an emerging artist explores his relationship to nature and home through exquisitely detailed and elaborate drawings depicting scenes from his imagination that draw from cataclysmic social, political, and geographic events. As part of this exhibition, artist Yoshiaki Kaihatsu has travelled from Japan to build a stunning teahouse out of styrofoam packing material donated by residents of Victoria. The reclaimed styrofoam, considered garbage once its role as protector of precious objects is complete, allows Kaihatsu to comment on our excessive consumer culture. Meet Kaihatsu at the opening on January 28 or at his artist talk on January 30 at 1 pm. Kohei Nawa's PixCell series references global economies and our reliance on the digital experience with his surprising recasting of everyday objects ordered from the Internet. Miwa Yanagi reconsiders the implications of age and beauty from a female perspective in her Grandmothers project. Tabaimo explores the darker side of contemporary animation and urban life in a vivid video installation that invites the visitor to escape reality and experience animated views of Japanese culture.

The new work featured in Great New Wave reflects an acute consciousness of cultural tradition while proposing visions of a globalized future. The project is accompanied by a major catalogue featuring curatorial essays from Lisa Baldissera and Sara Knelman. This exhibition is a collaboration with Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and the Art Gallery of Hamilton.

Members/Sponsor Opening 6:30 Tour & Reception to follow
Public Opening 7:30 with Opening Remarks

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Vision into Reality: The Birth of the Collection

September 25, 2009 to March 28, 2010

Today, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria holds the largest public collection of art in the province. Working with a nearly blank slate, Colin Graham, the AGGV's founding Director, imagined a collection culled from every corner of the world. He wanted to “give Victoria the whole gamut of ethnic cultures.” Building relationships with Victorians who had art in their homes, Graham appealed to them to help establish a collection that could be held in public trust for the citizens of British Columbia.

The Birth of the Collection explores the various strengths of the collection including examples from local, Canadian, and international artists working in fine and decorative art media. Highlights include a significant collection of old master prints by Rembrandt, Dürer, and Goya as well as works by other international artists such as Turner, Daumier, Rodin, and Whistler. Graham also developed a fine survey of important historical Canadian art including paintings by Emily Carr, David Milne, Fred Varley, and Arthur Lismer. Alongside these traditional works he introduced international modernism through prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Henry Moore, Odilon Redon, and Georges Rouault. Perhaps most significantly he represented the art of his time though modernist paintings by Mark Tobey, Jack Shadbolt, Roy Kiyooka, Jock Macdonald, and Jack Bush, among many others.

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Vision into Reality: The Asian Collection Begins

August 14, 2009 to March 14, 2010

Colin Graham, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s Founding Director, had remarkable insight in starting the Asian art collection, now one of the most important in Canada. Among the very first works of art accepted into the Gallery’s collection in 1950 were two Japanese woodblock prints by the well-known artist, Utamaro (1753-1806). These were given by important early benefactor, Miss Katherine McEwen. Following her lead, Miss Kathleen Agnew and Mrs. Massy Goolden generously supplied funds to purchase early Chinese ceramics and bronzes as well as Japanese lacquerware.

In the summer of 1960 the collection got its first major boost. Colin Graham met Mrs. Isabel Pollard of San Francisco and was able to persuade her to begin collecting Asian art for the Gallery. With astute Japanese antique dealer, Bunzo Nakanishi, and well-known Japanese scholar, Dr. Toru Mori, she built an extraordinary collection of nearly 1,000 works, mostly Japanese. In the 1970s, a retired Graham encouraged donation of works from esteemed collectors Mr. and Mrs. R.W. Finalyson & Family of Toronto and Brian S. McElney of Hong Kong. Their support of the Gallery is ongoing. Colin Graham also remains an enthusiast, having created a home at the AGGV for what is now a world renowned Asian art collection.

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Glimpses of Japan: Recent Print Aquisitions

December 18, 2009 to April 11, 2010

AGGV Puts Newly Acquired Japanese Prints on Display for First Time

Years of hard work bears fruit this week with the opening of an exhibition that features a stunning selection of Japanese prints newly added to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's renowned Asian art collection.

Glimpses of Japan: Recent Print Acquisitions spans more than 300 years of Japanese print making art and offers a fascinating view of Japan and its people from the 18th century through to the end of the 20th century.

"For the past five years we have been on an ambitious acquisition plan to enhance our fine collection of Japanese prints, one of the most comprehensive outside of Japan," said Barry Till, Curator of Asian Arts at the AGGV. "More than 200 old and new Japanese prints have either been purchased by the Gallery or generously donated to us from private collections. Approximately 60 per cent of these prints were purchased through Internet art auctions which has opened up our ability, with a modest budget, to acquire some wonderful prints to fill in the gaps in our collection."

Glimpses of Japan will display prints by famous 18th and 19th century ukiyo-e artists like Hokusai, Kunisada, Hiroshige and his students Hiroshige II and III, and Yoshitoshi.

There will be examples of works by print makers of the shin hanga (new print) movement of the 1920s and 30s like Yoshida and his sons, Toshi and Hodaka, Hasui, Kanpo, and Shotei as well as prints by major sosaku hanga (creative prints) movement of the 20th century like Watanabe Sadao, Munakata Shiko, and Yoshitoshi Mori.

Subjects include landscape, historical scenes, individual portraits, genre scenes and impressionistic images.

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