Vernon Public Art Gallery
Gallery Opens Local and National Exhibitions Together

Where: Vernon Public Art Gallery, 3228 31st Ave. Vernon BC, V1T 2H3 250-545-3173
When: Thursday, January 10, 2013
Why: Opening Reception
Who: Vernon Public Art Gallery

The curatorial team at the Vernon Public Art Gallery is excited to open four diverse Canadian exhibitions to start this year with a big impact. On January 10, 2013, artists Katie Brennan, of Lake Country B.C., Lorena Krause, of Langley B.C., and Al Scott and students of Breakaway Pottery Studio, of Vernon B.C., will be present during the celebratory opening reception from 6-8pm. Although the artists from Quebec may not be present in person, their artwork will surely make an impression for all audiences.

The Topham Brown Gallery will be full with a variety of artistic mediums including paintings, printmaking, sculpture and digital arts; a true representation of works created by 25 artists living and working in Quebec in the 1970’s. Everyone can relate to the 70’s in one way or another, whether they were present at the time or perhaps connect to the music, fashion, and the social movements passed down a generation. Visual arts produced in this decade in Quebec are both visually stimulating and historically revolutionary. Or you could say, some of the artwork is just groovy, baby yeah!

Accompanying The 70’s exhibition is Katie Brennan, with her expressive painting exhibition titled Clouds and Other Sky Phenomena. Brennan’s hometown is Vernon B.C., and although she has studied, travelled and exhibited internationally, she has returned home to continue to expand her artistic practice as well as dedicate her time as a sessional lecturer in the Department of Creative Studies at the University of British Columbia-Okanagan. In all her spare time, Brennan also holds the title of curator for the Lake Country Art Gallery. The VPAG is pleased to also offer an artist talk by Brennan on Saturday, January 19th at 1:00pm. This event is open to the public by donation.

Lorena Krause will exhibit for the first time in the Okanagan, a large collection of small works titled GoPoPs, (Glass on Paint on Paper). With over 200 pieces in total, GoPoPs represents the artists’ visual diary following her mother’s passing. The ambiguous works evolve through use of colour, line, mixed media and other non-representational objects on paper.

VPAG also welcomes the return of Al Scott of Breakaway Pottery Studio for a third exhibition in the Community Gallery. A very popular show with the public, Scott’s students will once again showcase both functional and non-functional pottery, produced in his local studio located on Silverstar Road.

The Vernon Public Art Gallery wishes to invite everyone to attend the opening reception on Thursday, January 10th, from 6-8pm. In addition to meeting the artists, the evening will include music, refreshments, and appetizers by Itty Bitty Catering. Admission to the Gallery is by donation.

The 70’s – The Big Turnaround of the Seventies, from the collection of Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, January 10 – March 14, 2013
The VPAG will host the travelling exhibition titled Les Années 70 – The 70s produced by the Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec. The exhibition focuses on the changing paradigms in the visual arts in Quebec that began in the 1940’s and was fully reaffirmed in the 1970’s. The exhibition documents the development in visual arts which positioned artists from Quebec in the international mainstream of art production with diverse influences including Minimalist Art, Land Art, Conceptual Art, Op Art and Kinetic Art movements, Hyperrealism and the return to figurative art. The exhibition contains works produced between 1962 and 1982 by leading artists working in Quebec which includes painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, digital arts, and fibre arts. The exhibition was produced by Le Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent and the project has been made possible in part through a contribution from the Museum Assistance Program, Department of Canadian Heritage.

Katie Brennan: Clouds and Other Sky Phenomena, January 10 – March 14, 2013
Katie Brennan, a Vernon, BC based artist, will present an exhibition titled Clouds and Other Sky Phenomena. This body of works on canvas marks a departure from using line as a main means of artistic production. Brennan’s interest in the optical ambiguity of the sky became the arena for her search of different modes of expression, combining fluid paint bodies and structured geometric designs.

Lorena Krause: GoPoPs, January 10 – March 14, 2013
Lorena Krause, a Langley, BC based artist will exhibit a sizable body of small-scale two-dimensional mixed media artwork in the exhibition titled GoPoPs. By adopting the methodology of colour field painting, Krause’s use of colour stains on paper complemented by miniature hand-made glass elements results in a presentation of multiple images in a visual field devoid of any representational references. The grouping of multiple images on a grid creates a larger unified image composed by a selection and addition of all its subcomponents based on the gestalt as opposed to specific formalist arrangements.

Breakaway Pottery Studio: 20 + Hands, January 10 – March 14, 2013
The Gallery will organize and mount an exhibition of functional and non-functional ceramics titled 20+ Hands. The works will be produced by 18 students in the ceramics program administered by Vernon-based Breakaway Pottery Studio. This exhibition is a result of the VPAG’s commitment to create exhibition opportunities for artists working outside of mainstream artistic production.

For more information about the Vernon Public Art Gallery contact www.vernonpublicartgallery.com or call 250-545-3173.

Images:
1. (The 70’s) Flash, Serge Tousignant, 1968, Acier émaillé et acier inoxydable / Glazed steel and stainless steel, 138 x 92 x 90 cm
2. Katie Brennan, Summertime Rain, 2011, gouache and oil on canvas, 36 x 30 inches
3. Lorena Krause, GoPoP #10, watercolour and hand-made glass on paper, 7.5 x 5.5 inches

(The 70’s) Flash

Summertime Rain

GoPoP #10