Mina Totino

Through her choice of subject matter and her use of brushstrokes and colour, Mina Totino’s paintings evoke agitation and unrest. These isolated figures on ambiguous grounds do not, however, cause panic or crisis, but rather a sense of disturbed agitation.

Her treatment of the surface, especially the frenetic, crossed brushstrokes, mirror the positions of subjects caught at some point in a newsworthy narrative. The overall feeling of decay, the graffiti of simultaneous layering and peeling away addresses the effects of mediation where conflicts become merely news — front page items one day and the next day, forgotten. Such disposable images take on a new longevity when instated in paint.

As a woman artist operating in the domain of large-scale figure painting and addressing marginalized or oppressed subjects, Totino’s choice of media and content reflect her own position and take it forward in a new direction.

Totino’s paintings describe issues and subjects which are continuously sensationalized and then dismissed in the media. Her work offers us the opportunity to reassess our attitudes towards such images and their meanings.

Essay: "Waiting for the Angelus," Miriam Nichols

A painting of a person in a pink skirt, walking with their gaze low, with a large red stripe on their right. In the background, there is a faint silhouette of an upside-down toyota truck. 

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A gestural painting showing a dark figure in a blue jacket and flared black pants running with their arms raised in front of them. The background is made of yellow and white brush strokes.

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A dark painting with expressive brushstrokes showing a person laying down on their side. Their white shirt and blue pants have large red splotches on them, and the background is mostly black.

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A gesticulative painting shows a person with pale skin in a pink dress, in a dynamic pose. The background is split into black and yellow, and large red letters in the background are partially visible.

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A square, abstract painting made with short gestural brush strokes, and scratches. The colours present in the painting are black, yellow, orange, white, and blue.

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A layered, abstract painting, showing a round orange form with a black oval at its centre. The form is asymmetrical with frayed edges and is in front of a pale blue background. 

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Mina Totino Paintings

Ingrid Yuille

Since 1980 Yuille has been developing and expanding on the theme of "ambiguities." Her early works were two-dimensional black and white photo cutouts of people photographed in a manner to represent her view of each person. Over the next few years her work developed with the hand-colouring of cutouts, juxtaposing the cutouts within an environment, and photographing her subjects observing or interacting with the cutout image of themselves. These photographs were exhibited in mural and panel formats. One of her most ambitious exhibitions was installed in three rooms: in the first room the cutouts were juxtaposed if front of the mural, next to a mural or just leaning in the corner; in the middle room a bridge was constructed on which were placed photo-cutouts of people interacting within the context of a semi-real environment; in the third room an installation incorporated not only cutouts of people, but a variety of images one would notice walking through a back lane in the evening. This installation is the most similar in form to the installation proposed for the Contemporary Art Gallery. 

Recently Ingrid Yuille returned from an extensive trip to Europe during which she retraced her origins through a photographic perspective. This installation will focus on the role and presence of religion, primarily Catholicism, in her own history and the present day lives of many Europeans. This will be portrayed through an installation of photographs, sculpture and objects associated with confessional booths. A sound track of Gregorian Chants will also be used to evoke a sacred atmosphere.

Guest Curated by Alice Rich


On a wall, there are 3 life-sized black and white photos of a person in business attire talking to a cardboard cutout of themself. The cardboard cutout is placed in the corner beside the photos. 

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Several artworks in a gallery space. There is a small wooden bridge and several large black and white photo cutouts of people, and a dark building. The scene resembles an urban environment.

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A life-size photo, and several smaller ones, of a person running between two cardboard cutouts of people mounted on a wall.  One of the cutouts is placed on the wall beside the photo.

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In the corner of a gallery, there are two large photos printed on favribm and a small cardboard cutout mounted on the walls. The photos each show a person with a cardboard cutout of themselves. 

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Routes of Ambiguities

David MacWilliam

Now showing till October 24, *Paintings and Drawings 1985–1987* by David MacWilliam. David MacWilliam resides in Vancouver and is an accomplished artist and former Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University. He has been exhibiting since 1978 in solo and group shows both nationally and internationally. In this exhibition of new abstract drawings and paintings by MacWilliam further explores forms which have been prevalent in his work for the past eleven years — the cornucopia, the vessel, the volute, and the palette. MacWilliam's paintings often begin as casual drawings or doodles. It is the latent subjective or subconscious meaning inherent in these drawings which intrigue MacWilliam. His belief that "an artist makes art to make sense or give meaning to our world" and that "this can be done simply, with clarity, elegance and dignity" fuel his ongoing interest in abstraction.

Essay: "A Personal Repertoire," Christine Elving

An abstract painting hangs on a gallery wall. The painting has a blue and yellow form at the centre with a solid black background. 

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A closeup of 8 charcoal drawings in black frames, mounted on the wall of a dimly lit gallery. The drawings are abstract forms with lots of shading, resembling cornucopia, paint palettes and scrolls.

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2 framed drawings and 2 large paintings in a corner. All the works have large conical shapes with drastic shadows. One of the drawings is the same as one of the paintings, with the addition of colour.

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Several paintings and drawings on the walls of a gallery. The paintings are all quite large and colourful, and the drawings are smaller and black. All the works are of abstract forms.

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Paintings and Drawings: 1985–1987

Jessica Stockholder

In this sculpture/installation, Jessica Stockholder combines diverse objects — construction materials, clothes, furniture, and painted surfaces — into one work composed of two separate but related parts. A twenty foot long wall bisects the length of the gallery and a column reaches from floor to ceiling. This piece and its component materials exist within fluctuating boundaries, both physical and intellectual. In her own words:

“I feel that each of us is a unique entity with our own clear boundaries, but the instant I try to get a good look at those boundaries they are impossible to pinpoint or ascertain. Nevertheless, the feeling that I am a discrete entity never goes away and I experienced the boundaries between myself and everyone and everything else as clear.” (Jessica Stockholder)

The work, called *It’s Not Over ‘til The Fat Lady Sings*, cannot be seen as a unified work until one stands at the far corner of the gallery. From here it can be seen and felt as a complete whole, separate from the viewer. However, this experience is informed by the memory of having moved through the piece — the memory of how the piece was revealed over time.

Essay: “Jessica Stockholder: It’s Not Over ‘til The Fat Lady Sings,” Mark Holmes

This is a close-up view of one of Jessica Stockholder’s sculptures installed in a gallery. A red-painted drawer sits on the floor. The top half of the furniture is covered by old newspapers. 

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In a gallery space, two green painted walls lead to a space where a pentagonal-shaped wooden table sits. A white closet is placed on top of the table. The closet is half-covered by old newspapers.

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In a gallery space, several large-sized sculptures are installed in a gallery space. Large dyed flat sheets of paper, newspapers, fabrics, and metal frames are attached to the walls. 

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It’s Not Over ‘til The Fat Lady Sings

Juan L. Gomez-Perales

*“How do you do”*
*“I'm sorry I'd introduce you but I, I can’t remember your name” *
*“So, what have you been up to”*
*“Oh, nothing much, how about you”*

Although these may sound like the familiar phrases heard at parties, receptions, art gallery openings, and on the street, they are also the titles of Gomez-Perales’ most recent sculptures. In this exhibition, the artist invites the viewer to participate and, as the titles suggest, become conscious of some of the everyday phrases we speak. Gomez-Perales is best-known for his sculptures that involve the physical interaction of the art audience. The body of work in this exhibition still offers this component, yet even if the viewer does not choose to step up on the platform, they may discover that they are still implicated by both the familiarity of the situation and the structure of the piece.


2 sculptures in a gallery. They face each other and they have a small step, a large curved barrier with a plastic window, and a rubber glove attached. 2 people can be seen shaking hands through them.

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Soiree for Prof. L.J. Johnson

Katherine Knight

Colette Urban

Sandra Meigs

This exhibition, curated by Allyson Clay, offers an opportunity for the Vancouver audience to see a group show of multimedia and installation work by Katherine Knight of Vancouver, Sandra	Meigs of Toronto, and Colette Urban of Victoria. Although the work of each of these artists is	unique and different, they share a common approach to art-making, drawing from a wide range of media, and designing their works for specific sites.

Katherine Knight is showing a sculptural installation called *Marguerite* incorporating a continuous audio tape which projects the artist's voice reading a long poem, of the same name, written in 1981. This work is based on the true life story of Canada’s first uncloistered nun, Marguerite Bourgeouys, who, writes Knight, "attempts much, accomplishes some, dies, is largely forgotten and is now remembered."

Sandra Meigs work, *Angel Eyes (self-portrait)*, is a painting in polyester resin on six panels of four by eight foot plexiglass. These unsophisticated or cartoon-like images recall childhood experiences of the “real" equaling the “imaginary" and all existing on a giant movie-screen scale. This is also a humorous and critical look at everyday imagery represented as monumental or museum-size.

Colette Urban is showing costumes and other ingredients from two past performances, *I Feel Faint* and *Every Fly has a Shadow*, as well as presenting a new performance, *Blind Spot*, on opening night. "Colette Urban," Ian Wallace has written, "transfigures objects and experiences into ciphers for the recognition of both inspiration and emptiness, yet which also evoke the faint echo of truth, an evasive truth which seems so remote from the quotidian world of the streets."

In general, these three artists' sensual use of materials, their use of the elements of theatricality and kitsch, and their discreet sensibility for the ironic and comic, trigger another level of involvement in the critical discourses of feminism and modernism.

Guest curated by Allyson Clay


Essay: "Trigger," Allyson Clay

In the corner of a gallery, there is a long black dress on a mannequin, resting on pile of hay on the floor. Several cables are in the hay and on the wall, as well as a rock sculpture and a painting.

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Several artworks in the ball of a gallery. The works include a sculpture with concrete, tin foil, and a metal rake; a sculpture with a lightbulb on a pole; and a painting on the wall. 

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A closeup of a sculpture mounted on a wall. The sculpture is made of various readymade elements, including: cement bricks, tin foil, wires, side mirrors, metal tubes, and a rake. 

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Several artworks in the corner of a gallery. The works include a black dress standing on hay, a rock, a small painting, and a small, black wooden arch with text on the wall behind it.

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A closeup of an artwork. The work is a large plastic sheet with text that is on both the wall and the floor. There are two rusty curved pipes on the floor, and a folded silver panel on the wall.

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Multiple artworks visible in a gallery. Several colourful wall-to-ceiling paintings on glossy surfaces are visible on one side of the space. The rest of the space has various sculptures all around.

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A closeup of large glossy paintings suspended in front of a wall. The paintings are narrow and very tall They show different images of a mosquito, a cat, a chick, a human, a snail, and a horse.

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Katherine Knight, Sandra Meigs, Colette Urban

Trigger

Lorenzo De Francesco

After nearly a decade of self consciously contrived and internationally hyped “bad" art, it was inevitable that there would be a swing back to a re-consideration of beauty and craftsmanship. This is now happening and superbly "made" paintings and sculptures using traditional materials and techniques are emerging and being applauded by the avant-garde. Much of this new work is abstract with occasional references to the figure or natural forms and much reliant on geometry and balance.

The sculptures of Lorenzo De Francesco have developed slowly and totally without reference to world art trends but they have all of the qualities (and more) of the most exciting new work being produced, exhibited and lauded throughout the art capitals of the world.

Lorenzo De Francesco carves stone — marble to be precise. He chisels and polishes the different coloured stones into seemingly weightless and refined shapes, sometimes wafer thin, ribbed, spheroid or rippling and undulating — all the things that uncompromising stone	is not supposed to be able to do. He builds, joins and balances these forms into columns or elegant stacks which have subtle colour changes depending upon the colour of the marble unit or occasional bronze component. It is appropriate to think back to Constantin Brancusi and in the same way Lorenzo De Francesco's work is powerfully simple and abstract but totally contemporary with its hint of figure, torso, striding, soaring, balance, and controlled motion.

-Alan Wood

Guest curated by Alan Wood


Essay: “Lorenzo De Francesco,” Alan Wood

Several sculptures in a gallery space. The sculptures are made of different black, white, and brown stones. They are carved and stacked into different tall, ridged and bulbous forms.

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Several sculptures in a gallery. In the foreground, two small white curved forms sit atop black rectangular shapes. In the background the forms are tall and thin, with both bulbous and narrow parts.

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Seven tall sculptures visible in a gallery space. The sculptures are a mix of black, brown and white stone, carved into shapes like ovals, ridged poles, and wavy slabs arranged in different ways.

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Ron Huebner

In this installation, Ron Huebner combines sculpture, photographic silkscreen canvases, and sound to create an environment in which to explore and question many of our basic motivations — motivations which are often obscured by an endless stream of details and commitments which absorb our time and attention. In the entryway of the gallery, animal and human bones are scattered among cast stainless steel bones. The rear section of the gallery contains a fabricated steel stove placed in the centre between two large black and white photographic canvases. The stove structure emits the sound of wind.

On the wall of a dark gallery space, there is a large piece of canvas shows a print of wolves in a forest. On the floor, there is a small glowing speaker as well several natural and cast steel bones.

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On the floor of a dark room in a gallery, there are human, animal and cast steel bones. On one wall, a very large piece of canvas shows a negative screen print of wolves in a forest.

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What you don’t know won’t hurt you

Dianne Radmore

Judith M. Atkinson

*Sacred Ground, Skin and Bones* uses primordial imagery by incorporating found objects and symbolic sculpture and wall drawings to transform the gallery into a sanctum reminiscent of sacred places of power. There is a powerful range of spiritual and mystical references and a shared fascination with a historic continuum.

The gallery divides into two parts, in the entryway to the exhibition we find Radmore’s formal assemblage/collage pieces, as well as a sculptural ladder with birds ascending to show the symbolic associations with spiritual transitory states. The exhibition continues through a corridor to find Atkinsons’ large drawings ribboning the gallery walls to emulate a cave-like environment which culminates into a sculptural Stonehenge-like site.

In the accompanying catalogue, both artists and curator, Alice Rich describe the perceptions of the contemporary associations with the primitive concerns referenced in the artists’ works. For Atkinson these perceptions have been achieved through the study of cave and rock drawings, primitive peoples and anthropological sources; for Radmore it is through a study of shamanic ways, ritual dances, tribal artifacts, ceremonies, and symbolic values.

Guest curated by Alice Rich


Essay: "Sacred Ground, Skin and Bones," Alice Rich

The walls of a room are lined with large chalky drawings of animals and humans. One section is divided and has a large blue patch painted as sky, tall white sculptures, and many rocks on the floor.

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A closeup of an artwork in the corner of a gallery. The work is a bronze wood-like ladder with dark metal birds resting on the rungs. On the floor, there are small black rocks around the ladder.

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A closeup of an artwork on a wall. The work is made of several pieces mounted on black paper, including bundled dry herbs, small weavings, twined feathers and beaded leather. 

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A gallery space with walls covered in pale brown paper that has chalky drawings of animals and people. One area is sectioned off by walls and tall white sculptures are partially visible.

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The corner of a gallery with several artworks on the wall. The works include framed collages, drawings, and leather pieces. One of the works is also a sculpture of a bronze ladder with birds.

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Judith M. Atkinson, Dianne Radmore

Sacred Ground, Skin and Bones

Julie Duschenes

This series continues Duschenes' investigation into the genre of still life, begun over eight years ago. For this exhibition, she is using still life to translate a method of describing events from quantum mechanics to visual art. *Collapse of the Wave Function* refers to the theory which states that multiple probabilities revert to a single reality, and the artist follows this idea to allow for its metaphorical value to emerge.

The paintings originate from dinner settings. They are pre-determined yet random events which quickly become symbols for both interaction and formal arrangements. They then move into the realm of choice and separation. Duschenes portrays objects usually situated in a table setting, now transposed into a specific configuration which speaks of perception while illuminating the act of perceiving.

"When I am painting in the deliberate manner to which I am devoted, I am painting in a way which is wholly conscious, corralling all conscious and unconscious thought in a tight enclosure so that they mill around appearing and disappearing.” (Julie Duschenes)


Guest curated by Jill Pollack


Essay: "Julie Duschenes has made a series of paintings," Jill Pollack

Three paintings on the walls of a gallery. The paintings are in square frames of different sizes and colours. All of the paintings show different sets of dishes from above, on colourful backgrounds.

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A closeup of a painting in a wood frame. It shows yellow plates, blue cups, and red spoons on a purple background.  Text on the top corners reads "ohne worte" meaning "without words" in German. 

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A gallery space with framed paintings on the walls and a bench on the floor. The paintings are colourful and show different dinnerware sets which have colourful patterns on the backgrounds.

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Collapse of the Wave Function

James Graham

A foiled attempt. Wrapped in foil. Act as a foil. The word conjures up three definitions. The show of the same name at the Contemporary Art Gallery is another matter. James Graham's exhibition titled, *foil*, is confusing in its interpretation. Graham positions three slide projectors in the gallery so that each throws an image covering the span of two walls. With one slide repeated from each projector alternating with the others, the space is at times lit by the image, at other times by the light from the projector. Resting against two walls are convex wooden panels painted slate grey. Their surface is slightly luminescent and bears the most overt relationship to the word, foil.

The slides are difficult to translate, as they are distorted down to the length of the gallery. It's clear that the images are appropriated from the front pages of newspapers. But we as viewers are foiled in our ability to read the text in the slides. It does not appear that we are supposed to be able to read the words.

The show can be seen in a linguistic old dissection of a word, manifested visually. It has a potential elegance in its pared-down simplicity that somehow eludes the viewing experience. The references to deconstruction and appropriation, hallmarks of postmodernism, are there. but they are obfuscated beyond meaning. The show, while serene-looking, ends up being an exercise in frustration. 


A scanned exhibition invitation. It is a long horizontal rectangle with a plain white background and contains information including the artist name, the dates and gallery address in black text. 

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foil

Richard John Putz

This installation by Richard Putz exemplifies the CAG's commitment to present new and innovative work by Canadian artists. It also offers the opportunity to comment on the development of an artist who studied in this region, at the University of  Victoria and who is now living and working in another milieu, San Francisco. Vancouver is often the stepping off point for artists; many move to other major Canadian or American cities to find a stronger commercial market for their work or to take teaching positions. In this and future exhibitions the  Contemporary Art Gallery would like to bring artists back to this region to provide a broader historical context for Vancouver and to also explore how the various cultural, political, social and economic environments contribute visually and conceptually to their work.

The use of materials for Putz has always been extremely important. They reflect modern building and construction as well as contrasts: glass-concrete, steel-wood, fragile-resistant, flexible-rigid, soft-hard, rough-smooth, linear-massive, light-heavy and inside-outside.

Putz employs these materials to make metaphorical reference to landscape, cyclic patterns, autobiographical statements and social concerns. The horizontal plane is often used to suggest the earth's mantle or table; objects are placed above and below the surface to reflect his notion that there is a fundamental unity between what is under the ground, the surface of the ground and what rises above the surface (both man-made and natural, i.e. buildings and mountains). Cycles are evident in the recurring pattern of construction, deconstruction and reconstruction of his work. The labour intensive aspect of his installations allude to his optimistic conclusion that energy channeled in a positive direction can bring about the reconstruction needed in our present environment.
