Nov 2011 –Jan 2012 - Preview

V I G N E T T E S • Nov/Dec/Jan 2011/12British ColumbiaRobin LauRenceCAROL SAWYER Republic Gallery, Vancouver, Oct 20-Nov 19 SubtitledSome Documents from the Life of Natalie Brettschneider, CarolSawyer’s photographs, texts and “live re-enactments of musicalrepertoire” capture aspects of the character and career of afictional “genre-blurring” performance artist and singer.Through these means, Sawyer critiques the various ways inwhich histories are written and cultural assumptions are made.Expect to be amused and provoked.COLETTE URBAN: PIN-UP grunt gallery, Vancouver, Oct 28-Dec 3Born in Colorado and based in Newfoundland, Colette Urbanis one of Canada’s most inventive multidisciplinary artists. Thisexhibition features video work, digital stills, and a wonderfullyabsurd costume. Notable is HOOT, the video recording of aperformance that took place in a reflecting pool, in whichUrban was dressed in reflective foil and masked in cotton andmetallic discs, her actions played out against the soundtrack of a1954 Edith Sitwell reading.ON THE NATURE OF THINGS Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, Oct15-Dec 31 Guest-curated by wunderkind Patrik Andersson, thiscaptivating group show looks at the complex and fluctuatingrelationship between nature and civilization. The Canadian andEuropean artists represented range across media and practices,from sculpture and video to sidewalk rubbings and origami.The sources of their imagery are wide-ranging too, and includeadvertising, cinema, music, and the conflicted tropes of Modernism.ASIAN CERAMICS FROM ANCIENT SHIPWRECKS Art Gallery ofGreater Victoria, Victoria, Oct 11-Jan 2, 2012 Both treasurehunters and cultural historians will thrill to this exhibition. Itfeatures historic Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese ceramics,including delicate porcelains, recovered from shipwrecks thatoccurred from the 15th to the 19th century. Among the objectson view are those salvaged from what is known as “the ChineseTitanic”, the 1822 wreck of the Tek Sing in the South ChinaSea.Carol SawyerColette UrbanKristi MalakoffVietnamese, c. 1500PENTIMENTO SAGA Public Art Gallery, Salmon Arm, Nov 5-25Pentimento, a painting term meaning “evidence of an artist’schange of mind”, is applied here to a lively survey of contemporarytextiles and needle arts. The 20 individuals represented,from across Canada and the United Kingdom, are members ofConnections Fibre Artists, and their work in this show revealstheir processes through exposing layers of underlying imagesand materials.Andrea Graham28 PREVIEW ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER/JANUARY 2011/12