Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
19 December 2017 Vol 2 No 26 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2017
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
Welcome to the first annual books issue of Galleries West Digital. In these pages, we explore a full range of arts publishing in Canada with information about some 40 books and catalogues either published this year or due out shortly. We believe it’s the most comprehensive guide you'll find this year.
Our cover story, How the Year Stacks Up, provides a quick lay of the publishing landscape and highlights some of this year’s major art books. We also feature four special articles that focus in greater detail on books about photography, Indigenous art, women artists, and fine craft and design.
We made a conscious choice to opt for breadth rather than depth, hoping to point readers to a range of options that might interest them rather than impose our choice of a handful of this year’s “best bets.” Even so, I’m sure we’ve missed some worthwhile books. One thing I discovered while managing this project is that there’s no one place to go for information about Canadian art books. I ended up browsing in bookstores, searching publisher’s websites, combing through various art and literary journals, and checking distributors like ABC Art Books Canada. So I encourage you to add books you’ve enjoyed (or perhaps even published) in the comment section below our stories to give other readers more information.
This issue’s final feature is a “readers’ choice” list of favourite books, old or new, domestic or international. We're grateful to everyone who sent along suggestions for this eclectic list. Again, you're most welcome to add your choices to the comments section so we can continue the conversation.
As for my favourite books? Through the years, I’ve gone through phases where I've read intensively about particular artists – for instance, I became fascinated by Picasso when I lived in Paris, and Georgia O’Keeffe and Emily Carr when I returned home to Canada. One book I remember with special fondness is Anne Truitt’s Day Book: The Journal of an Artist. I picked it up years ago, and it opened a window into the creative process long before I decided to go to art school. Thumbing through it now, I’m struck by the intimacy and lyricism of Truitt's voice. I need to read it again.
Earlier this month, I spotted another remarkable book at the opening of Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria. The show’s catalogue – like the show itself – offers stunning examples of nature photography via an international contest organized by the Natural History Museum in London. As it’s a quiet time in the art world, it seemed a worthy cover choice for the next issue of Galleries West Digital. The show draws attention to the plight of different animal species, some on the verge of extinction from preventable human causes like hunting and ecosystem destruction. Those images filled me with wonder, but also evoked sadness and anger, and I resolved to step up my support for conservation. I hope you will too after reading more about these inspiring photographers – including one who is just five years old – in our first issue of 2018.
On behalf of all of us at Galleries West Digital, I wish you peace and happiness for the coming year.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Mary-Beth Laviolette, Steven Ross Smith
