Western Canada’s art magazine since 2002
25 June 2024 Vol 9 No 13 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2024
Shelley Boettcher
From the Editor
During a short trip to British Columbia’s beautiful Okanagan Valley last week, I stopped in to SOPA Fine Arts in Kelowna. I had a good chat and tour with Louis Elmer, who has recently taken over the gallery with his brother, Colby Elmer. They have exciting stuff planned and they’re already making their mark in the valley, with a range of talented artists that includes Kelowna’s own Constance Bachmann. The Elmer brothers are working closely with local wineries, too; the synergy is excellent. It’s a good place to stop if you’re in the Okanagan Valley this summer.
From a national perspective, Galleries West contributor Douglas Maclean has been hard at work on the Spring 2024 Auction Report, a look at what’s been selling (and what hasn’t) at art auctions across Canada. His reports, which he writes twice a year, are always popular and this one is no exception. If you are looking to buy or sell art, it’s an excellent summary of current market trends.
Another very popular story this week is Wendy Toogood: Narratives by Diana Sherlock. Toogood was a major contributor to the Calgary visual arts community before moving to Nakusp, B.C. in 2006. The exhibition at Wallace Galleries was organized by Galleries West writer Richard White and features four decades of Toogood's art.
The Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC in Vancouver has reopened with two new exhibitions after an 18-month closure for renovations. The first is entitled To Be Seen, To Be Heard: First Nations in Public Spaces, 1900–1965; and Maori artist Lisa Reihana's in Pursuit of Venus [infected], is the second exhibition, on view now in the MOA's O'Brian Gallery.
And Sobey Art Award 2024 longlisted artist Lucas Morneau's solo exhibition, Queer Newfoundland Hockey League, is on now through July 6 at the Saskatchewan Craft Council Gallery in Saskatoon, Sask.
Vancouver artist Cindy Mochizuki’s exhibition, Ancestral Dreams & Other Premonitions, can be seen through July 6 at the Kamloops Art Gallery.
And Prince George-based artist Emily Wilson’s show, Up Around the Bend is at the Mackenzie Community Arts Centre in B.C. until July 10.
And please consider supporting us if you shop on Amazon. We have an association with Amazon that lets you support independent arts journalism in Canada by buying books directly through our site. If you purchase a book by clicking on the Amazon link in a review, Galleries West may receive a small commission.
One wonderful title to seek out: Edward Burtynsky: Extraction/Abstraction, which Galleries West contributor Katherine Ylitalo says “is gorgeous and substantial, published by Steidl, current masters of books on photography.”
As always, thank you for reading. Our entire team appreciates it.
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Katherine Ylitalo, Diana Sherlock. Douglas Maclean
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Periodical Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
