One of Robert Bateman’s most recent paintings, “Glaucous-winged Gull Flock,” 2023, acrylic on board, 36" x 36" (courtesy of Penticton Art Gallery)
Robert Bateman to Attend Opening in Penticton
Artist Robert Bateman, 94, will make a rare public appearance in Penticton, British Columbia for a showing of more than 80 artworks from his personal collection.
The exhibition, entitled Unexpected Bateman, will take place July 5 to Sept. 14 at the Penticton Art Gallery.
Bateman will be at the gallery for the opening on July 5 and for a talk and book signing at Penticton’s Cleland Theatre on July 6. Tickets are on sale now.
The show includes works that cover his career, from a painting he did at age 12 for his mother, to one painted just last year.
“The exhibition Unexpected Bateman is named to challenge and expand the common perceptions of Robert Bateman's creative practice,” said Paul Crawford, the show’s curator, in a news release.
Crawford says inspiration for the show came more than 30 years ago, in 1992, when Crawford read that Bateman started his career as an abstract artist. Crawford wrote to the artist to ask about the abstracts and Bateman wrote back, including an abstract sketch from 1961 in the letter.
Born in Toronto in 1930, Bateman is still active as an artist, naturalist and environmentalist who has had solo exhibitions across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. More than one million copies of books about his life and art have been sold around the world.
Svea Ferguson, “Weightlifter,” 2024, rubber flooring, steel, aluminum, 132" x 72" x 96" (photo courtesy of VivianeArt)
Svea Ferguson at VivianeArt in Calgary
Sculptor Svea Ferguson's latest exhibition, weight lifted, is on view now through Aug. 2 at VivianeArt in Calgary. The show includes found objects — a vintage chair, a moving dolly — combined with linoleum and vinyl flooring, cut and draped into flowing waves. “She looks to the material to tell her how to intervene, keen to maintain the material’s integrity and object’s identity and allow them to act in ways that are true to their nature,” writes Diana Sherlock, a Galleries West contributor who also wrote the text to accompany Ferguson's weight lifted. “Even taken out of context, Ferguson pays particular attention to the life of the materials and everyday objects with which she works.”
No stranger to the Canadian art scene, Ferguson has had pieces exhibited at Glenbow, Esker Foundation and Art Gallery of Alberta, where she was part of the 2017 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art. ■
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