New WAG@ThePark Shows by Emerging Guest Curators

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Visitors to Assiniboine Park can take in four WAG@The Park exhibitions this winter and spring at the Pavilion.

The work of Walter J. Phillips and Ivan Eyre are on display, along with a selection of works from the WAG collection, The Many Sides of Winnie-the-Pooh.

WAG@The Park is a partnership between the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Assiniboine Park Conservancy. Shows are curated by the gallery, with works drawn from the collections of both organizations.

Displays are open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is free.

The shows include The Natural Element: Art Nouveau & Walter J. Phillips, curated by Nicole Fletcher, the gallery's collections coordinator. It runs until Sept. 20.

Phillips immigrated to Canada from Britain in 1913, settling in Winnipeg, where he began documenting the country’s landscape. He was influenced by Art Nouveau, one of the most popular European movements, which can be seen in his stylized, curved forms and soft, naturalistic colour palette.

Although Art Nouveau had no unifying style, it infused every major art form, with its characteristic use of shapes and patterns from nature.

"Pairing of Art Nouveau pieces with Phillips’ work emphasizes their shared elements of line, form and colour, while at the same time showing how Phillips deviated from more well-known aspects of the movement’s style,” says Fletcher.

A second show by Manitoba artist Ivan Eyre confronts seemingly eternal questions related to human experience, such as violence, gender, free will, the relationship between beauty and goodness.

Eyre in Comparison: Personal Experience and the Universal Subject is curated by Audrey Bews and is on view until Oct. 11.

Eyre encourages viewers to understand his work through their personal experiences and to construct their own meanings.

The show pairs Eyre’s paintings with work by female artists, including Christiane Pflug, Sheila Butler, Esther Warkov, Kittie Bruneau and Natalka Husar, whose political works reflect their period of production, the '60s, '70s and '80s, a time of feminist activism. The juxtaposition diversifies Eyre’s subjective understandings as a white male Canadian settler.

"The juxtaposition invites viewers to make their own conclusions on whether themes such as femininity, beauty, sexuality, the female body, space, violence and freedom can be represented objectively,” says Bews.

Another show, Through the Eyes of a Child, runs from Feb. 8 to April 13. It offers work on environmental themes made by 250  children in the gallery's studio classes

“Art classes allow for more than just learning techniques," says Cara Mason, the gallery's learning and programs coordinator. "The world around us is changing and children are talking about it. 

"It’s a conversation that can sometimes be difficult, especially for young people, so we wanted to give the students the space to present their thoughts and feelings on this topic in a creative way. Through the Eyes of a Child is not just a display of young people’s artwork, it’s their voice.”

Source: Winnipeg Art Gallery