Nov
4
This is going to be a strange post. I want to throw an idea out and I want to hear your thoughts on it. I’m going to tell you to touch art. I know, I know, you’re not supposed to. But I think you should. Here’s why.
My favorite way to spend a day off is to visit a gallery and give myself time to wander. It’s even better when my wife comes along. I love to experience art with someone, watching and learning from their reactions to the work. If I miss something, she often catches it. She pulls me back into pieces I breeze by. I’m fascinated by our different tastes, and where those tastes overlap tells me that beauty is not always subjective, “in the eye of the beholder”. Sometimes our trips bring a real revelation as we chat about what we see. That happened yesterday on Jasper ave near 124th street.
My wife made a tiny, fast comment. She told me that she likes work that invites her to touch it. Not that she does, of course, as touching the work is almost always forbidden. But she wants to when the work is good. It is work with layers, work that literally pulls her into itself. Often it is work with texture, employing gels or wax or mixed media collage. Work, she says, that makes her want to feel its surface and discover how it was made. There is something beautifully uninhibited and child-like about that response.
Do our "don't touch" rules about art keep us out of an experience?
I try to hide my cringing forward lurches, designed to pull her back from the canvas. I am an obsessive rule-follower, she will tell you. Taking my kids to a gallery, as much as I love it, sometimes fills me with more stress than pleasure as I think to myself over and again, “don’t touch!”, their eyes getting within inches of a piece. Especially when that piece is a Renoir or a Warhol.
But why not touch? Why this ironclad rule? Sure, I understand the motivation. We want to preserve work for future generations to enjoy. The oils in our skin can ruin a piece. I get this. But I wonder if preservation is always the top aim, or if preservation for future enjoyment sometimes eats away at potential enjoyment now. Are we stopping ourselves from experiencing part of art with this rule? Is touch not a vital sense, a potentially potent part of our experience of art? When my wife wants to reach out and feel a work because it speaks so loudly to her, does this not compliment the work and its creator. Don’t artists long for viewers to engage with their work? Touch is a sure form of engagement. I wonder, on a larger scale, does this “untouchable rule” contribute to the distance a large portion of society feels from “the fine arts”? Does the prohibition to touch artwork contribute on some level to an separation from it? Some of you may know better than I if these rules were always in place, or when they came into being. And what was the driving motive?
As we are looking to create an art space in the near future, one goal is engagement. We don’t want people to simply look at the work and pass by, we want them to interact with it. Sure, this happens mentally. It happens in relationship and conversation, but could it also happen literally? What if we curated a show where viewers were encouraged to touch every work? How would their perception of the work, and of the gallery itself, change?
Taking it further, what if we had a “touch, don’t look” gallery? Artists are invited to create work that will be experienced only through touch. “Viewers” are blindfolded, or sent into a pitch-dark room. They are rendered “blind” and must experience the work through other senses. How would this change our experience of art? How would it impact the artists involved?
Earlier this year I took the family to another art show, this one by sculptor Brian Jungen at the AGA. A sign at the entrance encouraged us to not only take photos (something forbidden in every other exhibit space), but to share those photos publicly online. Before I even saw the work, I felt encouraged to engage with it. I took photos. The kids posed with the massive plastic dinosaur skeletons, sometimes standing within the ‘bones’. They were still not supposed to touch, as far as I know, but even the change in attitude made us all relax and enjoy the work on a different level. I wonder if this invitation could be cultivated intentionally in all art shows? I wonder how that sort of invitation would change our approach to fine art?
This post offers more questions than answers, because what I am wrestling with here is not an answer, but a question. Should touch play a greater role in our experience of the arts, and particularly visual art?
What do you think?
Tags: bleeding heart art space, curation, senses, touch
Posted in Art Shows, Essays and Reflections, Painting | 8 Comments »
Jun
3
painting by Randy Hayashi
Friend Randy Hayashi is having a show this month. Here is an invitation from Randy;
Summer is here and I’m having an art show to kick it off!
For the month of June, Art Beat Gallery in St. Albert is featuring my latest work.
http://www.artbeat.ab.ca/a_hayashir.html
Tags: landscape, nature, Painting, Randy Hayashi
Posted in Galleries, Painting | Comments Off
Apr
25
I have recently had the pleasure of meeting visual artist Wanda Benterud, and just received this invite for her upcoming show …
You are invited to Wanda Benterud’s solo exhibition:
M E T A M O R P H O
Open House
Saturday, May 2
2:00 pm to 8:00 pm
and
Sunday, May 3
12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Location
Taylor University College
Student Union Building
11525-23 Ave, Edmonton
Artist will be in attendance
Phone: 780-922-0193 or 780-991-6697
Email: wandabenterud@gmail.com
Tags: art show, Wanda Benterud
Posted in Events, Galleries, Painting | Comments Off
Mar
27
The Portal Gallery is closed after March 31st. Here is a reminder to visit from co-owner Giselle Denis, along with some information on where we can find the art that once lived there.
As you know, we are closing the Portal Art Gallery as of March 31st. You have a few more days to come and check out our spring collection, and to purchase that perfect piece for your home!
A special thank-you to all who came out for our closing reception! It was very encouraging to see so many of you there!
Cheri & Giselle’s work is now available at the
Tu Gallery at 10718 – 124 street.
http://www.tugallery.ca/.
Giselle’s work will also be at the Axis Cafe at 10349 – Jasper Ave.
http://www.axiscafe.ca/
Apr.1st to July 31st.
All of Giselle’s coming shows are listed on her website at www.giselledenis.com.
We thank you all for your patronage!
The Portal Gallery
www.theportalgallery.com
(780) 702-7522
#300, 9414 – 91 street
Edmonton, AB
T6C 3P4
hours: Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat. 10-5pm
Thurs. 12 – 8pm
Tags: Axis Cafe, Giselle Denis, The Portal Gallery, Venues
Posted in Events, Painting | 1 Comment »
Mar
23
A new friend Jason Zerbin, and an old friend Elisabeth Rancourt (yes, returning from Montreal) will be together for a night of worship and the arts at Vanguard College this Thursday.
Here is the official information from the Facebook event, which you’ll find here … http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145950000057
Come join us for an evening of beautiful, Heaven inspired art an music.
Artist Elisabeth Rancourt will be coming all the way from Montreal, Quebec and is one of Canada’s most talented emerging artists. Her paintings are truly some of my absolute favorite. She will be painting throughout the music and will also be sharing her heart for arts and the Church.
I along with my band will be playing and sharing some of the songs from our upcoming album. As well as attempting to capture, at least in part, the sound of heaven and the Father’s heart.
We’ve seen some really neat things like people coming to know the Father and His love for the first time and even physical healings in our concerts and worship times.
Come and bring all your friends and paint brushes and canvases and dancing shoes and voices and hearts.
Let’s see if we can’t just stumble upon a little bit of “Heaven meeting Earth like a sloppy wet kiss”.
See you there!!!
The evening is completely free but donations will be accepted in support of Elisabeth’s art as well in fundraising for Jason and the Band’s Album.
Check out:
www.elisabethrancourt.viewbook.com
www.myspace.com/jasonzerbin
Tags: Elizabeth Rancourt, Events, Jason Zerbin, worship
Posted in Events, Music, Painting | 3 Comments »
Jun
21
Meet mother & daughter artists, Cheri & Giselle Denis. Color, color and more color!
This nature based collection includes fields of flowers, poppies, butterflies, trees & more.
Opening Night Reception:
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 7:00 – 9:30pm
Open House:
Friday, July 4th, 12:00 – 8:00pm
Saturday, July 5th, 12:00 – 7:00pm
Show Runs:
June 17 – August 9, 2008
Giselle Denis
The Portal Art Gallery
#300, 9414 – 91 street
Edmonton, AB
T6C 3P4
(780) 702-7522
www.theportalgallery.com
Tags: Art Shows, Galleries, Giselle Denis, Painting, the portal, visual art
Posted in Painting | Comments Off
Dec
17
Children of the world illustrate stories from the Bible.
As I approach Christmas this year, I have 2 new sets of eyes to peer through – the wide-open eyes of my children, Jack and Lucie.
For Jack, 4 and Lucie, 2, these are eyes filled with wonder and curiosity. They are eyes that see the Biblical story of the Nativity in a fresh way. Eyes that see it, perhaps, as it is meant to be seen, and without all of the baggage my own lenses lug around.
In the Spirit of childhood wonder – which somehow seems intrinsically linked to this Christmas season – I direct you to a project where children from around the world have illustrated stories from the Bible. Apparently, there was a worldwide call for submissions a few years back, and this site presents some of the best. There are also books that can be ordered, cataloging the submissions in full color.
So go on and have a gander. If Jesus taught that we must become like little children, I’d say seeing as they see is a good start. And who knows, you may just find some of the dust shaking loose from your own world-worn eyes.
Children of the world illustrate stories from the Bible.
Tags: Illustration
Posted in Creativity & Inspiration, Illustration, Painting | Comments Off
Dec
12
Thought I’d share this great invite from local artist Giselle Denis.
Hello Art Lovers!
There are only 15 days until Christmas! Wow! I can hardly believe how fast this year has gone by! In case you are anything like me, you hate crowded malls, which is the only kind right now.
If you want a more pleasant atmosphere to shop in, come by my art gallery. I have those small sets of three paintings for sale at affordable prices. A set of three 5×7″ paintings are only $60. They are all original, one of a kind works of art. Perfect for Christmas gifts.
You can see what these paintings look like on my facebook page. Under my Albums, “New Art”.
Gallery hours are:
Tuesday to Friday 12 – 8pm
Saturday 12 – 7pm.
Call ahead if you like at 702-7522.
www.theportalgallery.com
www.giselledenis.com
the address:
9414 – 91 street
(at the top of Conner’s hill road next to the Red Ox Inn and The Centre des Arts
I’d love to show you my gallery! Merry Christmas!!
Giselle
Posted in Painting | Comments Off
