Hope itself is like a star—not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.
— , via kmckeaigg on Twitter
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
Edward Van Vliet likes to chew long and hard on words, like beef jerky. His words often seem as innumerable as the stars. He is the most frequent commenter on this blog and you will find his thoughts salting the faith and art blogosphere under the name of etechne. Van Vliet is a man of many words, and I wonder if he isn’t obsessed with their power. It is no wonder then that Edward Van Vliet’s current exhibition, Your Thoughts, Like Stars, presents four installations orbiting the power of words and the thoughts they carry.
Anyone who has followed Van Vliet’s work will find familiar images and themes. Books play a large part. Recipe’s For Kneeling, II, revisits the illuminated books and kneeling cushions of earlier installations at The Paint Spot gallery. the space between, a smaller installation, features a single book, half buried, fossil-like, in a mound of glittering sand.The imagery for “The Weight of Things” brings an explosively expanded vision to imagery created for his NAESS show, I’m Not Finished Yet and Whisper before that. Text is again laid over the nebulous wonder of outer space. Edward also returns to his love for viewer participation and feedback, this time inviting his “readers” to create a page for a yet another book by reflecting on the significance of a single block of color (red, blue or green).
While much is familiar, none of it feels repeated. The exhibit as a whole is surprisingly fresh and bold. It is the show one would hope to have evolved and grown from the sprouts of past efforts. Each piece builds upon and enlarges an earlier concept.
Taken as a whole, the show weaves a thread of contemplation, wonder and ultimately action. We are not here to simply look. We are here to think. We should wrestle and, if Van Vliet would have his way, act in some way. Not counting viewer contributions, which continue to increase at this writing, Van Vliet has presented us with 113 “thoughts” in total here. The cumulative effect is both overwhelming awe and the inability to focus in one particular direction. There is a paradox on display. The phrases offered read as timeless truths, and the images Van Vliet evokes, from the expansive universe, the vast seas and countless sand on a shore to ancient books and inverted Albrecht Durer etchings of the Apocalypse, draw us into into a transcendent timeline. But the collection of so many thoughts in one small space feels more suited to the bite sized attention span of internet information addicts. How do we make sense of all this knowledge? How do we catalogue and process the wisdom of the ages? Perhaps this is the thought behind the title for “The Weight of Things”. Are we to view all 100 thoughts, displayed like polaroids, in one go, or are we better to sit with just one?
After taking in the whole, one does well to sit with each part and reflect. I began with The Weight of Things, where “thoughts” are rooted to sculpted bases, white and porous as sand dollars in the sea. The pieces pinwheel out from the center into five tentacle-like arms, also evoking a sand dollar. These arms seem to be moving, reaching to pull us inside, towards some center. Knowing Van Vliet’s faith, I’d guess that centre is the very heart and mind of God. I walked the length of each arm, one by one, letting each thought sink as far as I could in a short span of time. By then end I did feel the weight of things. At times encouraged, at times convicted, each phrase leaves little room for complacent comfort. Some sooth, but in surprising ways. Each phrase and image creates a world we could lose ourselves in. We could dive inside that expansive space and get to work kneading the wisdom of these words into our lives. But, as all to often happens, we must soon change the channel and move on.
I continued to The Art of Kneeling II, where 12 illuminated books hung low, awaiting my kneeling gaze. I approached each cushion and opened covers to reveal beautiful woodcuts, inverted to appear harsh and dark. The covers were notably more drab than those in Van Vliet’s previous show. The images inside have no color or gradation. Black and white alone convey a sense of absolutes. The font used on these pieces feels as old as the woodcuts themselves, a gothic script spelling out messages that are immediately jarring. I am being watched. There is power in my tongue. I begin to feel I am part of the battle depicted in these dramatic scenes of Apocalypse. My actions here and now are tied to then and there. What I do and what I say is of eternal importance, and it also matters today. Twelve is an easier number to digest than 100, and so this piece comes together for me, clearer than whole of The Weight of Things. I feel an urgency.
I move on to the space between, where the focus narrows onto one single book, unearthed part way from a pile of sand, like a fossil from a sea shore. I cannot help but notice the sparkle of the sand, it’s thousands upon thousands of tiny pieces mirroring the titular Stars of the whole exhibit. On the book’s cover a single skeletal torso is overlaid with flaming red and the words “made of earth/made of stars” (the latter half printed upside down and backwards). This piece feels ancient, organic and intimate. Something of our true origin and nature is to be discovered. This torso would house and protect a heart. A heart born of the earth, and yet beyond. A heart to house the countless thoughts on display. Perhaps to act before the tide comes in to wash away this moment. the space between somehow touches me most deeply of all four installations. It somehow gives me hope that I am more than dust.
And now it is time to add my own contribution, as I move to NAME THIS, where I am invited to write my reflections on a primary color. I choose red. I think of the fear and pain and passion of loving. I think of myself undone, broken and transformed by love. It’s a good place for an art show to have brought me.
I leave awash in thoughts of beach, sea and stars. A million points of light that can illuminate as well as burn. A million points of light spanning time and space. Dying out. Being born again. Without seeing Christ, or reading His name, I have been drawn to Him.
I leave in the grip of the Thinker, whose “thoughts, like stars” keep me moving.
Posted in Art, Art Shows, books, Essays and Reflections, Galleries, Reviews | Comments Off
This Saturday brings Enchant, the latest art show from City Centre Church at the Paramount Theatre.
The list of artists participating has now been released. Look forward to works by;
Mark Elliott
Michelle Leonenko
Michael Loyer
Alicia Krawchuk
Joshua Williams
Levi Dunford
Omar Reyes
Edwin Tuts
John Denouden
Mike and James
Jennifer Hughes
Lori Youngman
Wesley Proch
Byzon Parcel
Ange Tycholas
Joel Morgan
Jessica Olson
Lon Wenger
Jared Robinson
with music by DJ.TANNER
Find out more online at http://www.citycentrechurch.com/ccc-art-show
Posted in Art, Events, Galleries | 1 Comment »
You still have this weekend to catch Edward Van Vliet’s installation at the NAESS Gallery in Edmonton. And so you should.
Edward Van Vliet explores "I'm Not Finished Yet"
Van Vliet has returned to the medium he developed for “Recipes For Kneeling”, grafting in imagery from his piece at last year’s “Whisper” art show. Van Vliet creates book-based light boxes, creating a space where light illuminates the image from within the belly of the book, creating modern day miniature stained glass vignettes. The entire work is closed up behind the cover of the book, requiring interaction on the part of the viewer who then opens the book to explore it’s contents.
It’s a thin metaphor, to my mind, of what a book does in reality. Sitting on a shelf it is at best useful as a prop to other books or a decorative piece. Sitting on a table it may provide height or a decent paperweight. It is only through the engagement of the reader that the book gains real value. As we open the book, we are welcomed into a new world. This theme was literally realized in the best-selling Myst video game years ago, where ancient books magically written would take travelers to new “ages”, or worlds within the game. But this is also what books actually do in real life. The best books transport us out of ourselves into another place and time. They carve out a “space in time”, as Michael Card tells us all good art should do in Scribbling In The Sand. Every lover of good books will get this metaphor instantly form Edward’s work at NAESS.
While Van Vliet’s piece takes Marshall McLuhan’s adage, “the medium is the message” to it’s extremes, it goes beyond that meaning with its content. Within each book you will discover reflections on the enormity of the universe and our place in it, through little thoughts and tiny moments. Each image contains a celestial background overlaid with short, poignant reflections in simple black text.
detail from "I'm Not Finished Yet"
One piece proclaims that “you have lost the power of astonishment at your own actions”. Like any good book or piece of art, this statement will take on new meaning with each reader. For me, it is a reminder to keep going and to keep dreaming. It is a prodding away from false humility in the guise of self-deprecation, on towards completing the tasks I was created for. The explosive pink interstellar imagery behind the words points to possibility. This is simply one of the several books included in the installation, and yet if I were to stop and soak in it, I could find many more significant connections to my own journey.
What Edward Van Vliet does with “I’m Not Finished Yet” is offers us “Worlds Within Words“. The fact that these pregnant phrases are packed between two covers of metaphor, then illuminated in a very literal way, helps us get the point. One gets the sense that each phrase really has as much to offer as if it were an entire book, and deserves our time and attention.
Visit Edward Van Vliet’s “worlds within words” while you still can.
“I’m Not Finished Yet” runs until September 25th and is free. NAESS Gallery (formerly The Paint Spot) can be found at 10032 81 Ave in Edmonton and is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 AM to 6 PM and Sunday from noon to 5 PM.
Posted in books, Galleries | 2 Comments »
It’s ArtWalk time folks! This weekend, look for artist friends – both old and new – amidst the many stalls sprawled along Whyte Avenue. I’ll be searching for Giselle Denis, Justina Smith and others. Sunshine and art – what could be better?
Get more into at http://www.art-walk.ca/
PS >> If YOU will be there this weekend, why not comment below to tell us where to find you?
This year, more than one person took the time to capture Bridge Songs on film on June 5th. I’m glad they did, because it was a wonder-full night we want to remember for a long time. And for those of you who weren’t able to make it out, these images give a glimpse into “the sound (and sight) of glory”.
This first batch of images was captured by Susan Wilde, with post-processing by our own Jennifer Wilde. They’re simply lovely.
http://wildelifephotography.com/Events/Bridge-Songs-Faerie/
Posted in Alberta Avenue, Art, Art Shows, Bridge Songs: Faerie, Concert Reviews, Event Reviews, Galleries, Photography | Comments Off
Servus Community Access Night
Last Thursday of every month, 6-9 pm
Free admissionYour AGA is committed to being accessible to all Albertans. Join us this Thursday, April 29 for Servus Community Access Night. These evenings of free admission to the AGA are made possible with the support of Servus Credit Union.
Contemporary Art 101
Wednesdays, April 7, 14 & 21, 6:30-8 pm
$90 / $60 AGA Members (+GST, includes refreshments)Does Contemporary Art leave you a little confused? Take this new, three-week course led by AGA Deputy Director/Chief Curator, Catherine Crowston, to find out about the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of video, installation, performance and sound art. Designed to demystify contemporary art, this one-time course will cover the basic ideas and histories behind artistic practice today.
Week 1 - Conceptual Art: What and Why?
From Marcel Duchamp to Yoko Ono to General Idea
Week 2 - Video Art: What and Why?
From Pablo Picasso to Michael Snow to Pipilotti Rist
Week 3 - Art & Politics: What and Why?
From Jackson Pollock to Cindy Sherman to Rebecca Belmore
Posted in Art, Arts Group, Events, Galleries | Comments Off
Tickets for our two-day opening celebration (January 31 and February 1) and Family Day (February 15) are now fully booked. We’re very excited by the tremendous support and interest from the community for the opening of the new AGA!
We invite everyone to visit us during our new Gallery hours starting February 2.
Tuesday-Friday: 11 am-7 pm
Weekends and Holidays: 10 am-5 pm
Closed Mondays*
*Shop AGA and Art Rental & Sales open Monday 10 am-5 pm
E-town Poet and Rapper Joe Gurba (aka The Joe) has brought together a collection of artists under the banner “Old Ugly”. The website declares “The Old and the Ugly exist. We are raising awareness for them”. It’s an exciting group of creatives that I look forward to watching in the coming days. Especially with Joe Gurba behind them – an artist I’ve come to respect a great deal. There’s a great way to find out more about Old Ugly coming right up as well … A Circus! So, how do I describe this “circus”? Well, perhaps I should just let Joe describe it. From the website;
Click the image to learn more about the Old Ugly Circus
THE OLD UGLY CIRCUS
DECEMBER 13 AT 2 PM FOR TEN LOONIES IN ADVANCE AND 13 AT THE DOOR
ILLFIT OUTFIT / DOUG HOYER / WARRIOR MUSIC / PHATCAT / RACOON SUIT / JESSICA JALBERT / TYLER BUTLER / CAITY FISHER / JADED HIPSTER CHOIR / THE JOE / MIKEY MAYBE / MITCHMATIC / THE CBT / RAPPERS ARE PEOPLE / BIKE MONTH
AVENUE THEATRE // 9030 118 AVE
18+ SORRY
BEST DRESSED WINS MUSIC, MONEY, A HUGE BAG OF ASSORTED HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE, A BOX OF YOGO BITS, A BOX OF YOGO FRUIT ROLL UPS, A BOX OF SHREK GUMMIES, A BOX OF OREO CAKESTERS (gross), AND A HUGE POUCH OF JUICE CRYSTALS (makes 4.5 litres!), and a great big RED lipstick kiss on the cheek from BETHANY GURBA.
SOCIAL REJECTS WELCOME
POETS WELCOME
OLD PEOPLE WELCOME (not too old)
SCARED AND SAD PEOPLE ALSO WELCOME
TROUBLE MAKERS STAY AT HOME (we see you w.)
JUST IMAGINE!!!:
GLOW STICKS FOR CHEAP!!
HOTT GIRLZ! SINGLEZ!!
THERE WILL BE HOPSCOTCH, SKIP ROPES, CRAZY EIGHTS, CONFETTI, CANADA’S NEXT TOP MODEL HOPEFULS, AND BEST OF ALL, MUSIC!!!
IT’S A CIRCUS!!!!!!!
Get more info at … http://olduglyco.com/ourcircuz.cfm
