Vernon Public Art Gallery Celebrates Exhibitions with Opening Reception
 
(Vernon, BC, September 25, 2009) The Vernon Public Art Gallery is pleased to present three new exhibitions beginning Thursday, October 1st with an Opening Reception from 5-8 PM. The Topham Brown Memorial Gallery will exhibit bodies of drawings produced by internationally recognized Canadian artist Ann Kipling based in Falkland, BC. The pen-and-ink drawings are marked by the artist‚s persistence on a repetition that exemplifies the same subject, in this case the landscape. Kipling‚s subject-based drawings have the appearance of abstract subject matter and bring attention to their ephemeral quality that displays both an illusion of a volume and a sense of airiness at the same time. Kipling‚s exhibition is titled Recent Landscape Drawings.
 
The Caroline Galbraith Gallery will host the exhibition titled Watermark, consisting of a selection of paintings which explore landscape forms reflected on the surface of the water. The artist, Jane Everett, has been producing paintings with water-related imagery for the last decade. The works in this exhibition were created in the last two years on locations in BC at Shuswap Lake and Mission Creek, and in Ontario at the Winnipeg River. While her landscape paintings are based on the observed sites, the influence of her memory of these places clearly contributes to almost dreamlike images where most of the shapes start to dissolve in an environment permeated by light. Everett‚s exploration in capturing light, together with the fragmented landscape forms reflected on the surface of water bodies, results in images that are ephemeral and invoke a feeling of a peaceful sensual experience.
 
Katherine Upton‚s exhibition in the Up-Front Gallery, with the title The Paint Itself, will create a body of paintings addressing the issues of representation and abstraction. The works in this exhibition will combine elements of portraiture with more abstracted patterns pertaining to different cultural origins. Upton is a Vernon-based artist who has been producing paintings and drawings for more than 30 years. Her exhibition exhibits a new direction in her studio practice. The paintings in this exhibition focus on the non-representational mode of expression where she does not use any source material of observable reality, be it figurative or landscape in nature. Upton opts instead for purely formalist aesthetics where the Œform‚ as a subject matter takes precedent over the portrayal of any recognizable subject.
 
The exhibition by Ann Kipling will run until December 22, 2009, while Jane Everett‚s and Katherine Upton‚s will run until November 19, 2009.

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26 Sep 2009

All are invited to view the works at Kalamalka Vertigo, located at Vernon's Kalamalka Campus of Okanagan College. The gallery, a joint venture between Gallery Vertigo and Okanagan College, is located just past the      college lecture theatre in the main building adjacent to the college office. The current exhibition can be viewed during college hours from now until November 15th.

One Thing Leads to Another

"One Thing Leads to Another" is a selection of work created between 2007 and 2009, that demonstrates the progression of changes that occurred in my work during this time. - from smaller non-referential paintings to larger canvases that began from found visual motifs. There were other tangents that I explored during this time, including large paper works and painting installations, but throughout I kept up a strong sketchbook practice. This was were ideas morphed from one tangent to another and copious numbers of variations were explored.

During this time my painting practice moved into a practice, that at its core, courts the unfamiliar through flirtations with the familiar, as a means of investigating how visual forms claim meaning. This interest comes out of a sense that images actually do much more than we are acutely aware of. I feel that abstraction, as it was employed at the height of modernist painting, is a suitable form of address ˆ as it has the ability to detach forms from meanings they may have previously claimed.

I work with the repetition of visual motifs to suggest an order or logic that simulates other motifs, such as logos and diagrams, which communicate information through images. In using repetition, I make everything familiar and unfamiliar at once, pulling images from their contexts, and pushing their associative connections to the periphery to reveal something different and newly unfamiliar. I paint in a somewhat performative manner, mapping things out by hand, allowing painterly moments to occur, such as drips and visible brush strokes, while still maintaining the graphic quality of the forms.

About Katie Brennan:

Katie Brennan is a BC artist, currently based out of Vernon BC. She recently completed her MFA at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. She complete her BFA at Emily Carr University in Vancouver BC. Recent exhibitions include "Surround" at Island Mountain Arts in Wells, BC - a show that used the characteristics of the landscape of

Wells as a source for a series of abstractions that investigated the formal make-up Wells  and  a group show at Georgia Scherman Projects in Toronto. Her writing has appeared in Border Crossings. Currently, she is a sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan Campus.

Gallery Vertigo is a registered non-profit society comprised of local and regional artists and friends of the arts. Since September of the year 2000, we have been actively engaged in creating public awareness of the arts in all its forms by establishing and maintaining Gallery Vertigo, the only artist run centre in the North Okanagan. The centre offers a rich and varied array of visual art exhibitions, cultural events and learning opportunities for all ages.

We are located upstairs at Suite #1, 3001 31st Street, downtown Vernon, in the historical Winnipeg Union Bank building across from Nolan's Drugs. Please use the side entrance under Krause Jeweller's awning.
 
Hours of business are from 11:00am-4:00pm, Tuesday through Saturday.
For information call Gallery Vertigo @ (250)503-2297 or email: info@galleryvertigo.com.
Our website can be found at www.galleryvertigo.com.

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23 Sep 2009

Forget what you’ve heard about too many cooks in the kitchen, Mission Hill Family Estate will host the official launch of the Chefs’ Table Society of British Columbia cookbook, Vancouver Cooks 2, with an exclusive reception and five-course dinner, October 9. Sharing the evening’s spotlight with Mission Hill’s Winery Chef Matthew Batey are four of British Columbia’s premier chefs, including: Pino Posteraro of Cioppino's Mediterranean Grill, Vikram Vij of Vij’s and Rangoli, Ned Bell of Cabana Bar and Grille, and Rob Feenie of Cactus Club Restaurants.
 
A reception in the Wine Shop will kick off the festivities, with an optional tour for guests of the underground Barrel Cellar. A sumptuous five-course wine and food pairing will follow in Mission Hill’s Chagall Room, named for the exquisite tapestry by Russian-born painter Marc Chagall that adorns the room - one of only 29 Chagall tapestries ever made.
 
Guests will enjoy a culinary homage to British Columbia with delicious selections prepared by the all-star chef line-up. The menu features cookbook-inspired dishes by the chefs paired with Mission Hill’s premium wines a sampling includes fennel marinated sablefish with Reserve Riesling, seared Qualicum scallops and squash ravioli with Perpetua, and south Okanagan Valley venison with Quatrain.
 
Completing the evening will be a special take-home gift -- each guest will receive a copy of the Chefs’ Table Society cookbook, Vancouver Cooks 2 with the authors available for personalized book signings.
 
Later this autumn, Mission Hill will also be offering a special Chefs Table Society culinary workshop at the winery based on recipes from the new cookbook.
 
Details:
Chefs’ Table Society Book Launch
Reception and Dinner
Mission Hill Family Estate, Chagall Room
 
Date: Friday, October 9, 2009
Time: 6:30 - 11:00 pm
Cost: $175 plus taxes (per person)
 
About The Chefs' Table Society of British Columbia
The Chefs' Table Society of British Columbia is a chef-administered, province-wide collaborative dedicated to creating a foundation for the exchange of information between culinary professionals. The Society supports innovative and sustainable programs that will inspire, educate and nurture its chefs, producers and the local food industry, all the while promoting standards of excellence with the aim of enhancing the reputation of regional cuisine.
 
About Vancouver Cooks 2
A second helping of recipes celebrating the BC food scene, served up by 70 well-known and emerging chefs. Five years after Vancouver Cooks, which sold more than 13,000 copies, the Chefs’ Table Society returns with over 100 new recipes from 70 chefs around Vancouver, Victoria and the Okanagan. Divided into four sections—local food, international flavours, emerging talents and pioneering chefs—Vancouver Cooks 2 celebrates the key elements that have forged Vancouver’s unique culinary culture and made the city a world-class dining destination. We also see the industry behind the scenes, understanding its heritage and the innovative strides Vancouver chefs are taking.
 
Written for the home cook, Vancouver Cooks 2 pairs more than 50 full-colour photographs with the mouthwatering recipes, each with wine notes. Royalties from the sale of this book go to the Chefs’ Table Scholarship and Bursary Fund.
 
About Mission Hill Family Estate
Mission Hill Family Estate is world renowned for its award-winning wines, stunning setting and architecture, and its Cuisine de Terroir-based Terrace Restaurant. Honoured as one of the Top Five Winery Restaurants globally, the restaurant and epicurean program is led by Chef Matthew Batey.  The winery’s vineyards are located in five distinct growing regions of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.  Reflective of the origin and unique character of the Valley and of the careful ‘pruning to bottle’ program, Oculus, our signature Bordeaux-inspired wine, represents the pinnacle in premium winemaking.  Proprietor Anthony von Mandl and winemaker John Simes produce elegant internationally acclaimed wines with New World flavours and Old World refinement from this incomparable lakeside mountaintop winery.  Visit www.missionhillwinery.com for more information.
 

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23 Sep 2009

Join Yuikiko Onley for her Artist Talk
Saturday, September 19 at 1 p.m.

Yukiko Onley was born in Osaka, Japan where art and culture were an intrinsic part of her upbringing. Her grandmother was both a master of traditional flower arrangements and a master of the tea ceremony. In addition, one of her aunts had gained a name as an accomplished painter. It‚s not surprising then that Yukiko‚s early training in the visual arts was as a painter. After meeting and falling in love with the renowned Canadian painter Toni Onley, Yukiko packed up and moved to Vancouver in 1976.

Her relationship with Toni, both during and after their marriage, has played a significant role and has deeply influenced the development of her work. Originally working as a painter Yukiko began to see the limitations of the medium and in 1989 she began to explore the possibilities of photography. Largely self-taught as a photographer, her explorations and understanding of the medium began to suit her aesthetic and artist sensibility and over the past twenty years she has firmly established herself as one of the premier portrait photographers working on the West Coast.

Her approach to her subjects is intuitive and spontaneous and the resulting portraits are elegant, sophisticated and timeless. Over the years she has documented some of the leading cultural figures living and working in Vancouver including: Arthur Erickson, Jim Hart, Fred Herzog, Robert Reid and of course the late Toni Onley. In addition to her work as a photographer, Yukiko is interested in and involved with a wide range of music, dance and theatre productions. Currently she is a volunteer photographer for the Modern Baroque Opera Company in Vancouver.

Yukiko continues to live and work in Vancouver and has recently relocated her photographic studio to Alberta Street where she also operates a small gallery. Besides her work as a celebrated portrait photographer, she is increasingly being sought after as a wedding photographer. For more information on her work, please check her website at: www.yukikoonley.com.

Love Toni, xox

Artist Talk with Yukiko Onley on Saturday, September 19 at 1 p.m.

I first met Toni Onley during the fall of 1993 at what I imagine must have been the apex of the breakdown of his marriage to his wife Yukiko. I had phoned him up and asked if I might be able to meet with him in an effort to learn more about his life and work. Truth be told I had only known of his name from my recent study and interest in the development of the visual arts in Vancouver and through his friendship and association to many of the artists whose work I had begun to collect. A catalogue from his 1971 Vancouver Art Gallery retrospective also provided some invaluable advance knowledge of his life and career. The excuse I used to contact him came in the form of my involvement with an auction that raised funds to offset the legal fees of those who had been arrested during the Clayoquot Sound blockades. I was amazed to find him listed in the phone book and that the number was actually that of an answering service. I left a message and received a call the next day. I told him the reason for my call and he quickly invited me over to collect a work to assist with our benefit auction.

A week later I travelled from Victoria to Vancouver on what was a typically dreary and rainy November day. Pulling up to his westcoast modernist home on Yuculta Crescent, I found a moving truck buzzing with a crew which was swiftly and carefully loading the van. This was all being conducted from a balcony above the driveway by the object of my visit. As I approached the house I could hear him yelling down at the movers to be more cautious as they were handling very expensive kimonos and other objects which needed the greatest of care to ensure the safe transport. I introduced myself and reminded him of the purpose of my visit and was welcomed into his home. He quickly apologized for being so flustered and for the chaos which surrounded him and offered me an espresso.

No sooner did I have my espresso in my hand when the phone rang and Toni‚s demeanour changed. It was his wife Yukiko phoning to say that she was going out for the afternoon and requested that the movers could come at a later time. It would be the first and only time I would see him loose his temper, albeit briefly. After a quick exchange, he hung up the phone and returned to the balcony where he leaned over yelling to the movers working below that they could forget his demands that they take extra caution with the possessions and should they find no one home when they arrived at Yukiko‚s house, to just dump her stuff on the balcony whether it was raining or not. He quickly retuned to the kitchen, apologized once again and we began a friendship which would last until his death in 2004. This was also my introduction to Yukiko albeit not directly and not in the best possible light.

As my friendship with Toni grew, we would often talk about our bad luck in romantic relationships and I began to develop a picture of Yukiko. Other than that single moment of frustration I never heard him say anything that was mean spirited but he did talk of his sadness of the situation. The majority of our conversations dealt with his reflections of the happier times of their relationship. Toni genuinely loved her and that affection and admiration was never lost in any of our conversations and was corroborated by the fact that they remained great friends and at times roommates up until his untimely passing. In fact, it was Toni who suggested that I do an exhibition of her photographs while I was working at the Grand Forks Art Gallery.

At that time I had talked briefly with Yukiko about the possibility of an exhibition, but it would not be until I moved to Penticton that we would have the opportunity to bring the idea to fruition. It was during one of our conversations that she mentioned her idea of putting together an exhibition of Toni‚s letters which he had written to her after the break-up of their marriage and she asked if I would be interested. I wrestled with this for a while debating the morality of such an exhibition, where his most intimate thoughts and pain would be made public. As I turned this idea over in my mind, an advance preview copy of the book Love Toni xox by the renowned designer Robert Reid appeared at the gallery.

The book consists of twenty-six letters and their accompanying sumi-ink illustrations which Toni sent to Yukiko between 1991 and 2003. The letters offer a unique and vastly different view of an artist whose bravado and public persona have been well documented and are legendary. The letters show a sensitivity that for many was only ever seen in his paintings and document both his love and the deep sense of loss and vulnerability he felt with the breakdown of their relationship. Robert Reid wanted to capture the sensitivity of these letters and has meticulously reproduced each letter in full color on various handmade Japanese papers. The copies are so good that I was at first convinced that Yukiko had sent me the originals.

These letters show a side of the artist not seen by many and provide more insight into the personality responsible for some of the most iconic interpretations of our province. In terms of art history they would be considered minor works but they are no less important as they provide background and a point of reference to the last thirteen years of his life. These works are now part of the public record and in that regard I feel that they contribute to an even greater understanding of the artist and his work. In addition when I considered Toni‚s long term relationship to the Penticton Art Gallery and our community I felt that we would be an appropriate venue to host this exhibition. I hope that this exhibition will only serve to further expand his already substantial contributions to the development of the art history of our province and provide for many a new perspective of the man behind the images.

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19 Sep 2009

A Blend of Music and Comedy Unfolds in A Little Nightmare Music at the Kelowna Community Theatre

Sunday, September 27th | 8 pm

On Sunday, September 27th, 2009 international music and comedy sensation Aleksey Igudesman and Richard Hyung-Ki Joo make a stop in Kelowna as part of a Western Canadian Tour of A Little Nightmare Music.
 
Premiering in Canada, these two classically trained musicians are highly acclaimed for their unique showmanship that combines comedy and sheer virtuosity.
 
Trained at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England where the two met at the age of 12, soon became a lifetime of camaraderie and writing partners.  Breathing life into classical music with a splash of comedy was the vision of a unique show.  “We felt even back then (at the age of 12) that classical music was too stuffy, and wanted to make it more accessible to a wider audience and a younger audience,” says Joo. “Classical music can be fun and we want to have fun with it as well,” he says.  
 
Following in the footsteps of luminaries such as Victor Borge and Dudley Moore, the dynamic duo collaborated in their first groundbreaking show, and in 2004 A Little Nightmare Music was born.  A blend of comedy and outlandish episodes unfold in a series of hilarious scenes. Critics have described the show as “zany, outrageous humour”.
 
Monty Python Director and Comedian, Terry Jones says, "A Little Nightmare Music brings surrealism to the concert hall and takes its trousers down! Very musical, very engaging and very funny. A Big Hand for A Little Nightmare Music's Big Hands."

“Igudesman and Joo are not only musical virtuosi but also comic maestros. Anything they touch turns to gold and I am enchanted by them every time I see them. Definitely one of the funniest and most entertaining shows I have ever seen and I can't wait to see them again in action!" - MISCHA MAISKY – cellist.
 
Performing with major symphony orchestras around the world the two musicians have toured across Europe, in the United States and in Japan.
 
Their show has reached well outside the classical field and toured with legends of the pop world including Robin Gibb (Bee Gees), Midge Ure (Ultravox), co-creator of Live Aid and Band Aid, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds and Kim Willde. Individually, Igudesman has worked with musicians ranging from Academy Award winning Hollywood composer, Hans Zimmer, to multi-Grammy Award winning vocalist, Bobby McFerrin.  Joo, has had equal distinction, working with Academy Award winning composer, Vangelis and was selected by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Billy Joel to arrange and record Joel’s classical compositions on a CD that reached No.1 on the Billboard Charts.  Together, the two musicians have collaborated with actor, Roger Moore on several occasions for UNICEF.
 
 
For one night only Igudesman and Joo will perform A Little Nightmare Music at the Kelowna Community Theatre on Sunday, September 27th at 8 pm.  Delivering a spellbinding performance that integrates hard-hitting music and comedy is an entertaining evening.  Tickets for A Little Nightmare Music are $34 for seniors and $40 for adults and are available at Select Your Tickets by calling 250.762.5050 or visit www.selectyourtickets.com
For more information on A Little Nightmare Music and to preview their upcoming show visittheir official website www.igudesmanandjoo.com
 

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17 Sep 2009