Review
CROSSING BOUNDARIES
Dashwood Galleries (Art Central)
The Dashwood Galleries are located at Art Central, Calgary’s downtown emporium of art. The commercial galleries, which opened in the fall of 2004, are owned and operated by Kim Dashwood, a lover of all things ceramic.
Sometimes considered a neglected art form, ceramics often get a bad rap – perhaps due to one too many potters with too much clay on their hands and not enough talent. Dashwood hopes to rectify that negative impression by exhibiting works from some of the best artists currently working in the medium.
She achieves that goal with her current exhibition, Crossing Boundaries, putting unique, funny and even poignant designs on display.
The main Dashwood gallery operates on the second level of Art Central, but there is also a smaller space on the ground level that features a large window facing on to the street. At present this location contains the installation Embodied reCollection by Trudy Ellen Golley, which is part of the Crossing Boundaries show.
Admittedly, judging works based on the menstrual cycle is not my forte, but this is a fine multi-piece work from an accomplished artist. Golley, the head of ceramics at Red Deer College, uses this space to its best advantage with a female figure looking over 49 ceramic cups lined up across the floor in symmetrical perfection.
Upstairs, the exhibition is of an equally high calibre. In the front window are two pieces by Wendy Walgate, an Ontario-based artist who examines the culture surrounding the accumulation of objects, such as figurines. In the piece Red is Ambition we see a menagerie of ceramic animal figures stacked high in a dish, perhaps displaced from their regular home atop some granny’s coffee table or sideboard.
Sin-Ying Ho is a ceramic artist who has been getting much attention of late. Born in Hong Kong, Ho immigrated to Canada and received her bachelor of fine arts degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1997. She creates classically shaped vessels that are often marked with cues from contemporary western culture. Ho is able to bridge East and West, new and old, fresh and staid, by producing pieces that are elegant and visually dynamic.
Not to be ignored is local artist Evelyn Grant, whose ceramic works more than hold their own in this talented company. An artist and arts administrator, Grant has worked in ceramics for the past quarter century. Fascinated by kitschy ceramic objects found in pawnshops and dollar stores, she uses them as a starting point to create pieces that work on various levels, from straightforward visual puns to critiques of our collective order.
Included here is part of The Monkeys of Mass Destruction series, featuring various monkey figures that are well known to people who collected the Minton Monkey Teapot, created by Herbert Minton in 1849. Whether you know the history of the Minton monkey or not, a Grant ceramic work of a monkey on a pillow, pointing a pistol, will surely grab your attention.
Also slipped into this diverse ceramic landscape are works from one of Canada’s best-known glass artists, Jeff Burnette. Based in Vancouver, Burnette has been working with hot glass for more than 25 years and it shows. Here viewers have the chance to see some beautifully rendered "raygunz" that highlight how glass can be elevated from craft to art form. Appearing to be children’s toys, these glass guns are multicoloured masterpieces. |
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