Go to Vancouver, see Bombhead

The Vancouver Art Gallery is is presenting an exhibition that explores the emergence and ongoing impact of the nuclear age through the work of artists, designers, filmmakers, photojournalists and physicists.

Guest curated by John O’Brian, professor emeritus of art history, visual art and theory at the University of B.C., Bombhead brings together paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, photographs, film and video that deal with this often dark subject matter, strongly associated with obliteration and destruction.

“We are very pleased to present Bombhead, which explores the profound cultural and ecological impact of nuclear technologies through the art and visual culture of the nuclear era,” said Kathleen S. Bartels, director of the Vancouver Art Gallery. “In a time marked by ongoing nuclear proliferation this timely exhibition compels us to observe and reflect on the major role Canada has played in nuclear events since their emergence in the mid-20th century.”

Artists in the exhibition include: Carl Beam, Henry Busse, Blaine Campbell, Bruce Conner, Gregory Coyes, Robert Del Tredici, Wang Du, Harold Edgerton, Gathie Falk, Robert Filliou, Richard Finnie, Betty Goodwin, Adolph Gottlieb, Jenny Holzer, Robert Keziere, Roy Kiyooka, Bob Light and John Houston, Ishiuchi Miyako, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Bruce Nauman, Andrea Pineiro, James Rosenquist, Mark Ruwedel, John Scott, Erin Siddall, Nancy Spero and Barbara Todd. Bombhead will be on display until June 17. The themes explored in this exhibition in the exhibit, Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg, which reflect Murakami’s own reckoning with the nuclear age.