From sea to see
Celebrating 150 years with 150 works of art
What is the most Canadian of art subjects? Ask a lover of Canadian art and chances are their answer will be landscape.
So it comes as no surprise that landscape paintings dominate Oh Canada, an exhibition at Gallery on the Bay.
The exhibition comprises 150 paintings, prints, sculptures and textiles by 25 artists celebrating Canada’s sesquicentennial. The landscapes are complemented by images of human figures, animals and birds.
David Dawson, co-owner of the gallery, says the ambitious project began as musings over cappuccinos on a quiet Saturday with Barry Hodgson, one of the gallery’s artists and curators.
“Barry suggested 150 works of art representing or referring to all the provinces,” Dawson tells me.
“We added territories, then figured we needed to have First Nations represented along with Inuit.
“About then it begins to dawn that there is no way we can represent all the nations and cultures that have come to make up Canada.
“But we figured our current artists tend to travel and paint in multiple provinces so we could probably manage all the provinces within our current stable of artists. We invited three others we know who paint the Yukon, Nunavut and N.W.T.”
Fiona Ellis, one of the invited artists, offers drama and colour in “McKenzie Mountain Barrens, Nunavut.”
We find ourselves in an uninhabited tundra landscape that moves upward along a narrow river, painted white with occa- sional blue and mauve dabs. Diagonal streaks of mostly mauve and yellow add a strong sense of mood and movement to the sinuous hills.
A rural landscape characterizes Michael Dobson’s “Double Harvest.” Dobson recently moved to Alberta from Ontario.
He paints his new province as a sunny and spacious place.
He divides his composition into two almost equal parts, plac- ing low-lying farmland under a big blue sky.
Jody Joseph takes to the streets of Dundas in a series of house paintings.
“Each home flew its own flag, but there was a statement of unity, pride, allegiance and identity that related them to one another,” she says. “So it felt fitting to give each painting a title that is a phrase from the national anthem.”
“With glowing hearts we see thee rise” spotlights a white house on Victoria Street. Joseph builds up her composition with
textured shapes that look spontaneously and energetically applied.
Joseph, like me and many others, is an immigrant.
The skull of a buffalo sits at the centre of a silk scarf designed by Angela DeMontigny, a well-known native Canadian designer who grew up in Vancouver and now lives in Hamilton.
DeMontigny says the skull reflects the importance of the buffalo to the plains nations. The woodland flowers embellishing the skull and the eagle feathers encircling it refer to DeMontigny’s Cree/Métis heritage.
Hamilton artist Chelo Sebastian, a native of Spain, has painted people playing hockey, as a homage to Canada’s favourite sport.
Dawson admits the non-landscapes in the exhibition might give a limited impression about what Canadians do.
“It looks like all Canadians do is play hockey, repose or work on the farm.”
But the Canadian landscapes are wonderfully inclusive.
Regina Haggo, art historian, public speaker, curator and former professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, teaches at the Dundas Valley School of Art. dhaggo@thespec.com
It felt fitting to give each painting a title that is a phrase from the national anthem. ARTIST JODY JOSEPH