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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
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This Kind of Wilderness
Shawn Serfas
July 29 - Sept 29, 2021
In Absentia
Gillian Willans
July 29 - Oct 19. 2021
Shawn Serfas is presenting a new body of work pushing the edges of abstraction in the exhibition at the Vernon Public Art Gallery. The large scale paintings are not only stunning to see at a glance, but with closer examination, the surfaces are extremely textural. Serfas added additional 3D elements built from pigmented polymer resin. The viewer is faced with the paradox of viewing 3D structures built on presumptively two-dimensional surfaces. Despite the abstract quality of Serfas’ paintings, there are obviously hints of narratives mostly implied in the paintings’ titles which serve as an entry point to invoke possible associations.
Gillian Willans is presenting a series of paintings that carry themes of the domestic realm. The paintings are based on found photographs, in which the camera lens also plays a role in the overall feeling of the image. Willans speaks of the domestic realm, she explains that her hope is to capture her interest in social role-playing and her own struggles to define her belonging within the home. The rooms are unidealized, not touched up to look pretty but to just be as they were in that time and space. The rooms are empty without the people who may have occupied them, in this purposeful choice, Willans hopes to draw attention to the missing figures as well as the gaze of the photographer.
Beairsto anti-racist project
Students at Beairsto School
July 29 - Oct 19, 2021
As a peaceful protest against the racist propaganda which was distributed around schools in the community in the fall of 2020, École Beairsto and the Vernon Public Art Gallery are excited to present a collaborative social justice project as a way to speak up against hate. In the fall of 2020, hundreds of flyers on pieces of white paper with the headline ‘Wake Up’ along with a list of several web pages that promote racism and Nazism, were found scattered outside several Vernon schools, leaving many parents and staff seriously concerned, shocked and saddened. The 715 self-portraits will form a rainbow mosaic of diversity that highlights the differences that make each one of us special. The project will not only feature 715 canvases with a self-portrait of each student; but also an anti-racist banner that will be hung outside the school; and a special mini-documentary. The workshop portion and the mini-documentary portions of the project are sponsored by the Social Planning Council North Okanagan and funded by a provincial government grant through the Resilience BC program.
Life Through Art
Silver Springs
July 29 - Sept 29, 2021
The VPAG has teamed up with the Silver Springs Senior community to showcase the diverse array of artworks. The image above is titled: Winter's Edge by Barbara Wolf and is made of 53,000 beads.