Three Rivers: Wild Waters, Sacred Places

Kelowna Art Gallery
Kelowna BC Feb 4-Apr 2, 2006

Haruko Okano, Endangered [detail], (2004), multi-media installation [Kelowna Art Gallery BC, Feb 4-Apr 2]

For two weeks during the summer of 2003, eight Canadian artists travelled by boat down three remote rivers in the central Yukon: the Snake, the Wind and the Bonnet Plume. The expedition included members of the Yukon and Northwest Territories First Nations communities. Three Rivers: Wild Waters, Sacred Places features the resulting work.

The sculptures, paintings, photo-based works and installations present the subjective responses of British Columbia artists Haruko Okano and Gwen Curry; Yukon artists Joyce Majiski and Jane Isakson; Marlene Creates from Newfoundland; and Ontario artists Ron Bolt, Michael Belmore and Jose Mansilla-Miranda. They express their concept of “wilderness”, an integral part of the Canadian psyche, through both traditional styles and conceptual pieces.

Gwen Curry, Seduction, (detail) (2004), 10 maple plinths, lights, glass, electrical cord giclee transparencies [Kelowna Art Gallery BC, Feb 4-Apr 2]

The artists’ trip was organized by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPWS). The rivers form part of the Peel River Watershed, a mountain ecosystem considered to be one of the largest and most scenic wilderness areas in the territory. The watershed lies mainly in the homelands of the Nacho Nyak Dun and Tetlit Gwich’in First Nations. Gwen Curry called it “everyone’s dream landscape.”

The exhibition is organized and circulated by The Yukon Art Centre Public Art Gallery. Because Canada has about twenty percent of the world’s remaining intact landscapes, with a sizeable portion in the Yukon, a regional land use plan is urgent. Through the expedition and the exhibition, CPWS highlights their critical mission. For more information, see http://www.cpawsyukon.org.

www.kelownaartgallery.com

Mia Johnson

Jose Mansilla Miranda, LUX: Alpha, Omega, Spine, (detail) (2004), triptych, oil, acrylic, latex, 18k gold enamel on canvas and pine [Kelowna Art Gallery BC, Feb 4-Apr 2]

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