Three great exhibitions + one opening night = a great evening

By David F. Rooney

Friday night’s a no-brainer. The Visual Arts Centre will be the place to be as it opens three new shows: Visceral Loss, the Golden Girls and Kitsch and the Mundane.

The Centre has grained a well-deserved a reputation for exhibiting interesting and dynamic shows and it generally lives up to that reputation here. While there were a few pieces that didn’t turn my crank the overwhelming majority of them are excellent, technically accomplished and visually satisfying.

The main gallery is occupied by the Visceral Loss show of images by artists from nearby Salmon Arm. With swirls of colour and movement their works celebrate the Adams River and the salmon runs that make it a spectacular place to visit.

The Sophie Atkinson Gallery is playing host to The Golden Girls exhibition of works by Gwynne Battersby, Sherrin David, Greta Speerbrecker, Muriel Rota, Judy Vigue, Lorna Duncan, Betty Olynyk and Delfina Peressini. Having watched these ladies paint over the years I am amazed at the distance they have come. When they started painting under the tutelage of Betty Olynyk, these women were tentative and unsure of themselves. Their brush strokes were often clumsy and and coarse and they dreaded being photographed when they were painting. Today it’s a very different story. Their work has progressed tremendously. You can sense their self-confidence and, hopefully, that is something that will only grow in the years to come.

Kitsch and the Mundane, is the name of the Visual Arts Society Members’ Show on exhibit in the side galleries. While there are works by some of our well-established local artists in this show, many of the pieces are by relatively new artists in town who are injecting some new blood into this show. Whimsy lies at the heart of this show and many of the artists certainly took hold of that theme and rode it artistically.

Visceral Loss, The Golden Girls and Kitsch and the Mundane open to the public at 6 pm at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre at 320 Wilson. refreshments will be served.

The shows run until May 28. Don’t miss them.

And just to entice you to The Centre, here are several images from the three shows for your viewing pleasure:

Visceral Loss

Adams River Boardwalk by Tracey Kutschker. Acrylic on canvas.
Salmon by Miranda McLaws. Watercolour.
On top, Transformation: Death Roe. Acrylic on canvas. On bottom, River Song: Sockeye Salmon Detail. acrylic on canvas. Both by Lisa Figueroa.
Adams River by Lisa Figueroa. Acrylic on canvas.
Contrasts by Lin Maxwell. Acrylic on canvas.

The Golden Girls

Three Sisters by Gwynne Battersby.
Earth's Music by Sherrin Davis.
Summer by Greta Speerbrecker.
Morning Mist by Muriel Rota.
Glowing Rose by Judy Vigue.
Flower Pot by Delfina Peressini.

Kitsch and the Mundane

Anyone who grew up seeing Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz on TV at Christmas will instantly recognize these figures. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Shirly Schmidt.
Marlis Mitchell explores the mundane inanity of Rush Hour Traffic in this acrylic on canvas.
Every girl wants a pony and Sue Davies has just the equine for you. Oil on canvas this work is entitled Kitsch.
El Caro by Elvira Brunner. Acrylic on canvas. Definitely 1970s kitsch.
Peter Blackmore's Host of Heaven is more of the divine in it than the mundane, though there is a kitschy feel to it.
Four Brass Candlestick Holders is one a trilogy of inak and watercolour pieces by Cherie Van Overbeke. Their design harkens back to the early to mid-1960s.
Whirly-Gig by Ken Talbot. A little something in western red cedar for someone's garden.
Butter Dish — but her dish was empty. "Help," she called. This ceramic by Toni Johnston is playful and functional.
Ultimate Kitsch — Las Vegas. Photograph by Kip Wiley. Kip's enormous talent, off-kilter sense of humour and technical skill make this an image that deserves to be seen.

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