By David F. Rooney
With a title like Things Your Mother Warned you About how dark, how twisted can the 31st Kootenay Boundary Exhibition, which opens on Friday at 6 pm, actually be? Hmmm… pretty dark and somewhat twisted.
“The theme presented artists with a challenge to work on a specific theme and I have been amazed at the wide variety of responses produced,” said Jackie Pendergast, executive director of the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre. “It has been very exciting to see the completed works. It has felt like opening gifts as each entry has been unwrapped!”
The exhibition is being juried by Laura White, chairwoman of the Kootenay School of the Arts and Rod Taylor, curator of Touchstones Gallery in Nelson. They will make a number of awards including Best entry from an Established Artist, Best entry from an Emerging Artist, both sponsored by West Kootenay Regional Arts Council and a scholarship sponsored by Island Mountain Arts to 2011 Toni Onley Artists’ Project.
The jurors will offer artists the opportunity to meet and discuss their work. Honourable Mention Awards will be sponsored by Revelstoke Arts Council. There will also be a People’s Choice Award judged by visitors to the exhibition.
There are 32 works in this exhibition and, for the most part, they actually fit the bill. There are a few pieces that will doubtless leave patrons wondering how they got into the show but for the most part the 32 paintings, drawings, photographs, weavings and sculptures are rather good. Of special interest are the artists’ statements that accompany each work. They are interesting and add significant insight into the reasons why individual artists created specific works.
Things Your Mother Warned You About opens this Friday (August 6) at 6.00 pm. The presentation of awards will take place at 7 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend. Admission is by donation.
Below you will find 11 images of 12 works by individual artists. Enjoy!
