By David F. Rooney
installations are an art form that we do not often see in Revelstoke. What is installation art? Here’s a definition that is as good as any: Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space.
Keep that in mind when you visit the Visual Arts Centre this Friday, November 1, starting at 6 pm for the opening of Altars, Shrines and Curiosities, a collection of art installations by Peter Blackmore, Mieke Blommestein, Sandra Flood, Tina Lindegaard, Mas Matsushita, Cherie Van Overbeke, Jacqueline Pendergast, Jennifer Rogers, Andrew Stacey, Joanne Stacey, Krista Stovel, Estee Sylvester, Coreen Tucker, Memory Uglene and David Walker.
Sometimes, installations are comprised of purpose-built objects, but they just as often use re-purposed or altered objects of all kinds from old photos to bits and pieces of metal, old jars, suitcases, boxes and other objects that catch an artist’s eye or, in one way or another excites their creative urge.
Personally I think this show could well one of the most revealing and unique shows we have seen in Revelstoke for many years. And it might never have come this far without Krista Stovel’s urgent drive to see this through to completion. Krista first proposed this show at the 2014 Visual Arts Society Exhibition Committee and kept that creative flame alive all winter and spring. She corralled the artists and organized evening group discussions where they could discuss ideas, techniques, problems and solutions. Art creation is very often a pretty solitary pursuit so this near-collaborative approach was, to say the least, ground-breaking. And I think it really bore some creative fruit. But you be the judge.
On a completely different note, the opening will also feature work by the RSS students who participated in this year’s Glacier Adventure Stewardship Program (GASP). If past exhibitions of the students’ work from this Parks Canada program is anything to go by this will be an interesting show, too. I’ll post some advance images from the GASP show later this week, in the meantime here are images I hope will compile you to come see the completed Altars, Shrines and Curiosities:
