Category Archives: McPherson Library

Exhibitions displayed at the McPherson Library Gallery on the main floor of the McPherson Library on UVic’s campus.

Icons of a Border: A Photographic Search for Traces in Today’s Berlin

icons of border

 February 26 – March 26, 2009

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

This exhibit highlights the photography exploration of 36 students from the University of Paderborn, who document both the visible and invisible remnants of the Berlin Wall in modern-day Germany. Under the direction of of Prof. Dr. Barbara Becker and photographer Jürgen Spiler at the Institute for Media Science at the University of Paderborn the exhibit came to life in the course of a photo-practical seminar.

Over the years traces of the wall have become scarce as new structures have been built over the wall’s remains. Aided by historical texts and images, the students located forgotten wall fragments, abandoned watch towers and mental traces of a “wall in the mind”. The city has grown more and more together, and many locations where the Wall or the border strip used to run are now buried under buildings and no longer recognizable as what they once were.

Still, the Wall lives on, not only in places “reconditioned” for tourism, at which material remnants of the Berlin Wall can still be viewed, but also in the self-image of the city, its residents and visitors – as an icon of the Cold War, the separation of Germany, and as a symbol and commemoration of personal destinies and suffering.

Starting with historic photos documenting the building of the Wall, and texts in which the Wall finds a voice, the students attempted to ferret out the atmospheres of the past. They researched where and from what perspective these photos had been taken in order to “document” with present photos, taken from a similar perspective, what has remained of these historically significant sites. For this exhibit, these photos generated during the research for remnants of the Wall were mounted on fifteen panels and supplemented with texts authored by the students themselves. Audio recordings, meant to provide an aural background fro the visual reception, can be listened to through stereophonic headphones, permitting a virtual immersion in Berlin, still “coloured” by its past.

 

In Search of Lost Time: The Art of Cameron Ian MacLeod, 1958 to 1983

U007.2.16T

November 19, 2008 – January 15, 2009

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

Curated by Caroline Riedel and Meredith Temple

Cameron Ian MacLeod was the student of such talented painters as Jack Shadbolt, Gordon A. Smith, and Takao Tanabe, until his life was cut short at the age of 25. The exhibit features work by the young artist, along with his three mentors’ paintings.

At the age of three MacLeod experienced a traumatic episode where he underwent open heart surgery. This experience seems to be played out and explored particularly in his later work, which includes open torsos, human & fish skeletons, swirls & spirals of energy, ladders climbing skyward, and crucifixion images.  He produced the main body of his work between 1975 and 1981. During these years he received scholarships and awards, studied in Canada and abroad, and participated in several exhibitions. He also graduated with an Honours B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia.

His earliest series of landscapes and graveyards was influenced by the Group of Seven, Emily Carr and his time in the Queen Charlotte Islands. A second period in his work saw an explosion of colour featuring representational  fractured landscapes and Native Teepees, influenced by the Fauve School, as well as Gordon Smith, Allen Jones and Alan Wood, who instructed him in Banff.

During and after his travels in France and England Cameron started creating delicate but vigorous landscapes, influenced by Cezanne and Van Gogh. His most powerful period incorporated his final figurative works; charcoals and oils in black and white, somewhat Baconesque and also influenced by Giacometti. This final series captured his inescapable journey inward, from which he did not return.

His friend and mentor Jack Shadbolt wrote of Cameron in a 1987 essay, “Every once in a rare while one is confronted with an aspiring young artist who is charged with such passionate dreams and has evidence of such genius vision, though as yet chaotic and unfocused yet so fraught with unusual promise, and yet who is so distressingly fragile in his own psychic uncertainties, that he compels one’s compassion by the very precariousness of his potential self-realization: such a young artist was Cameron MacLeod.”

Cameron MacLeod did a great deal of work in a very short time. And though his life was brief, like a flame he burned brightly, leaving to us as his legacy this powerful body of work. Cameron died in 1983 of heart failure.

An Environmental Concern for the Earth’s Destruction

Horst Loewel Gallery 037

 October 3 – October 30, 2008

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

In Horst Loewel’s exhibit, the artist demonstrates, through painting, the way humankind is contributing to the destruciton of Earth. All his paintings are expressive, meaningful and represent the seriousness of some of the world’s largest environmental concerns. With this exhibition he intended to demonstrate what may soon become reality. He also points out what big companies do to our planet including mass forest deconstruction and the mass production of oil.

Loewel’s paintings do depict the beauty of nature. His uses bold colors and powerful imagery in surreal, dreamlike landscapes. There are few human figures in his work, implicating a purity of nature and its supremacy over mankind.

Some of Loewel’s paintings depict his point of view of what will happen if we do not start taking better care, and others depict his interpretation of how these problems began. He hopes to inspire the next generation to preserve the Earth by representing the seriousness of the issue. He wants the younger generation to further understand what it means to live on this beautiful planet and that everyone can make a difference. He hopes this exhibition may encourage other people to look at how they can contribute to preserving our planet.

 

Woven in Time

August 7 – September 29, 2008

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

This exhibtion contains photographs by UVic student, Ashley Akins. The images document rural life in Peru’s Patakancha Valley, where textile weaving is an integral, but endangered concept.

After volunteering in Peru to brush up on her Spanish, Akins noted that the tourism in the country was both a blessing and a curse. Travellers scoop up their intricate, colourful products but in the haste to sell the work of their elders, younger people are not learning the skills to keep the traditional craft alive. In response to this she create the Mosqoy Foundation (which means “to dream” in the communities’ Indigenous language) which has a three-fold motto-to “educate, preserve and connect”. It accomplishes this through two main projects: the Proyecto Colibri (Project Hummingbird) and Banco de Jovenes (Youth Bank).

Under the former, Akins buys the woven products and sells them at three times the purchase price. One third of the proceeds is returned to the weavers, another third goes to projects chosen by the communities, and another third goes to the Youth Bank to fund 20 students annually to attend post-secondary studies in Cusco, the nearest city.

This Earth

Lisa Murray
Lisa Murray

June 4 – July 27, 2008

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

Lisa Murray’s This Earth explores texture, movement, and colour through acrylic paint and collage technique. In this exhibition are paintings predominantly from two juxtaposed series: Light Catchers responds organically to the quality of light throughout the day, while her diptychs and triptychs create space for exploration in movement and repetition. All of these paintings reflect the dynamism and transformative qualities of the light sources and media which inspire Murray to “capture some of the beauty of This Earth”.

Macbeth: A Civil War of the Mind

Wade Stout
Wade Stout

April 3 – May 31, 2008

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

This exhibit features the paintings of Wade Stout and his unique representations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth from an artist’s viewpoint. Combining classical drama, Tarot, mythology and the culture of the early 17th century with modern symbolism, he recreates an accessible Shakespeare that spans layers of meaning and media.

Stout explores three layers of meaning by Shakespeare: concept, character and plot. The background allegory of Macbeth is a war within families, making references to biblical stories such as King Saul and King David. We sympathize with this anti-hero while he loses the battle for his soul.

Living with Land Mines

V. Tony Hauser
V. Tony Hauser

February 20 – March 8, 2008

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

V. Tony Hauser presents the shocking reality of war into an artistic context through 17 life- size portraits of Cambodian children who have suffered the consequences of land mines, accompanied by statements about each child.

After documenting the temples of Angkor Wat, Hauser unexpectedly found a different kind of beauty in the shadows: the dignity of these young victims of land mines. He encountered the Aki Ra Land Mines Museum in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Along with providing a dormitory and a school for young children injured by land mines, the museum also acts as an educational centre for visitors. Using Polaroid film and a seamless canvas backdrop, Hauser shines the spotlight onto the children’s lives. “I purposely chose to isolate them” he says “and, at the same time, reveal my admiration for their strength and defiance in facing the daily fear of living with land mines.”

Living with Land Mines was presented in conjunction with a land mines symposium organized by the Hon. Lloyd Axworthy at the University of Winnipeg in recognition of the 10th anniversary of the International Land Mines Agreement, and has travelled across North America, to the United Kingdom, Slovenia, South Korea, and Hong Kong.

Art Education Faculty Exhibition

Art Education Faculty Exhibit2008

January 15 – February 14, 2008

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

Curated by Dr Robert Dalton and Dr William Zuk

As teachers and artists, the Faculty’s art educators reveal their diverse artistic interests and identities. These are explored in drawings, paintings, collages, prints, ceramics, sculpture, and light displays. This annual exhibit steps out of the classroom into the studios of art education to look at the creative energy which fuels their teaching. Community voice and intergenerational learning as part of building a strong art based education.

Book Arts Mosaic & Millenium in a Box

Peter Sramek, Burning: il cuore aperto
Peter Sramek, Burning: il cuore aperto

October 6, 2007 – January 10, 2008

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPerson Library)

In celebration of the new millennium the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artist Guild (CBBAG) put on two exhibitions in 2007-08.

A Book Arts Mosaic features 25 pieces by 38 Canadian book artists portrayed in media as diverse as handmade papers, wood, leather, cotton, and photographs. This group of work focuses on the ethnic and cultural diversity of Canada. The collection includes pieces which are delightful or beautiful, moving or inspiring, amusing or thought provoking, and in toto provide ideas and stimulation, suitable for a wide viewing public and for students and instructors. The collection was conceived to present the great variety of techniques and materials used by members of the Canadian book arts community. Included are examples of structures such as of accordian, tunnel, miniature, Coptic, Japanese stab binding, open lectern, and Chinese whirlwind books, as well as pamphlets and broadsides. Techniques include handmade paper with and without watermarks, calligraphy, blind tooling, incised decoration, paper decorating, letterpress, printing, linocut, hand printed lithography, xylography, wax resist, collage and many contemporary techniques and technologies such as machine perforation, polyester resin casting, digital printing on film, digitized photographs, offset printing, giclée printing and computer layout.

Participants in A Book Arts Mosaic include: Jocelyne Aird-Bélanger, Walter Bachinski & Janis Butler (Shanty Bay Press), Joe Blades, Ingrid Hein Borch, Sara Butt, Susan Carr, Stephanie Dean-Moore, Karen & Geoffrey Hewett, Susan Warner Keene, Trisha Klus, Clarissa Lewis & Lise Melhorn-Boe, Judy Martin, Anne Graham McTaggart, Cathryn Miller, Micheline Montgomery, Jane Morgan, Akemi Nishidera, the Ottawa Press Gang, Rob Richards, Anik See, Shelagh Smith, Peter Sramek, Ann Stinner, Judith Welbourne & Derek Chung, Robert Wu, Joan Byers, Dorothy Field & Virginia Porter.


Millennium in a Box features 35 Canadian book artists’ interpretation of where the new millennium may lead, whether technically, socially or personally, and where the book arts may go. This exhibit features a similarly wide range of binding styles including tunnel, miniature, origami and concertina books.

Participants in Millenium in a Box included: Tara Bryan, Linda Brine, Susan Mills, Robin E. Muller, Jocelyn Aird-Bélanger, Hélèn Francoeur, Reg Beatty, Sigrid Blohm, Wendy Cain, Ian D. Clark, Mira Coviensky, Rebecca Cowan, Marion Cox, Holly Dean, Lise Melhourn-Boe, Dan Mezza, William Rueter, Shelagh Smith, Ted Snider, Alan Stein, Don Taylor, George Walker, Mercedes Cirfi Walton, Janet Carroll, Larraine Douglas, Matha Cole, Kathryn Hamre, Kristina Komendant, Lindley McDougall, Carolyn C. Qualle, Brian Queen, Pamela Barlow Brooks, Dorothy Field, Derek Cowan & Priscilla Tetley, and Ann Vicente.

The Mac: A Tribute to Dr. D. L. MacLaurin

Ruth MacLaurin, Father
Ruth MacLaurin, Father

August 25 – September 30, 2007

Maltwood Legacy (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

In this display, Ruth MacLaurin pays tribute to the educational contributions made to UVic by her late uncle, Dr. Donald L. MacLaurin, and uses his namesake building on the university campus as the focal point for her installation. Using manipulated photographs, sound collage, video and sculptural elements, Ruth has created a tribute piece to her uncle, who was a well respected member of the University community. As an art professor, Ruth has been inspired by her uncle’s legacy and has creatively reinterpreted his celebrated teaching career. Ruth MacLaurin is Associate Professor of Creative and Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.

The tribute centres on the English Grammar Grade 8 text he co-authored (with H.L. Campbell), Elementary English Grammar. The exhibit involved a slide presentation, large scale stencilled text, and a sound component: all placed in a starkly lit environment. The dim lighting created a visual stripping in order to centre on the free standing blackboard.  A chalked section of this blackboard received the slide images of her uncle and excerpts from the grammar book. The slides were reconstructed through drawing, colouring and scratching the black-in-white negative print film. Large scale stencilled text that referenced the grammar book were arranged on the walls. A sound collage of student children with an overlay of the “rules” of grammar from the text book played on a continuous loop. The repetition of the sounds and images was a key element in the daily classroom structure.

Salmon Stories Set 2: Teachings

Fall 2007

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

This exhibition is a companion to Salmon Stories, Set 1: Dirge and was created by the same team. It features Coast Salish artist and guests. The focus of this exhibition was to feature a different approach to representation, art making and the meaning of art to enrich the discourse introduced with the up-close aesthetic photo-realism of Harnisch’s photographs. The show explored ongoing traditions of imaging and image-making.

Similar Exhibitions

20 Years of Fine Furniture

20 Years of Fine Furniture

June 15 – August 20, 2007

Legacy Maltwood (at Mearns Centre – McPherson Library)

Organized by Cam Russell and Ken Guenter

This display showcases graduate work spanning Camosun College Program’s entire twenty-year history. Many exhibitors will be showing works based on specific themes and made from indigenous British Columbia wood. All of the entrants have stayed active in the furniture or woodworking industries and are submitting either a favorite piece made as a student or something made more recently as a professional.

Similar Exhibitions: