ART-PRESENTATION: Where Do We Go From Here?
The group exhibition “Where Do We Go From Here?” proposes that we think critically about the role of both art and exhibition making in the production of narratives about our past, present and future. It encourages us to reconsider our understanding of history (personal, local, national) and progress (artistic, cultural, social), while articulating perspectives that challenge colonial systems of knowledge and methods of representation.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Vancouver Art Gallery Archive
Acting on the Vancouver Art Gallery’s statement in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement this summer the exhibition “Where Do We Go From Here?” developed as an opportunity to consider the Gallery’s own collecting and exhibition history. Reflecting on the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Gallery in 1931, this exhibition both acknowledges the under representation of African diasporic artists in its collection and exhibitions, which has historically privileged European art traditions, and reimagines how the next 90 years of programing can better represent Canada’s art landscape. An open, collaborative endeavour this exhibition presents neither a singular vision nor a linear narrative. The works were selected by curators with varying interests and experiences, and the resulting exhibition is an opportunity to reflect on the future and the Gallery’s place within it. The title’s open-ended question is one everyone seems to be asking in the dying days of 2020, a year of not only pandemic-enforced reflection but of Black Lives Matter protests and massive socio-cultural shifts. The works are varied in terms of media and subject matter, yet collectively offer contemplations on the past, present and future—across time, bodies of land and space. Some artists engage directly with the legacies of the Canadian modernist enterprise, while others attempt to destabilize inherited beliefs and accepted historical narratives. Most are presenting work at the Vancouver Art Gallery for the first time. In Chantal Gibson’s installation “Untitled Redacted Text”, black ink appears to ooze out from the pages of a stack of red Canadian Encyclopedia volumes, dripping down their sides. It’s a vivid representation of the way Black voices have been redacted from history–including art history. Nanyamka (Nya) Lewis who is a writer and artist, has created a site-specific, text-based installation that introduces visitors to the exhibit in the facility’s neo-classical third-floor rotunda. It features panels of text in formal black typography on white (the voice of authority, or the institution, she says), “interrupted” by phrases in reverse white on black (“WE ARE NO MYTH”; “WHERE THEY DIDN’T SPEAK OUR NAMES, SPEAK THEM”, phrases inspired by conversations Lewis said she had with the community, her mentors, and artists in their studios). Among the works is a series of photos by Jessie Addo, whose cinematic-feeling portraits capture the Black urban male in new ways, in contemplation, going about his life. They’re placed along a swath of black that runs along one wall, bringing to mind not only a strip of film but also notions of interrupting the space. In “Chapter 43” (2018), a man in gold chains and tattoos makes eye contact with the viewer as he relaxes on his concrete apartment balcony. Charlene Vickers’ Sleep Walking, an installation featuring a circle of 12 1920s bedroom chairs, each with a neatly folded blanket with a pair of moccasins on it. The often beautifully beaded footwear is crafted from such unexpected materials as Kokanee beer boxes or denim. Though crafting the moccasins is a way for the artist to reconnect with her Anishnabe* heritage, their materials comment on everything from the appropriation of Coast Salish wilderness to sell beer to the commodification of Indigenous craft for tourists. Sometimes they’re emblazoned with letter beading the spells out more political assertions (“Reclaiming Your spirit / Work Hard”). But there’s also a haunting absence to the empty moccasins as well. Other highlights include Saskatchewan-born Métis artist Audie Murray’s “Bundled Objects”, cinderblock forms and raw quartz wrapped in brightly coloured fabric, an installation that uses the language of traditional braided rugs to speak to everything from overdevelopment to resource extraction.
Participating Artist: Jessie Addo, Rebecca Bair, Lauren Brevner and James Nexw’Kalus-Xwalacktun Harry, Vanessa Brown, Gabi Dao, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Chantal Gibson, Maureen Gruben, Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Ocean Hyland, Nanyamka (Nya) Lewis, Cindy Mochizuki, Audie Murray, Gailan Ngan, Tafui, Charlene Vickers, Jan Wade, Tania Willard, Hyung-Min Yoon and Elizabeth Zvonar.
Photo: Left: Charlene Vickers, Sleep Walking, 2004 (detail), wood, wood composite, rattan, textile, thread, wool, acrylic, paper, printing ink, glass, plastic, shell, found objects, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, General Acquisition Fund, Photo: Barb Choit, Courtesy of Macaulay & Co. Fine Arts. Center: Audie Murray, Bundled Objects, 2019 (detail), quartz, cinder, braided fabric, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Purchased with Proceeds from the Audain Emerging Artists Acquisition Fund, Photo: Isaac Forsland, Courtesy of Fazakas Gallery. Right: Jeneen Frei Njootli, Extended cacophonies throughout, 2020, cotton, polyester, copper, hair, glass, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Purchased with Proceeds from the Audain Emerging Artists Acquisition Fund, Photo: Courtesy of Macaulay & Co. Fine Arts
*The Anishinaabe are a group of culturally-related Indigenous peoples resident in what are now Canada and the United States. They also include the Odawa, Saulteaux, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Oji-Cree, and Algonquin peoples. They historically lived in the Northeast Woodlands and Subarctic. The word Anishinaabeg translates to “people from whence lowered”. Another definition refers to “the good humans”, meaning those who are on the right road or path given to them by the Creator Gitche Manitou, or Great Spirit.
Info: Curators: Zoë Chan, Diana Freundl, Mandy Ginson, Tarah Hogue, Guest Curator: Nanyamka (Nya) Lewis, Indigenous Advisor: Siobhan McCracken Nixonand Stephanie Rebick, Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby Street, Vancouver, Duration: 12/12/2020-30/5/2021, Days & Hours: Mon, Wed-Thu & Sat-Sun 10:00-17:00, Tue & Fri 12:00-20:00, www.vanartgallery.bc.ca
