Exhibition at Kelowna Art Gallery aims to push boundaries of how art is viewed

Over the years, hundreds of different art exhibitions have taken over the Kelowna Art Gallery, but right now, the gallery is offering art lovers something truly unique.

“There’s a really diverse range of mediums in this exhibition that I think hasn’t really been presented before,” said Christine May, the Kelowna Art Gallery’s curator.

“We kind of have a little bit of everything here.”

The “Significant Forms Art Exhibition” features the work of seven contemporary Canadian artists, including three from the Okanagan. Through painting, drawing, embroidery, sculpture and installation, these artists are pushing the boundaries of how art is typically viewed.

“Here, you’re going to see a lot of interactive art. One of our installations, called The Garden by Samuel Roy-Bois, is where people can sit and relax and contemplate the gallery space by taking it all in,” May said.

“There’s also a lot of art that’s nontraditional, so we see thread and embroidery hanging from the ceiling, and we see these large-scale, very immersive photographs. This is truly something different.”

1:38 Okanagan freediver trains in cold lake

One of the artists selected to show of their work is Andreas Rutkauskas, who moved to the Okanagan from Winnipeg in 2016. Shortly after moving to the area, he began seeing the devastation left behind by wildfires, so he decided to take photos of the aftermath.

“The summer of 2017 was kind of the first time that I experienced wildfires firsthand, and so I’ve been investigating the topic of wildfires since that time,” Rutkauskas said.

The images he took of the McDougall Creek Wildfire this past summer are now on display, giving viewers a sense of how powerful Mother Nature’s wrath can be.

“We’re seeing burned trees, we’re seeing members of the non-human community that perished in the fire, and we’re seeing Kelowna,” Rutkauskas said.

“Many of the images either employ a mixture of artificial and ambient lights, so I work with an artificial strobe and that allows me to sort of punctuate and highlight different forms.”

2:06 Fire causes significant damage to Osoyoos business

Another artist selected to take part in the Significant Forms exhibition is Zachari Logan. The Regina-based artist has been honing his craft of drawing and sculpting for 15 years and said it’s a huge honour to have his work displayed at the Kelowna Art Gallery.

“I’m working alone in my studio thinking about what it is that interests me and what I want to create, and obviously I’m doing that to hopefully have these works seen by the public,” Logan said. “It really means a lot.”

“It’s great that my work can be in conversation with other great artists that are working across the country.”

To see the work of Wally Dion, Wanda Lock, Sami Tsang, Amanda McCavour, as well as the artists mentioned above, Roy-Bois, Rutkauskas, and Logan, visit the Kelowna Art Galley from now until June 9.