Winnipeg Art Gallery

Though it seems ages ago that I was in Winnipeg, it was just over a month and I am still thinking of that wonderful visit! As well as Inuit Sanaugangit: Art Across Time, which I posted about here, I also saw other exhibitions at The Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq. 

There was an exhibition of the 2023 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award Shortlist Artists. All the shortlisted artists were female and all were Indigenous.  I particularly liked the work of Ningiukulu Teevee, though since they were behind glass it was very difficult to photograph them.

This is a detail of one, which gives a better idea of the texture in the drawing.

In a lobby area on the second floor, several large works by Ivan Eyre were displayed on the walls flanking the stairwell. Although Eyre was born and grew up in Saskatchewan, he moved to Winnipeg in the early 1950s and taught painting and drawing at the University of Manitoba for 33 years until he retired in 1992. Eyre died in 2022,

This is a detail of the previous large panoramic landscape.

In another gallery room were several installations by Faye Heavyshield. It is difficult to get a sense of her work in a small photograph but each of the floating pieces are human-size. Another wall installation, my favourite actually, was unphotographable in that each part of the whole needed to be examined and an overall picture would not give any sense of the work at all!

Other posts I made about my time in Winnipeg can be found here and here.

Rooftop archive 4 - dream drawings

Continuing with sorting through the rooftop archive, I took great delight in tearing up loads of life drawing exercises removing the proof that I can draw but really, at this point I hardly need proof! Of more interest to me, and thus kept, are the left-handed drawings I was encouraged to do while studying art at York University in Toronto. I think the following three drawings were from 1984 or 1985 when my professor for independent studies was sculptor Hugh Leroy. They are based on dreams/nightmares and I remember the b&w drawings being exhibited in the display cases of the fine art building at the time.

charcoal on paper, 56 cm x 76 cm

charcoal on paper, 56 cm x 76 cm

charcoal on paper, 76 cm x 56 cm

pastel on paper, 101 cm x 66 cm

Once I had regained my confidence and proficiency with my left hand, I was able to go back to my regular right hand and not be inhibited. I enjoyed using tackier media, such as this dream drawing in crayon, 101 cm x 66 cm, 

And of course, luscious and beloved oilstick!  Along with another two oilstick drawings (no longer extant) the following two works were exhibited on the walls of Calumet College lounge in 1985 as part of a two-person show with my friend Elizabeth Canfield.

101 cm x 66 cm

I didn't hear The Cure song till a few years later, but "A Forest" always made me think of this dream.

101 cm x 66 cm

For previous posts on the rooftop archives, look here, here and here.

Rooftop Archive 3

For previous posts on the rooftop archive, see here, here and here. One of the large portfolios from the roof archive had some large prints that friends had traded or given to me – some even inscribed “Happy Birthday, Lorraine” or “To Lorraine”.

This is an etching my good friend, Elizabeth Canfield created in our final year at CTS art school (1981). Although it is undated, I remember her working on it in the print room. It is the second print of an edition of four and the image size is 60 cm x 45 cm. 

This print is also by Elizabeth Canfield and is an undated photo-etching from when she studied printmaking at York University in Toronto (1982-1986?). It is entitled “The Ride” and is 45 cm x 60 cm. 

This etching is by my friend Jay Dampf (RIP) and is from our final year CTS art school printmaking class. Though unsigned and undated, I remember Jay working on this and giftng me the piece. The image size is 60 cm x 45 cm. 

This is a unique serigraph by Scott Gwilliams, who went to the same art school in Toronto, though in a different year than I. It is entitled “David” and dated 1983 by which time I was attending the fine art department at York University. The diptych image is 50 cm x 70 cm and dedicated to me for my birthday.