Ilse Leader is the newest member to join our gallery. Ilse designs one-of-a-kind textile arts, woven in all hues and textures. Welcome Ilse!
Charcoal and Silica
Introducing Shera Street "For the Love of Colour" A fundraiser for the people of Nepal & Elephants of Thailand.
Ilse Leader presents "A Symphony of Colour"
Lorne Shantz presents " Brought to the Light"
The Annual Gallery Spring Opening: "Art from the Heart"
Peter Allan presents: No Public House
I was born in a dark room - a develop and print photographic darkroom set up first in the upstairs bathroom and later more permanently in the furnace room of our family home in suburban Montreal. In the sixties photography was the exclusive activity of my father and myself. Together we would catch images of steam locomotives, Vieux Montreal, Mosport Racetrack, photos of the moon landing off the black and white TV in the rec room…most especially I enjoyed the silent moments in the darkroom, just he and I.
Ever since, I have admired the handmade, artistic originality, a craft person’s skill. It was this fascination that compelled me to become a student at McGill University, where I learned of the century and a half of evolution of the photographic image from Fox Talbot to Warhol . Later a graduate course on Man Ray at the University of Victoria rekindled an interest in the mystery of a dark room. Many thousands of images have come since then but these fewpictures are the first on public view. Theimages are a lament, not an indictment. They are the result of quiet contemplation within the exhausted shells of favoured places amidst the naked rafters and detritus. I’ve long believed that a Public House is a window into its neighbourhood, its community. So is an Art Gallery.
Please join me and my fellow artists of the co-operative known as the SaltSpring Gallery as we celebrate our 5th Anniversary on Friday October 10th from 5-7pm 135 McPhillips Avenue.
The show’s opening reception : September 19 from 5 to 7 p.m.
The Works of Chris Hunter
The next best thing to swimming in the sensuous Salish Sea is to immerse yourself in the drawings and paintings of Chris Hunter. A passionate swimmer and equally passionate artist, Hunter conjures up the sea, land and sky of British Columbia in her show at Salt Spring Gallery, on view from September 19 to October 2.
Looking at her surreal under water images is like peering into the ocean on a calm day. Tiny waves shimmer over discarded oyster shells, drifting feathers, eel grass and shifting sand. Once in the water, the world is seen through a swimmer’s outstretched arms. Horizons tilt and refracted sunlight descends deep into a dark world below, bringing to mind the stuff of dreams: terror, bliss, eroticism. Our notions of a static, snap shot reality give way to something deeper, more fascinating.
But, then we are snapped out of it by irreverence. Teaming up with Hunter is Gordon Nash, whose whimsical wood turnings are also on display. Elegant fish inlays share a playful world of circus trains, elephants and a chuckin, ducking its true identity.
The show’s opening reception is slated for September 19 from 5 to 7 p.m. At 5:30 introductions will be made and a few poems by Salt Spring poet, Diana Hayes, and New York poet, Jean Valentine, will beread. Please join us! Salt Spring Gallery is located at 135 McPhillips Avenue on Salt Spring Island.