Japanese Prints, Canadian Feminist Art and Rita Letendre @ CUAG

To take a journey from 17^th century Japanese woodblock prints through colourful abstracts to recent feminist positions, the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) is the right place right now - with its three current summer exhibitions! I attended the opening on Monday and was astonished by these three completely different shows that work together so perfectly!

Exhibition view: "Patriot Loves". On the right side: Joyce Wieland's quilts, on the left: Cynthia Girard "Filles du roi/Filles de joie", 2002

So, I started with the feminist show that refers to Joyce Wieland's landmark exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada exactly 40 years ago, called “True Patriot Love”. The show at the CUAG is accordingly entitled “Patriot Loves: Visions of Canada in the Feminine”. It strongly refers to Wieland, who said: “I think of Canada as female. All the art I’ve been doing…is about Canada.”

Nadia Myre: "Indian Act," 2002. She is an Anishinaabe Canadian from the Kitigan Zibi First Nation of Quebec. The printed pages of the law are covered with tiny red and white glass beads. 

The exhibition deals with Canadian patriotism from a feminist point of view. It presents several of Wieland's key works like the quilted “Reason over Passion” (1968), together with contemporary works by Nadia Myre and Cynthia Girard.

Joyce Wieland: “The Spirit of Canada suckles the French and English Beavers”, 1970-71

The exhibition examines some of the historical, political and cultural threads that inform the notions of Canadian patriotic love – like Wieland's little sculpture that shows the “The Spirit of Canada suckles the French and English Beavers” (1970-71)! Cynthia Girard and Nadia Myre also examine Canadian identities with sharp humour and they address topics like history, memory, and experience.

Exhibition view CUAG: "Against the Grain"

Going a few more meters into the main exhibition room: “Against the Grain: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the University of Alberta Art Collection” is a travelling exhibition by the University of Alberta Art Collection. In his talk on Monday, the Japanese ambassador focused on the fact that the woodblock print technique is used not only in traditional Japanese art but also internationally. For example, prints from Dorset were shown in “Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration” in the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo (January-March 2011). Ambassador Ishikawa emphasized how these exhibitions provide a wonderful opportunity to learn about different cultures.

Exhibition view CUAG: "Against the Grain"

The exhibition at Carleton shows Japanese woodblock printing from the Edo period (1603-1868) to the present and how this technique and its subjects has developed over the centuries. I was strongly impressed by prints by Hiroshige and Hokusai which had e.g. a major impact on European artists like van Gogh, Degas, and Cassatt. I am actually looking forward to the van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery next year that will emphasise on van Gogh's reception of the close-up in Japanese prints.

Exhibition view: "Rita Letendre"

Going up the stairs, you will arrive at “Rita Letendre: Themes and Variations”. The winner of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2010 is presented with some of her most striking works, drawn from the gallery’s collection. As the curator Diana Nemiroff mentioned in her talk, Letendre's works are all about energy, light, and colour.

Exhibition view: "Rita Letendre"

The exhibition includes examples of Letendre’s lithographs, serigraphs, and aquatints as well as some pastels and a painting. In her talk, Letendre said that art is a form of communication that aims on individual feelings. The reception of each artwork is not only seeing the artwork but rather to “discover something from yourself” in that moment.

Rita Letendre at her talk, Monday, May 9th, 2011

Letendre made clear how much she loves what she is doing – working as a visual artist since five decades now! Her silkscreens with their bright colours and energetic lines are very striking and the exhibition shows her development from hard geometric forms in the 1960s and 70s to softer colour transition in the 1980s.

My conclusion: These summer shows are a must-go!

Facts:

“Against the Grain: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the University of Alberta Art Collection” 9 May – 24 July 2011

“Patriot Loves: Visions of Canada in the Feminine” 

9 May – 10 July 2011

“Rita Letendre: Themes and Variations” 9 May – 24 July 2011

CUAG

On the Carleton University Campus, St. Patrick's Building

Free admission

Eric Walker's Painted Constructions

Eric Walker's Painted Constructions follow an unusual aesthetic strategy: They show mostly aerial views of cityscapes by using mixed media in a really uncommon meaning. His large-scale artworks are made from common found materials, mostly tiny metallic plates in different shapes and colours which are fastened with again tiny, tiny nails to plywood. This must be such a detailed and difficile effort! 

The Colour of London is Red, 2007, 122 x 83 cm, mixed media collage on plywood fastened with nails

It is amazing to see these assemblages in a close-up view because it reveals how they were made of thousands of little pieces.

Detail of The Colour of London is Red, 2007

Visual and Media artist Eric Walker studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. You can find his works in both public and private collections and he has exhibited throughout Canada and internationally with shows in Tokyo, Mexico City and New York.

The Halifax International Airport in 2004, 2005

Eric Walker is represented here in Ottawa by Cube Gallery.

His blog gives an insight in his artistic development and statements on his works: http://www.ericjosephwalker.com/