Gerry Thomas Gallery houses exhibition on the lost and found artistic process
By Rachel Woodward, July 14 2016 —
Courtesy Gerry Thomas
The Gerry Thomas Gallery is an artistic space nestled between restaurants and bars on 11th Ave. Founded in 2012, the hidden gem currently houses Lost and Found until August 5.
Courtesy Gerry Thomas
The exhibition is a multi-disciplinary exploration of the artistic process and features 10 Canadian artists. Local artist Desere Pressey makes her curatorial debut as a guest curator at the gallery. Her work is included among other art in the show, which features paintings, sculptures, wire forms and wooden mobiles.
“I got to be on the other side as an artist, and it was so interesting to be going through all these submissions and being able to decide what art moves me,” she says. “I wanted a more in-depth experience of the work and to know the process and the artist. I wanted it to be very honest.”
Some gallery space is taken up by tools and pieces from Pressey’s studio meant to represent the artistic process alongside the finished work on the walls.
“It became very apparent to me that I wanted people to have an experience beyond the white, clinical and pristine walls,” she says.
Courtesy Gerry Thomas
The art featured in the gallery varies in medium and subject matter. Local artist Janet Hardy contributed large portraits of young, androgynous children with melancholic expressions.
“They are these captures between expression, they are so honest. It looks as though they’ve experienced darkness and they are in this in-between state before they react,” Pressey says.
Figurative artists Mandy Tsung and Cameron Lee Roberts’s work will also be shown in the exhibition. Roberts’ wire sculptures of human silhouettes work with shadow and movement to demonstrate the balance of female energy between spaces.
Bruce Watson’s contributed wooden mobile sculptures that are hung and move with air that flows through the gallery, referencing nature and energy.
Courtesy Gerry Thomas
Pressey describes Christine Wignall’s sculptures of the female form as having pieces of Wignall’s personal life, such as horns on one of the women that represents her experiences in hunting.
Pressey also worked alongside gallery manager Mona Gauvreau to start Wine and Art Wednesday — a weekly after-hours event where the gallery is open to patrons to see the artwork alongside wine and live music by local musicians.
“It’s a nice way to engage the community and open the space up for increasing culture mid-week,” Pressey says.
The Gerry Thomas gallery is located on 11th Ave. across from Broken City. Lost and Found will show until August 5.
For more information, visit gerrythomasgallery.com