Thursday, October 24, 2013
Vernon Art Gallery
6 pm – 8pm
We’re celebrating 25 years with a showcase of arts, culture and the Okanagan lifestyle.
Join us at the Opening Reception for Vernon Art Gallery’s newest exhibitions. You’ll enjoy a delightful evening complete with food, drink and live music as you explore the artwork. Admission is by donation.
Exhibitions will be on display at the Gallery from October until December 2013.
Stephen Foster: Re-mediating Curtis: Remix
Video installation.
Kama? Creative Aboriginal Arts Collective: Transformation
A group exhibition by established and emerging artists.
The name of the Society “Kama? Creative” is derived from the Okanagan word S?at qw(l)p kama? (Pine Needle) It is used by the artist members to symbolically represent the traditional landscape where the society resides. This newly formed arts collective brings together ten emerging and established First Nations artists who are the members of the Okanagan Indian Band (Suknaqinx).
The exhibition titled Transformations brings together traditional and contemporary works of art that contribute to the understanding of cultural values, identity, history, and contemporary issues of Okanagan First Nations. The artworks in the exhibition are in format of drawing, painting, photography, metal sculpture and buckskin art. Participating artists: Mariel Belanger, Val Chiba, Dean Louis, Sheldon Louis, Pierre Richard, Abby Marchand, Barbara Marchand, David Wilson, Vern Tronson and Mona Tronson.
The exhibition titled Re-Mediating Curtis: Remix is produced by Kelowna based digital media artist Stephen Foster. Based on Fosters’ field research and video recording of the sites inhabited by the First Nations on the West Coast, the project is a critique and reflection on the Edward Curtis’ film In the Land of the Head Hunters (produced in 1914) and its influence on popular images and stereotypes of what Foster refers to as ‘Indianness.’
Foster uses video as the main means of artistic production in his studio practice, and this project further incorporates 3D video modelling of the original footage gathered on the site of Curtis’ film. The four channel projection of 3D formatted video sequences enhances the actual video installation and creates an environment for the viewers to navigate. The four projection screens (10 feet high, 18 feet long) are suspended from the ceiling of the gallery space in a rectangular formation and thus creating a space in the centre of the gallery.
Foster’s interactive video installation was designed to involve the viewers and encourage their participation and engagement with the work. By installing the motion sensors monitoring the viewers’ movement, viewers will be able to a certain extent manipulate the audio components of the installation and re-create its content in multiple iterations.
