Artists are hard at work to fill the Vernon Public Art Gallery walls.
Four new exhibitions are on the slate for the gallery, which hosts an opening reception for Betrayal at Babylon by Keith Langergraber, Slow Down! Big Themes Ahead by Jennifer Dyck, Fallen by Deirdre Hofer and Spirit of the Lens by Vernon Photography Club members July 26 at the Gallery.
“Join us for an evening of music, contemporary art, refreshments and appetizers on Thursday, where we will present four new exhibitions,” said Dauna Kennedy Grant, executive director. “Using a variety of mediums and approaches to their work, there is a lot to take in and contemplate with these artists.”
Drawing inspiration from her summers spent in the Kalamalka Lake area, Hofer’s Fallen, on display until Oct. 31, is an exploration of what occurs when one attempts to hold on to a specific memory.
“I was thinking about all the memories — it was one of the happiest times of my life,” Hofer said, noting that the plot of land she would often explore in her youth is now a fully-developed area in Coldstream. “Memories fade, memories change over time. I can’t go back and see it.”
To demonstrate that change, Hofer crafted the corner of an old room in the VPAG’s Up-Front-Gallery complete with paintings of apples, to cast an image of the Okanagan, and real apples on the desk that will, over time, decay and change. Instead of a normal floor, Hofer installed green turf which, over the course of her three-month exhibition, will also evolve.
“It’s kind of about nature taking over and the recreation of an environment. I expect the grass will be green for maybe a week” Hofer laughed. “For me, rooms can evoke memories.”
The Vancouver artist has been in production of the project for about two years and is excited to showcase the work in the area by which it was inspired.
Related: Midsummer’s Eve of the Arts breaks fundraising record for Vernon Gallery
In the Topham Brown Gallery, Keith Langergraber’s Betrayal at Babylon takes the walls and floors until Oct 3. Betrayal at Babylon is comprised of a 17-minute film, multiple drawings and sculptural elements and reflects the transient nature of language, changing landscape as a consequence of natural resources extraction and the groups of people who live outside the mainstream.
“The film is about these prospectors who, rather than looking for gold, look for meteors,” Langergraber said.
Portrayed through a western-flick lens, the film intentionally utilizes popular film tropes. Langergraber’s character, for instance, becomes so enamoured with meteors that he slowly degenerates.
Langergraber hopes the installation will spark conversation by asking more questions than it answers.
“Fact is a lot stranger than fiction, that’s kind of a thread running through all my practice,” said Langergraber, a Kelowna product who teaches at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
Betrayal at Babylon is organized and circulated by the Burnaby Art Gallery.
Dyck, who lives in Salmon Arm, takes the Carolyn Galbraith Gallery at VPAG with Slow Down! Big Themes Ahead. The exhibition, which is on display until Oct. 31, is a series of collage works that craft a visual commentary surrounding prominent subject matter found in historic religious art.
In the community gallery, the Vernon Photography Club takes the walls with a wide range of focus and subject matter in their exhibition Spirit of the Lens, which is on display until Oct. 3.
An opening reception for all four exhibitions is Thursday, July 23 from 6-8 p.m. Admission is by donation. Hofer and Langergraber will be in attendance.
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