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Fall Guide: Gallery Listings

On the heels of their big Andy Warhol show, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria seems to be taking a shotgun approach to their fall program this year, with six (yes, six) exhibits opening in September and two more coming together in November and December. Highlights include Don Jean-Louis’ Silver Works (to January 4), a look at the Qualicum Beach artist’s shift from precise drawings to the use of materials such as plastic and latex; Yoko Tashima’s Blend (September 26-January 11), a multimedia meditation on sensuality, embodiment, domesticity and maternity; and Kaie:ri Nikawera:ke (four directions) by Jackson 2bears in the LAB (September 26-November 16), an interactive look at indigenous spirituality and connectedness to nature.

Across the bridge in Esquimalt, XChanges’ fall lineup includes The Power of Three, a show featuring triptychs by Ground Zero printmakers (October 4-26), and the annual Crossgrain Photo Show and Sale (November 2-23), showcasing traditional black-and-white photography. The View Art Gallery celebrates its first fall with Dante Ambriel’s The Secret of the Golden Ring (October 2-18), a series of 11 triptych panels created from the perspective of first-century BCE Silk Road mystic Goji Drui, Reminiscence (October 23-November 13), a showcase of paintings by Fiona Ackerman and the Juicy Brushstrokes, Etc group show (November 15-February 28).

In addition to a plethora of music and performance events, Open Space hosts a variety of visual art shows this fall. Lao Oi, Lao A (October 17-November 8) is Vancouver artist Nhan Duc Nguyen’s shrine to the Vietnamese deity Lao Noi Kieu—and the result of a spring visit to Victoria where Nguyen invited Mile Zero residents to discuss the ideas of nation and citizen, which the deity represents in Vietnamese culture. Another highlight is Skid (November 15-December 13), a look at heavy metal-culture’s obsession with death. UVic’s various galleries are showcasing the work of Legh Mulhall Kilpin (Maltwood, September 29-February 29), Horst Loewel (McPherson Library, October 1-31) and Norval Morrisseau (Legacy Gallery, to November 30).

Over at the Martin Batchelor Gallery, Phyllis Serota will be showcasing Landscape Painting in October, and in November there will be a four-person group show by Waine Ryzak, Heather Keenan, Miles Lowry and David Ferguson. Come December, Cheryl Taves, Maggie Cole, Sylvia Bens-Wright and Wren Katzalay will also share the spotlight with their own group show.

A much larger group effort can be found at the Sidney Fine Arts Show, which takes place from October 16-19 with over 1200 pieces of artwork at the Mary Winspear Centre. Hooked to that same show is the high-end event The Artful Dinner, where you can enjoy wine and appies with artists and jurors before taking a guided tour of the Sidney Fine Art Show followed by a gourmet dinner on October 17, at the gourmet price of $150.

The Broad Street location of the venerable Winchester Gallery will be busy this fall, featuring works by the likes of Ron Bloore (of the Regina Five) from October 11-29, then Yves Gaucher from November 1-23 and Rachel Berman and Jeremy Herndl from November 27-December 24.

Also of note is the annual Gallery Walk from November 27-29, featuring the West End Gallery, Winchester downtown, View Art Gallery, Mercurio and Legacy, the Stinking Fish Studio Tour, a self-guided look at the studios and works of artists in Sooke and Metchosin (November 28-30) and the always-popular Celebrating Small group show at Avenue Gallery, opening November 29.

A few others to mark on the calendar are PUSH/PULL (October 2-20), an artistic dialogue between Victoria and San Diego at the Slide Room Gallery; West End Gallery’s Paul Jorgensen show (October 4-16); Polar Drift (Dales Gallery, October 9-28), Quinton Gordon’s large-scale photographs of Greenland; On Canvas’ All Nude Review (to October 17); Morris Gallery’s presentation of Linny D. Vine and Jeffrey J. Boron’s Shadow and Light II (October 23-November 22) and the Community Arts Council Gallery’s presentation of Visual Bridging, Pat Bovey’s book on Pat Martin Bates, alongside some of her paintings on paper (November 20-December 10).