January 9, 2025 @ 10:00 am – March 5, 2025 @ 5:00 pm
Chrystal Phan: Once for a While
Exhibition on view from January 9 – March 5
Chrystal Phan is a representational artist who integrates the Vietnamese-Canadian experience into narrative oil paintings to challenge the ways in which we imagine Canadian identity, drawing particular attention to how the reification of racial stereotypes in art and media can actually reinforce social divisions that prevent racialized people from ever feeling “Canadian”. Using personal narratives Phan’s work collapses the boundary between public and private so that viewers can connect their own lives and experiences to the paintings at an intimate level.
Once for A While is a series of oil paintings that explore a Vietnamese family’s awkward attempts at integrating into Canadian life. Using examples from Phan’s own childhood and those of her friends, Phan’s intention is to capture humorous moments where cultural values have clashed.
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January 9, 2025 @ 10:00 am – March 5, 2025 @ 5:00 pm
David Wilson Sookinakin: Pictograph Roots
Exhibition on view from January 9 – March 5
Over the years, David Wilson Sookinakin has developed a signature style of paintings based on the traditional pictographs found on numerous locations throughout Syilx Nation Territory. He uses pictorial elements which often illustrate some of the stories and narratives passed down through oral tradition and storytelling. In addition to the traditional narratives, Wilson creates narratives which he invents to highlight the context of post-contact experiences of First Nations peoples. Nevertheless, Wilson’s artforms have been evolving over several decades of his prolific artistic career.
“My art is ever evolving and is a true representation of my identity as an Interior Salish person. It is natural evolution of pictographs from their ancient form to a contemporary interpretation using form lines unique to First Nations art. I am a storyteller through art and words and my message to the Interior Salish people and the world is that we Interior Salish have at least one beautiful and vibrant First Nations art form totally unique and must be shared with the world.”
David Wilson Sookinakin
2024, acrylic on canvas, 66 x 66 in
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October 3 @ 10:00 am – December 18 @ 5:00 pm
Featuring: Sophie Atkinson, Allan Brooks, Joe Plaskett, Paul Jones, Holly Middleton.
Exhibition on view from October 3 – December 18, 2024
The Vernon Public Art Gallery (VPAG) is pleased to present From the Vault, an exhibition highlighting select works from its permanent collection, on display from October 3 to December 18, 2024. This showcase offers the public a rare opportunity to view pieces by influential artists with ties to the region, including Allan Brooks, Sophie Atkinson, Janet Holly Middleton, and Paul Jones, with additional works by renowned BC artist Joe Plaskett.
VPAG’s permanent collection consists of over 670 artworks by 154 artists. The earliest piece dates to 1909, while the latest acquisitions were made as recently as 2022. Each piece contributes to the story of the region’s artistic heritage and evolution.
Featured artist Allan Brooks (1869–1946), known worldwide as a naturalist and illustrator, made significant contributions to North American wildlife studies, especially of Canadian bird species. Brooks, honored by Canadian Heritage in 2000 as a person of Canadian Historical Importance, devoted his career to capturing the unique fauna of British Columbia and beyond.
Trailblazing artist Sophie Atkinson (1876–1972) was among the first women to document the Okanagan landscape in her work. After WWI, she traveled internationally before settling in Canada, where she painted commissioned works for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Her art captured the rugged beauty of Western Canada, establishing a legacy that would inspire future generations.
Janet Holly Middleton (1922–2018) combined her artistic talent with a passion for education. Her career included teaching positions at the University of Alberta, Banff School of Fine Arts, and University of Guelph, where she influenced countless Canadian artists. Known for her adventurous spirit, Middleton drew inspiration from her travels, producing works with scenes from across the globe.
Joe Plaskett (1918–2014) brought his artistic vision to an international stage, with works held in collections from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver Island, including the National Gallery of Canada. Plaskett’s talent was recognized early on by Lawren Harris, and he was awarded the first Emily Carr Scholarship in 1946. This opportunity took him from San Francisco to New York, and eventually to Paris, where he created some of his most celebrated pieces.
The exhibition also includes pieces by Paul Jones (1921–2018), a Vernon-based artist and writer who served on the VPAG board in the 1990s. Jones’s work integrates sand and acrylic resin to evoke the landscapes of his youth near the Pembina River, creating textured pieces that speak to both personal memory and place.
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October 3 @ 10:00 am – December 20 @ 5:00 pm
Rewilding: The Forest Will Forget Us, Lyndal Osborne, John Freeman, Liz Ingram, Bernd Hildebrandt
Exhibition on view from October 3 – December 20
The exhibition Rewilding: The Forest Will Forget Us, created by Lyndal Osborne and John Freeman, and Liz Ingram and Bernd Hildebrandt, is an exhibit about the resilience of nature as witnessed in land sited on a boreal forest lake in Alberta. In the process they acknowledge the many other stories that go back millennia, and which have been shaped by people living and surviving on the land. These legends and beliefs are now re-emerging from oral histories of the original peoples of these lands and help us to shape our common existence within nature.
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October 17 @ 10:00 am – December 20 @ 5:00 pm
Exposed! VPAG Member Exhibition
Exhibition on view from October 17 – December 20
This group exhibition of artwork produced by the Vernon Public Art Gallery’s members give the public a view of a variety of different media used to create works of art in various artistic genres ranging from abstract art to landscapes, still lives, and portraiture.
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July 25 @ 10:00 am – September 17 @ 5:00 pm
Inside Out: Lana Schuster
Exhibition on view from July 25 – September 17
Artist statement:
I am interested in so many things about painting. The paint for one. I love to scoop it up, squeeze it out, and mix it around, watch the colours develop, spread it around, see what happens, how the colours and forms look against each other. The brushes for another. I have my favourites. Mostly the ones that hold a lot of paint. The ‘Why paint?’ Because I am compelled to, I can’t not. The ‘How to paint?’ Now it’s getting really interesting. Because this is what it’s really all about. I try to stay open to new ideas, to the suggestions of my voice inside, my outside voice. It is all about trusting the process and being willing to paint authentically, to be part of something new.
The beginnings of my process may start with observing what’s around me. Or it could be a response with something going on internally that I may or may not be aware of. That can be as dramatic as the experience of losing a loved one or simply just wanting to spread some paint around. I’m often moved to paint after I’ve spent time outdoors. Sometimes I start with a plan for a landscape or a concrete image and then I get lost in the paint and process and something completely non-objective emerges. My intuition takes over, if I let it, if I trust it, if I allow myself.
Creating these works surprise me every time. What you see in them is an expression of an experience, a record of an experience in time, something in the past that has passed but truly lives on in the painting. What you see in them is what you see in them – what is evoked or personally meaningful for you. I hope that in looking at them, you will feel something, see something, perhaps even experience something that resonates with you.
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July 25 @ 10:00 am – September 17 @ 5:00 pm
Descent into Classicism: Glenn Clark
Exhibition on view from July 25 – September 17
Artist statement:
When I was young, I dreamed and schemed of creating neo-classical paintings. There are a lot of ducks one must put in a row before mural size classical themed paintings can develop. Fifteen years ago, I took a couple years off my regular practice to build a studio and that opened the gate of possibilities.
I always get there it just takes me longer. Beyond the space and gumption, an artist needs the reason, finances, imagery, time, ambition and lots of practice to create this type of work. After visiting the Louvre in 2016 there was a jolt, my paintings would look to the past for guidance. It finally all came together and I suspect this descent is turning into something more akin to a spiral.
It always seemed to me that classical artists from previous centuries had better props to work with; horses, armor, castles and archaic ruins. I needed new models to push ahead and a photo shoot at a jousting event in Osoyoos was perfect to get started.
What drives an artist; is it the fear of death? The love for life and art are interconnected. When you look at centuries old work you sense a window into the past, a connection, a message or warning through this time hole called a painting. You see how things were, the humor, mood, fashion, cruelty of the time. It’s like the artists were reaching out through a one-way portal to the future, never wanting to let go, hanging on through their art.
Timing is everything and it’s a good time for artists to take cues from the eighteenth century and beyond when art famously rebelled against the status quo. People are consistent, history repeats. Neo-classicism, the art of the time of the French Revolution, arguably the most important chapter in the history of modern civilization; the perfect art for a time of upheaval. All these influences; art history, my own history, and the current events that are making history. You throw that in a studio with yours truly and this is what shakes out.
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May 23 @ 10:00 am – July 17 @ 5:00 pm
Accidentals: Robert Fee
Exhibition on view from May 23 – July 17
Artist statement:
The title of the show “Accidentals” refers to the musical term indicating a temporary shift in a musical composition. Once the key of a song is established, an instrumentalist reading the music will encounter a note has been made sharp or flat for that bar and they must adjust. Then the music will default back to the original key for the subsequent bars, until the composer creates another shift somewhere else. At first this temporary change may be a mystery to the individual player, but to the composer there is underlying meaning; a change in the harmony, or a different scale with a particular sound. What might have seemed a random change always has a purposeful intention. The accidental always adds more tension, drama, and interest to the piece.
With these paintings, I gather structures randomly, as you would with a collage, and I start creating parameters and set a course for the work. At first, the paintings seem to be about something unintended; mostly from imagery I gravitate towards but not knowing where it will fit into the work. Some of the strangest references that I choose do seem like random accidentals; not knowing how they will relate to the whole. Often, I’ll find a phrase or image that materializes out of simple curiosity.
I engage with the visual challenge, integrating and editing the accidental imagery into the painting. A quiet interaction takes place between the images, their potential subtext and my brushwork and colour palette. The compositions involve a process that channels energy around and throughout. The process of additions and revisions repeats until ultimately the composition appears resolved. I like discovering beauty or humour that may reveal itself in this process. The paintings involve some free association, which probably also involves my own psychology, but I hope these connections have some universal resonance.
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Ulrich J. Wolff
March 14 @ 10:00 am – May 15 @ 5:00 pm
The Vernon Public Art Gallery is pleased to introduce the exhibition titled There Must Be Life produced by Ulrich J. Wolff. Based in Karlsruhe, Germany, the artist and educator is known for his vast range of images including natural and urban landscapes, architecture, bodies of water, fields, forests, and vegetation. While dedicated to photographically constructed imagery and environments devoid of human presence, Wolff’s also includes haunting portraits which reflect the mysteries of the human condition.
Winner of the 2021 Okanagan Print Triennial (OPT), a tri-annual exhibition rotating between the Vernon Public Art Gallery and the Kelowna Art Gallery, Ulrich J. Wolff, is set to attend the opening reception on March 14th at the VPAG.
Laurence Belzile
January 11 @ 11:00 am – March 5 @ 5:00 pm
Laurence Belzile’s exhibition titled Through the Gardens features colorful abstract paintings with both softness and forcefulness. Born in Gaspésie, QC in 1994, Laurence Belzile now lives and works in Vancouver, BC. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University with a major in painting and drawing, and a Master of Fine Arts from Laval University.
Opening Reception on January 11 at the Vernon Public Art Gallery from 6:00 – 8:00 pm
