The Opening Reception was on Thursday January 11th, one of those truly dreadful rainy Vancouver Winter evenings, so I opted instead to go to a talk given by the two artists on Saturday Jan. 13th. It turned out to be a very good idea because we were given a thorough explanation of their intentions (and I could then enjoy wandering around trendy Main street boutiques and finding local murals afterwards).

Brendan is known for his Manga/Ormolu series of ceramic sculptures in which he creates mash-ups of highly decorated Ormulu vases with mechanical additions/inserts resembling the colours and shapes of Japanese Manga Art. To bother us completely the vases look as if they’re being squashed and the additions seem to be robots.

Moving on from this series of work Brendan has spent the last three months of concentrated studio time working with entirely different materials. The exhibition’s title “Meatspace” comes from a term coined by web guru John Perry Barlow to differentiate the physical world from the virtual world of “cyberspace.”  The new sculptures represent clouds which could be real ones or ‘The Cloud’. He has painstakingly fabricated them from black foam core and jointed wooden framework. He described the complexity of having decided to work with totally unexpected angles, giving himself hours and hours of carpentry, cutting and gluing. The finished pieces are suspended in the gallery space, along with some white neon tube lights, and he has completed the installation by defining some of the angular shadows on the walls and floor with black electrician’s tape.

In the studio space behind the gallery, which he occupied for the three months, I found other pieces displayed, including a drawing which could be part of the Manga/Ormulu series, and other 3D Mash-up shapes, in clay. 

His fellow artist, Lucien Durey had only the Christmas holiday time to install his work in the adjacent gallery, but he expressed gratitude for the opportunity provided by BAF to have a show. “Paraphernalia” reveals his fascination with found objects or gifts and he uses them to remind himself and us of events in his life. He has developed some discarded photographic film and framed these grainy images from fifty years ago, and leaves us to imagine where this painterly place is. Other objects have been altered with the addition of batik-type colour on old curtains, or simply displayed for us to wonder at.

His inner gallery space is painted dark grey and contains a curvy table cut from a door, laminated with resin with glass inclusions and lit with a lone thrift-store lamp.

My photos show a dilapidated kitschy toy parrot, which has sentimental resonance for him, and a sixties pottery lamp with an odd pink light bulb. With great sincerity Lucien explained the reasons for each item or arrangement in his show. He invited us to a special performance of musical compositions, I believe Feb 13th, when his songs will be ‘impermanent captions’ (instead of didactic texts).

This paragraph is taken from BAF’s website and explains the purpose of the Foundation:

Our Mission
The mission of the Burrard Arts Foundation (BAF) is to promote the development of, and excellence in, the visual arts in Canada – accomplished through innovative art projects and programs. BAF seeks to advance the understanding and appreciation of the Arts in Vancouver by showcasing local and global artistic talent and dialogue from the creative minds of today and tomorrow in dynamic ways, and within the public’s grasp. Our objective is to provide opportunities that enable artists to produce their work and share it with the World.

Eric Metcalfe was one of the artists the Foundation invited to prepare work for ‘Facade Festival 2016″. His painting was projected on the facade of Vancouver Art Gallery on August 30th of that year, along with several other artists on other days. One of those was another ‘Raider’, Renée Van Halm. Eric also had his mural ‘Stellar’ installed in the Foundations’ downtown headquarters at 1030 West Georgia street in 2014.

http://www.burrardarts.org/project/stellar/

These two shows can be seen at BAF, 108 East Broadway (between Quebec and Main) until March 10th.

Now Al is comfortably settled in a room at ground level next to my basement studio and has quickly tackled one flight of stairs to the main floor, the dining room and his study so we can begin to get our lives back to a normal routine. But he is going to find recovery slow and frustrating. He’s enjoying home-cooked meals and we gently walk around a block or two when it’s not absolutely tipping rain.

So my studio work has been neglected, and my galleries have been totally understanding. It is normally a very busy time of year in a pottery studio but for this year I shall simply try to finish the jugbirds I had begun before Al’s surgery date and whatever else I can complete. The work made by my Texan guests awaits the next firings and the Raiders are, of course, hoping to have some more painting days soon. I’ve told them to give me a couple more weeks to catch up with some of my stuff and get some plates made and then I hope Al will feel strong enough to have guests here for a day. He can disappear into his study where there’s a comfortable chair!

While Al was at St Paul’s I was finally able to find Eric Metcalfe’s elegant mural in the Burrard Foundation’s building on Georgia street as I walked south on Burrard street from the Burrard skytrain station. You can find it by walking into the CIBC entrance on Georgia street. Here’s the link to info on that:

http://www.burrardarts.org/project/stellar/

On one evening it was a treat to have Linda Lebrun pick me up at St Paul’s at the end of a day and give me a lift down to Granville Island, and then a ride all the way home. We went to Emily Carr U for a NW Ceramic Foundation lecture by Sally Michener. It was so good to see her selection of slides, showing just how much sculpture she has created over a long career, including the most recent work in the show with Tam Irving at West Vancouver Museum. Many of her students and friends were in the audience that evening so it was a happy occasion. And no, I didn’t take any photos that night.

Al and I would like to thank all the super friends who’ve phoned, emailed and sent cards to cheer him along, plus casseroles and food treats! He’ll be able to have longer phone calls and visits very soon.