Gallery Gachet, 88 East Cordova Street, Vancouver, BC
May 14 – June 13
Opening reception: Fri May 14th, 6 – 10pm, (open mic performance, 8pm)
Panel discussion: Sat May 15th, 1 – 3pm, featuring Dr. Rosemarie McGoldrick, London Metropolitan University, UK
Film screening: Practical ESP: Sensory Perception and the Horse, 3 – 5pm, Q & A with filmmaker, Zoe Kirk-Gushowaty.
The relationship between humans and animals has long been a topic of avid interest in art and academic discourse.
Representations of animals in fine art can be traced back to the earliest drawings on the walls of caves, suggesting that they were the first metaphors, acting as ritualistic stand-ins and sacrifices for the gods.
While animal depiction has shifted schematically each century, in accordance with transforming cultural norms, the animal world has continued to exert a significant influence on the collective imagination.
This group exhibition features artists who address this complex subject from a contemporary standpoint, exploring the interplay between humans and animals within the current cultural climate: Rob MacInnis, A.J. Brown, Karen Moe, Dylan Wolney and Venus Soberanes.
AJ Brown’s paintings of cats speak to the powerful role that pets can play in individual lives; specifically her own life, in which her cat is her constant companion and mirror. Secretly, like Marc Chagall, who always added a rooster to his dream-like watercolors of people and animals, Brown sneaks the spirit of a certain character into each painting. “I put my cat in each one,” Brown says, “and a bit of myself in as well.”
