PAST EXHIBITS

Carol Reynolds: Painting the Town

Heritage homes and buildings are a significant part of Nelson’s cultural identity, and if you’ve spent much time walking around Nelson, chances are you’ll recognize more than a few of the houses depicted in the paintings you see here. These paintings could certainly be appreciated in another town or city, but that familiarity, that particular Nelson-ness adds a resonance and connection that would be missing elsewhere. These are portraits in the truest sense, but the sitters in this case are typically houses, not people. There is no morality or judgment here; these bright and lively paintings present an idyllic view of Nelson’s residential heritage, and document Carol’s vision as she walks our city’s neighbourhoods.

I Was Here: Architecture and Personal History in Nelson, BC 

In different ways, we are all “making our mark” as it were, both in the lives of ourselves and others. Architecture is often one of the more literal examples of this – tangible evidence of the people and circumstances that created it. In Nelson, architecture has long been a prominent feature of our community. From the pre-settlement structures of the First Nations to the Chako-Mika mall, it is an integral part of our civic identity.  

The “Memory Wall”, conversely, makes tangible the other end of the spectrum; some of the smaller but no less vital contributions and connections that are made in our community. Some of our strongest memories are quite small. Similar to architecture, however, they often have a strong connection to the place they happened. Where you got caught out in the rainstorm, rode a bike for the first time, liked to have coffee every morning. By gathering these memories on a map, it makes visible that connection to geography that we share with the buildings around us.

Brent Bukowski: Flow

FLOW is an installation in found metal and glass inspired by the condition of the fresh water resources of the Columbia Basin. The design features the artist’s interpretation of a hydroelectric turbine. In this controversial time of privatized run-of-the-river hydroelectricity projects, in which there are substantial river and creek diversions proposed and in progress FLOW provides an opportunity for discussion about the consequences such projects pose and the urgency for an appropriate regional strategy.

Brent Bukowski works with found objects— primarily metal and glass. His work is inspired by the observation of global, environmental patterns from the perspective of a secluded lifestyle in the mountains of the West Kootenays. His assemblages achieve a high levels of detail in which broken and cut glass are meticulously layered in and around metalwork. His sculpture has been exhibited across Canada and is included in several public, private and corporate collections.

Kootenay School of the Arts 2009 Graduation Show

An exhibition of graduate student work from the Kootenay School of the Arts at Selkirk College (KSA) Class of 2009. Students represented in the exhibition worked closely with gallery curators to install and display their work to professional standards.

SALT: The Distillation of Matter

The SALT project is an installation of the work of three artists; Vancouver artist’s Haruko Okano and Nicole Dextras and Nelson artist Julie Castonguay. The artists worked with curator Deborah Thompson towards the creation of new work which explores the relationship between matter and impermanence. The work of the artists changes throughout the exhibition as their installations grow, evaporate and transmute taking the viewer through stages of death and move us towards renewal.

Kokanee Essential

Central to this show and essential and symbolic of Kootenay life, the Kokanee Glacier alpine wilderness has inspired visitors and residents for over a century. The history of the Kokanee Glacier and the Kootenay’s signature Kokanee Glacier Park will be the subject of this historic exhibition featuring quality unpublished photography from the early 20th century as well as recent imagery.

From First Nations beginnings to silver mining glory, from pioneer alpinists to community preservationists, from the disappearing glacier itself to generations of Park Rangers, from the National Ski Team’s first summer training camps to avalanche tragedies… Kokanee’s stories will be told.

Historic photos from the Gordon Fleming Collection, taken by Kokanee Mountaineering Club official photographer Ross Fleming in the 1920s will be a notable heritage feature of this exhibition.

Becoming Canadian: A Flag Story

An exciting new exhibition, Becoming Canadian: A flag story opens at Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History on Friday, November 27th from 7-9pm. On loan from a private collection, this exhibition documents through the use of historic flags the story of becoming Canadian. The exhibition spans nearly a century from the earliest official Canadian flags of 1870 to the adoption of the National Flag in 1965 covering the gradual shift in the Nation’s sense of identity from colonial to Canadian. 
 

The exhibition features rare examples of early flags as well as selected memorabilia and propaganda that accompanied the evolving symbols of identity that lead to our current red maple leaf.

Tanya Pixie Johnson: Lines in Blood and Milk

As a white African raised in pre-revolution South Africa, a segregated and violent society, Johnson sought out the traditional sacred ceremonies of the indigenous peoples, participating in, witnessing and being initiated into the spiritual practices. The work of Lines in Blood and Milk integrates facets of the artist’s spiritual exploration through intention, dream, ceremony and paint, presented in forty-nine oil, acrylic and mixed-media paintings arranged in an installation-like environment. Employing a personal symbolic language, the artist claims the process of creation is as much a part of the journey as the spiritual experiences. Aware of issues of cultural appropriation, the artist presents the work not as a didactic portrayal of traditional ceremonies, but a truthful exploration of ceremonial ways, creation, and the means for its continuation, through a personal experience and expressed in the form of paint and image.

Peter Velisek

A curated exhibition featuring the paintings of local resident and international painter Peter Velisek. The exhibition will include work from the two areas of subject matter that reflect Peter’s daily life experience: rural images from his life as a sustenance farmer in the Slocan Valley and urban images from his annual trips to his home town in the Czech Republic. A possible pairing with a second Expressionist painter from the region is being considered.

The Art of Doukhobor Textiles

2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the Doukhobor settlement in the area. The Art of Doukhobor Textiles highlights the achievements of function and beauty in the making of various textiles. The exhibition features objects from the collections of Touchstones Nelson and the Doukhobor Discovery Centre, Castlegar, including historical rugs, linens and fabrics, clothing and household items. A selection of textile tools will also be on display.