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CAPTURE 2014: NOVA SCOTIA REALISM

Curated by: Tom Smart and Peter Dykhuis

Featured artists: Alan Bateman, Douglas Boutilier, Malcolm Callaway, Anthony Clementi, Richard Davis, Tom Forrestall, Peter di Gesu, Susan Gibson, Christopher Gorey, Peter Gough, Adam Gunn, Paul Hannon, Ed Huner, Derrick Dale Johnson, Joy Snihur Wyatt Laking, Gord MacDonald, Roy Mandell, Katie Melanson, Yanina Movchan, Shelley Mitchell, Onni Nordman, Jayé Ouellette, Susan Paterson, Mary Reardon, Steven Rhude, Anna Syperek, Tom Ward, Ambera Wellmann

November 21, 2015 – May 15, 2016

In the diverse history of Nova Scotian art, there is a consistent tradition of artists working in the Realist mode. From ship portraitists, landscape painters, and still life and trompe-l’oeil artists, to Magic Realists and those who work from photographic and digital sources, this pluralistic tradition is a vital part of Nova Scotian cultural identity.

Initiated by Professional Living Artists of Nova Scotia and developed in partnership with the Dalhousie Art Gallery, Capture 2014 is curated by Tom Smart (in consultation with Peter Dykhuis, Director/Curator of the Dalhousie Art Gallery). Generous funding for curatorial research from the Robert Pope Foundation, with additional project support from the Craig Foundation, made it possible.

The works are organized into categories and genres based on the concept of “capturing” experience, place or ideas through modes of Realism.

Realism’s long, sometimes uneasy, relationship with contemporary artmaking practices has often seen its proponents at odds with current mainstream or academic modes and genres. Capture 2014: Nova Scotia Realism seeks to dispel common assumptions about the nature of Realist art by presenting recent work by artists who are pushing its boundaries. Above all, the exhibition questions preceived notions of the status and place of Realism in the contexts of current art practices and contemporary society.

MAUD LEWIS

REALISM’S REACH

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