Dorothy Knowles: A Canadian Landscape Legend
May 04 - May 29, 2024
Opening Reception: May 4, 2024: 2-5pm;
Preview: May 2 & 3
This exhibition focuses on the diversity and beauty that Knowles was able to capture of the prairies of Saskatchewan and beyond. She is celebrated for her unique perspective on the land. Her works transcend time and she remained true to her calling through a time where landscape painting wasn’t “cool”. Now, we celebrate the memory of a Canadian art legend that challenged herself through painting what was so raw and true to her soul - Landscape.
One of Canada’s most respected artists, Dorothy Knowles was born in Unity, Saskatchewan in 1927 and grew up on a farm overlooking a prairie valley. Initially Knowles had no plans to become a painter, and studied biology at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
In the 1960s, Dorothy Knowles attended workshops at the Emma Lake Art Camp led by the American art critic Clement Greenberg (1962), artist Kenneth Noland (1963), Jules Olitski (1964), Lawrence Alloway (1965), and Michael Steiner (1969). All of these workshops had varying degrees of influence on her work, changing her style from a heavy impasto favoured by Greenberg to a more fluid technique preferred by Noland. Most importantly, she discovered the joy of working directly from nature. Thus, weather permitted, she worked out of doors, at times producing finished paintings, at times sketches and photographs which she used in the studio.
Opening Reception: May 4, 2024: 2-5pm;
Preview: May 2 & 3
This exhibition focuses on the diversity and beauty that Knowles was able to capture of the prairies of Saskatchewan and beyond. She is celebrated for her unique perspective on the land. Her works transcend time and she remained true to her calling through a time where landscape painting wasn’t “cool”. Now, we celebrate the memory of a Canadian art legend that challenged herself through painting what was so raw and true to her soul - Landscape.
One of Canada’s most respected artists, Dorothy Knowles was born in Unity, Saskatchewan in 1927 and grew up on a farm overlooking a prairie valley. Initially Knowles had no plans to become a painter, and studied biology at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
In the 1960s, Dorothy Knowles attended workshops at the Emma Lake Art Camp led by the American art critic Clement Greenberg (1962), artist Kenneth Noland (1963), Jules Olitski (1964), Lawrence Alloway (1965), and Michael Steiner (1969). All of these workshops had varying degrees of influence on her work, changing her style from a heavy impasto favoured by Greenberg to a more fluid technique preferred by Noland. Most importantly, she discovered the joy of working directly from nature. Thus, weather permitted, she worked out of doors, at times producing finished paintings, at times sketches and photographs which she used in the studio.
Upcoming Exhibitions
Wendy Toogood: Narratives
June 01 - June 19, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 1, 2024 from 2-5pmThe works exhibited in Wendy Toogood: Narratives cover a forty-year time frame. The earliest works are abstract, or nonobjective, and they explore the use of various fabrics without any recognizable imagery. At this time, Wendy had become aware of a wide variety of new and exotic fabrics made with natural and synthetic fibres.Her collection of artifacts brought back from Mexico were the inspiration for the Mexican works such as coconut masks, hand carved figures from Oaxaca, dough heads made for the special Day of the Dead bread, Milagros, papier mâché dolls and skeletons, ceramics and various other items Toogood owns. Most of these objects were hand made using a variety of simple materials. These works gave Wendy a great deal of enjoyment, and she admired the creativity of the artisans who created these pieces. Her experience of attending Day of the Dead ceremonies was very moving and inspirational. These objects and events were the motivation for the series of cloth constructions and paintings in this exhibition.The Nakusp Narratives [the smaller works in the exhibition] document Toogood’s life and interests in Nakusp, BC. Everyday events such as gardening, friendships, shopping, cooking, news events and political events happening in the world are all potential themes for this series which she has been working on since 2006. The figure in each of these works represents the artist herself, they are all “selfies”. She animates and exaggerates the figure to represent the mood she wants to express in the work.
