If you missed the first opportunity to hear Lyle Wilson talk about his paintings at the Maple Ridge Art Gallery, you’ll get a second chance next week.
Paint, an exhibition of more than 40 of Wilson’s paintings, has been well-received since it opened in May.
“The opportunity to curate an exhibition by a leading First Nations artist and oversee his first catalogue has been a great privilege,” says gallery curator Barb Duncan.
Born in 1955, Wilson was raised in the Haisla community of Kitamaat and went on to study fine arts and education at both the University of British Columbia and the Emily Carr College of Art and Design.
He also undertook an intensive exploration of what he refers to as “the classic Northwest Coast style” while working as a commissioned artist at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.
The artist’s 20-year association with museum enabled him to study the work of past masters and develop his own understanding and interpretation of the style of painting popularly known as formline.
Paint is the first major exhibition to focus exclusively on Wilson’s paintings and to assemble such a significant body of his work. Wilson is so a renowned and accomplished carver in wood and metal.
Many of the 40 works on display are unique and personalized images of coastal creatures such as orcas and ravens, the undersea world, and several stylized maps of Aboriginal territories.
The exhibition reveals with equal force a contemporary voice that evokes the artist’s concern for the environment and the indigenous Haisla language. When these pressing themes share space with the historical visual language he has mastered, the two forces are sometimes intriguingly – if uncomfortably – juxtaposed.
• Lyle Wilson will offer a free, public presentation on his work at the Maple Ridge Art Gallery on Saturday, June 30 at 11:30 a.m.
Raffle
Enter a raffle for a sterling silver brooch engraved by Lyle Wilson. Tickets available at the Maple Ridge Art Gallery gift shop. Draw date is Saturday, June 30 at 1 p.m.