Village Squire, 1976-11, Page 46the world of, things, speaks of the whole
person through his work. Painting is
returned to its tradition."
OH CANADA!: London Art Gallery, Nov. 6
- 30.
Oh Canada! is Canadian Art for the sake
of Nationlism for the sake of Canadian Art.
Organised by the London Art Gallery,
the exhibit Oh Canada! is a selection of
works consciously striving towards devel-
opment and popularization of a Canadian
identity and the preservation of its historic
basis.
Oh Canada! will be on view at the
London Art Gallery. November 6 - 30. 1976
and then travelling to the Art Gallery of
Brant, the Art Gallery of Windsor and The
Gallery/Stratford in 1977.
The 46 works in the exhibition offer a
wide variety of interpretations of patriotic
feeling. Included are historical pieces --
pencil drawing of "The Fathers of
Confederation" by Robert Harris; "The
West Wind" by Tom Thomson; and
contemporary works like Joyce Wieland's
"O Canada" quilt and Greg Curnoe's
"True North Strong and Free".
Nationalistic humor is exemplified by
Wendy Toogood's quilt "The Canadian
Comic Book" and Dom Mabie's print
"Vote Boredom Party for Canada", serious
anti-American sentiment by Henry Duns-
more's serigraph "The Pause That
Refreshes". A tribute to the beauty of
Canadian skyscapes can be seen in Gar
Smith's "Notes on Light", a presentation
of slides of sunrises and sunsets "from sea
to shining sea".
It is hoped that the patriotic interpreta-
tions -- humorous, witty, colourful and
serious -- of the Canadian artists in Oh
Canada! will inspire visitors to examine
their own feelings about the Canadian
identity.
JOYCE WIELAND AND REASON OVER
PASSION: London Art Gallery, Nov. 23.
Canadian artist Joyce Wieland will
speak at the London Art Gallery, prior to
the screening of her film, REASON OVER
PASSION, Tuesday, November 23 at 8
p.m.
Ms. Wieland, now 44, already has
behind her a successful career as an
avant-garde artist and underground
film-maker. She began making films in
1958 with her first effort, Tea in the
Garden. Her work has been seen all over
the world and she has had major
Retrospective exhibitions at the Berkely,
and Whitney Museum in the United States
and here in Canada at the National Gallery
in Ottawa. Joyce Wieland has recently
completed her seventeenth, and first
feature-length film The Far Shore.
Reason Over Passion takes the form of a
prelude and three parts. In the prelude, the
Canadian theme is unfurled in the shape of
the new Canadian flag, and the singing of
O Canada. The first and third parts con4sist
of a journey across Canada, the centre and
third parts consist of a journey across
Canada, the centre section, a French
lesson, also contains a portrait of the Prime
Minister. The film, made by Joyce Wieland
in 1968 and 1969 reflects her personal
response to Canada.
P. Adams Sitney, wrote the following
about the film Reason Over Passion:
44, Village Squire/November 1976
"The magnificence of the film lies in its
imagery: a moving excursion across
Canada from west to east. Shorts1of the
setting sun running along the horizon, a
train emerging from a tunnel into a
snowscape burned out on the filmstock, a
harbour seen through the tilted camera.
These images incarnate the epic spirit of
the film which with all its contradictions (of
form and image, sound and picture) is
extravagantly ambitious and elevated. Yet
one feels more sadness than grandeur at
the passing landscapes, the flashing
animations of the Canadian flag, and the
grainy slowed down images of Trudeau. At
the end, we have seen an ecological dirge,
not a poem of becoming so much as of what
might have been."
THE ONTARIO COMMUNITY COLLECTS
AND RECENT ACQUISITIONS TO THE
PERMANENT COLLECTION: the Gallery,
Stratford, Nov. 6 - 28.
The Ontario Community Collects: is an
exhibition organized by the Art Gallery of
Ontario featuring paintings, watercolours,
and pastel drawings dating from 1766 to
1972. The works are all by Canadian artists
or by artists who worked in Canada prior to
Confederation. Selection was made from a
"community" of Ontario public institu-
tions; The Royal Ontario Museum, the
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Art Gallery
of Windsor, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hart
House, the University of Guelph, to name a
few of the lenders. Taken together these
pieces reveal the high standards and wide
variety of collections in the Province with
works by Plamondon, Kane, Thomson,
Carr, and Snow included.
Although there has always been a
generous exchange of exhibitions and loan
of works among Ontario institutions this
may well be the first time these collections
have been represented together. The fifty
some works 'on view at the Gallery/Strat-
ford were taken from the major exhibition
of 104 pieces shown in January of 1976 at
the Art Gallery of Ontario which is
circulating the exhibition through its
Extension Services made possible by a
grant from Outreach Ontario.
RECENT ACQUISITIONS TO THE PERM-
ANENT COLLECTION: A selection of gifts
and purchases acquired by the gallery
between 1973 and 1976 will be on view in
gallery three. These acquisitions are
comprised of contemporary watercolours
and graphics, as well as theatre costume
designs and are shown to the community
for the first time. The exhibition is
designed to complement the Ontario
Community Collects. This exhibition is
produced, in part with funds provided by
the Volunteer Committee of the Gallery/
Stratford. This is the first time such
sponsorship has been effected in the
gallery.
There is no admission charge to view
these exhibitions. Free tours are provided
on request when booked in advance. To
book tours or for further information phone
Robert Swain, 271-5271. GALLERY
HOURS: Tues. -Fri. 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday 1
to 5 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Monday closed. The Gallery/Stratford is
supported in part by the City of Stratford,
the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada
Council, and its membership.
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