The latest show at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Present Tense, hints at the future horizons of art with intriguing works made by 3D printers, along with a lively showing of more traditional mediums. Members of the gallery really stepped up for this show, offering one or two pieces each.
The Coast Makers have a big presence. Dan Williams shows his Robot Spider and his Robot Arm made using circuit boards, plastic and a 3D printer. Owyn Cramer takes it one step further with a 3D selfie in plastic that is illuminated by LED light.
The Evil Robots were getting lots of buzz from the crowd at the show’s opening on Sept. 9. Helen Platt and Derek Anderson assured me that they were not actually cyber people, despite their name, although they did house an army of evil robots. They have created a table and stools that are embellished with apocalyptic visions: a mushroom cloud hovers over Vancouver, aliens are zapping The Orpheum theatre. It’s different and attractive, despite the horrific subject matter.
Another Coast Maker, Laurie Miller, has composed a delightful Teacup Bear from sticking pieces of porcelain on wood. Diane Mueller takes the Maker cake for her Juke Box Suitcase that uses an old leather suitcase with labels (“We are all makers.”) and a plug-in to play your tunes.
Mixed media using collage is popular as in Christy Sverre’s acrylic and collage painting of The Crossing, a boat scene. Using light in artwork is also on the rise. Dean van’t Schip’s photo of Trees set in a lightbox is striking.
Realistic depictions of land and sea are also highlights of the show. Sharon Danroth shows her acrylic of St. Aidan’s, the now vacant church in Roberts Creek. Keith Burdon’s Hemlocktopus, a giant among sea creatures, is rendered in hemlock wood, acrylic and polyurethane. Janice Williams’ triptych, Three Seas Seen, shows gulls, sun and waves in digital prints. Rose-Ann Janzen’s painting of a diver and a mermaid is playful. Maurice Spira evokes a dark sense of humour in his Nature Morte (or still life) in which a dead bird lies on a dinner plate beside the oft-vilified vegetable, a brussel sprout.
Gord Dieroff’s acrylic painting titled Is There a Way Out touches on a bigger theme, the over seven billion people on our planet. His scene shows towering apartment buildings crammed with people, just as the streets below are packed with humanity. Where are the trees? On the rooftops, of course.
Present Tense is on until Oct. 1. The gallery is open Thursdays through Mondays and you can find more information on the www.gpag.ca website.
