Lots to look at. I began at Eclectic where Jim McFarland’s paintings speak boldly (2170 Oak Bay Ave., 250-590-8095, until April 4). This show concentrates exclusively on the shoreline, which McFarland paints according to a system: blue sky, green trees, neutral rocks, all knocked in with a minimum of fuss. Efficiently, effectively, he gets down just what it’s like to be there. And that’s quite enough.
Next, at Winchester, Adam Noonan’s latest oil paintings are hung throughout two floors (Winchester Galleries, 2260 Oak Bay Ave., 250-595-2777, until March 28). Noonan’s compositions are carefully crafted, and he favours the winding road and the flat front of an old wooden building. His ability to render shadow — and therefore, light — is impressive. These paintings are steeped in a mood of nostalgia, rural idylls bathed in a golden glow that suffuses almost every canvas. Don’t look for people or cars. Just relax and enjoy the mood.
Upstairs at Winchester is a wall of recent watercolours by Avis Rasmussen. Rasmussen loves to paint on location with watercolours, and is open to all sorts of subjects. Her view through the window of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, and the scene on the front lawn of the Empress, have a wonky immediacy that is endearing.
The Bay Centre (1150 Douglas St., third floor) is the scene of the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria’s annual big show, Look ’15. With more than 400 works by 180 artists, and every submission exhibited, there is something to offend everyone. When you take risks like that, you might make some wonderful discoveries.
First I chanced on one of a series of tiny women curled up in seashells, the work of Debra Bernier. The shells are real, the sculptures are very neatly modelled with clay and finished with acrylic paint. And nearby was a “story rug” about a day at Nanoose by Michaele Freeman. It’s a hooked wool picture, suspended on a fishing rod; it was essentially a narrative painting in wool. For those who like their colours rich, wool is hard to beat.
On a stand nearby were two table-top “animalier” bronzes by Fred Dobbs, champion sand sculptor. The rhinoceros, in particular, was covetable.
Two Victoria scenes, in an expressionist mode, are the work of Victoria Edgar. I thought these beautiful monotypes were drypoint engravings. I rarely see Edgar’s work anywhere else but in this show, though she has been living here and making a strong contribution as long as I can remember.
Another of the old guard is Tom Gore. Gore’s thoroughly manipulated digital prints take you deep into a private mythology of statuesque nudes and crumbling walls. These dense and provocative images demand a closer look.
Ann-Rosemary Conway’s sacred feminine is another mythology altogether. For the current Look show she brought Portal, standing stones glowing with energy. This woman is always worth paying attention to.
Dominique Chapheau continues to do his own thing. This time, he began with photos of the lights streaming by during the Christmas truck parade. Then he cut them up, mounted some on blocks, and reassembled the whole thing in a painted box for extra effect. Obviously enjoying himself!
Photography abounds in this show. Right across the aisle is a store that advertises: “Make your photo into a work of art — print it on canvas” and many entrants have done that. Hung in with the paintings, the results are occasionally puzzling.
When it’s at home, the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria is in residence at the Cedar Hill Rec Centre (3220 Cedar Hill Rd., 250-475-7121) where it has a gallery and a café annex. It presents some of the most enterprising shows in town. A few weeks ago, I caught the year-end show by students of St. Michaels University School, and it was a winner.
The teacher had set the students to make an artistic statement in support of their most strongly held opinions. Save the Whales! End Racial Violence! These young artists overcame their usual teen reticence when called upon to have their say, and they really mixed their media. Art can make statements in an immediate way, quicker than most others.
Now there’s a new show at Cedar Hill, titled We Draw the Line Here! A Political Art Show in Celebration of International Women’s Day. Phyllis Serota is showing two paintings about the wedding of two women. Millie Shapiro dominates the far wall of the gallery with a large painting of a radiant and empowering woman warrior (that’s my interpretation).
A very tender portrait of a grandmother and her daughter, the work of Eva Campbell, is entitled Biography. Painted with skill and confidence, this is one of the best paintings yet by Campbell, a long-established Victoria painter.
It’s not all sweetness and light. Ann Hansen (The Oystercatcher Lady) has reduced her signature shorebirds to a supporting role, while the foreground presents a bloody coathanger — code for illegal abortions. This is a show to tell it like it is. Other artists remind us that people without homes have a life expectancy of 40 years, and that Stephen Harper, beer and the RCMP will enslave us all.
And up next, Wednesday, March 18, to Sunday, March 22, at Glenlyon Norfolk School Gymnasium (1701 Beach Dr.), is the Victoria Sketch Club’s annual art show. Fun to view, hard to write about. For more, visit victoriasketchclub.ca.