Gabor Szilasi

Canadian (born in Hungary)

(b. 1928)

Mme. Perron’s mobile home, Les Eboulements, Charlevoix 1976

chromogenic print on paper

28 x 35.6 cm Image: 27.6 x 34.4 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of Peter Tittenberger

Taken in 1970’s rural Quebec, this photograph is an example of Gabor Szilasi’s fascination with domestic interiors. He said: “My subjects in photography really deal with everyday life, mostly with people and their environment”. It can be said that a photograph of a home provides a portrait of its owner. Object arrangement, decoration and colour reveal the personality of the occupant and the quirks that make them unique. Szilasi’s upbringing in Hungary also provides an ‘outsider’s’ view, and a form of social documentation. He allows the viewer access to a private and informal space without exploiting it. This photograph prompts reflection on what our personal spaces say about us.

Diana Thorneycroft

Canadian

(b. 1956)

Early Snow with Bob and Doug from the series Group of Seven Awkward Moments, 2005

chromogenic print on paper, 13/20

81.5 x 66 cm Image: 76.2 x 61 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of Michael Boss

Using sketch show characters Bob and Doug McKenzie, Diana Thorneycroft parodies the themes in Tom Thomson’s iconic painting Early Snow (also in WAG’s collection) by using it as a backdrop in this diorama. This work forms part of Thorneycroft’s Group of Seven Awkward Moments series, where comedy and tragedy plays out in equal measure via intricate tableaux. Thorneycroft de-romanticizes The Group’s vision of a ‘true’ national identity as her comical subjects remain oblivious to the wolves circling around them in their faux wilderness. She criticizes the Group’s representation of Canadian history, stating that it “…is full of awkward moments and that is more of a reality than this heroic landscape that the Group of Seven portrayed.”

Diana Thorneycroft

Canadian

(b. 1956)

Grey Owl and Anahareo at Beaver Swamp from the series Group of Seven Awkward Moments, 2007

chromogenic print on paper, 5/20

58.5 x 81.2 cm Image: 53.2 x 76.1 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of Michael Boss

This photograph is part of Diana Thorneycroft’s Group of Seven Awkward Moments series, in which she explores and critiques notions of national identity and the conventions of Canadian history. Here, in front of Lawren S. Harris’ Beaver Swamp landscape, she presents a diorama depicting Anahareo and Grey Owl by their cabin. The figures’ behaviour undermines their ‘official’ reputation as conservationalists, as Anahareo aims a gun toward the intoxicated Grey Owl and a bambi-like herd. History can be viewed as a selected narrative. Here, the artist invents her own alternative fictions in the place of traditional historic events. In doing so, she highlights the real flaws in the story that are otherwise overlooked.

William Eakin

Canadian

(b. 1952)

Untitled (Baker Lake) from the series Baker Lake, 1983

silver print on paper

20.3 x 25.5 cm Image: 17.8 x 23.8 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of Peter Dyck

During the early eighties William Eakin lived and worked in Baker Lake, Nunavut. The isolated location was home to several Inuit communities whom Eakin photographed in his Baker Lake series. The people in this photograph are newlyweds James and Winnie Ikinilik, Barney Ututuva, Ruth Ikinilik and her daughter. Family, community and celebration are honoured. The photographs serve to some extent as documentation and social commentary. More importantly, they illustrate the relationships built during his time in Baker Lake, presenting a humanist element and a genuine fondness for his subjects. This element is one which prevails throughout Eakin’s work.

William Eakin

Canadian

(b. 1952)

Untitled (Keyboard) from the series Ghost Month, 2003

pigment print on paper, 2/5

32 x 48.5 cm Image: 28 x 42 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of Donald B. MacDonald

Parts of Asia celebrate and appease their dead during Ghost Month, the seventh lunar month in the Chinese calendar. Spirits are invited to spend time in the world of the living and are offered food, entertainment and treats. This photograph is part of William Eakin’s Ghost Month (2003-2004) series, where he photographed electronic goods produced for Ghost Month in Taiwan. The goods are made from paper, and are burnt as part of the festivities in order for the departed to enjoy use of them upon returning to the afterlife. The image has a painting-like quality that invites closer inspection. The objects are crafted with great attention to detail, yet are not quite accurate replicas, emitting an uncanny quality. The keyboard is also a reminder of lost loved ones, bringing a feeling of longing to the piece.

Shari Hatt

Canadian

Black Dogs: Series Two 2001–2003

colour print on paper, A/P

40.5 x 40.5 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of the artist

Shari Hatt’s work is concerned with kitsch pop icons and animals of all shapes and sizes. Black Dogs: Series Two presents sixteen close-range studio portraits of various canine breeds. They all display the same markings, but the viewer is invited to observe different forms, sumptuous textures and colours; velvet coats and glossy eyes, hues of tan, black and pink tongues. They reveal the dogs’ personality and individuality, but also reflect imagined – and culturally influenced - characteristics invented by the viewer. The artist states: “For me this black work is sensual and painterly and sinister and dramatic, sublime, etc., yet it is also campy and funny (if you knew the process) and the inspiration is my love of black velvet paintings.”

Joanne Jackson Johnson

Canadian

(b. 1943)

Kangirsuk (Payne Bay), Nunavik (QC) May 1982 1982

chromogenic print on paper

50.7 x 40.6 cm Image: 35.2 x 35.5 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of Peter Dyck

In 1982, Joanne Jackson Johnson accompanied the Manitoba Puppet Theatre on a tour of the Ungava region in Quebec. Kangirsuk is an Inuit village with limited accessibility (primarily only by air), and home to a small community. This work depicts the village nestled within the region’s rocky and snowy terrain, providing a mountainous backdrop of impressive beauty. The dominant mountain reminds the viewer of the village’s ever-present isolation. However, this is an unromanticized view of Kangirsuk’s remoteness. Inhabitants are pictured amongst their homes engaged in daily activities, children race bikes and play: Life has been established and goes on. Despite the pragmatic eye, the scene is aesthetically pleasing, displaying a harmony of muted colours and composition. The tiny figures are emotive and intimate, bringing warmth to the cold.

Jean (Hans) Arp

French

(1887–1966)

Daphné II 1960

Bronze, 2/3

155 x 42 x 42 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of George T. and Tannis M. Richardson

Internationally influential modernist master Jean Arp is best known for his use of curvilinear biomorphic forms, which suggest the close, and sometimes surprising, link found between order and chance in the natural world. Although Arp is routinely associated with the Dada and Surrealism movements in Europe, Daphné II reveals an underlying interest in Classicism as well. The sculpture’s title refers to the protagonist of a Greek myth, a nymph who asks to be transformed into a laurel tree in order to avoid the pursuit of Zeus. The myth affords Arp the opportunity to capture animal and vegetative forms in a moment of metamorphosis. Prior to this acquisition, the WAG held one work by Arp in its collection, the plaster sculpture Muse’s Amphora, 1959 (G-72-15). Daphné II represents a major contribution to the Gallery’s collection of European modern sculpture, which includes Henry Moore, Jacob Epstein, Alexander Archipenko, Ossip Zadkine, and Lynn Chadwick.
 

Barbara Hepworth

British; English

(1903–1975)

Bronze Form (Patmos) 1962

Bronze, 2/7

71 x 97 x 23 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of George T. and Tannis M. Richardson

English sculptor Barbara Hepworth enjoyed a considerable reputation when alive, and her oeuvre continues to receive the attention of collectors, scholars, curators, and the general public around the world. In 1931 Hepworth pioneered a holistic approach to creating volume. Bronze Form (Patmos), a version of which is also on display in the garden of the Barbara Hepworth Museum in St. Ives, Cornwall, demonstrates her approach to defining sculptural volume through the use of both positive form and negative space. This work, which is the first by Hepworth to be acquired by the WAG, is one of very few bronzes by the artist that references a Greek place name. It is suspected that the reference the artist’s impression of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas that surround the island of Patmos.