HAMILTON.- Six stellar exhibitions, featuring visionary Canadian and international artists, opened at the Art Gallery of Hamilton.

“The Art Gallery of Hamilton is presenting a number of firsts this summer: a rare Ontario solo exhibition of leading Canadian contemporary sculptor, Valérie Blass; works by European artist Anselm Kiefer never before seen in Ontario; and, the first exhibition in Hamilton of paintings by Emily Carr in the last 25 years,” said Louise Dompierre, AGH President and CEO. “The diversity and bold vision inherent in each of the exhibitions reflects the dynamism of the AGH. I hope that our members and visitors from far and wide will find them thought provoking and engaging.”

The exhibitions are presented under the banner of A League of Their Own, the AGH year-long celebration of Canadian visionary artists presented by TD.

VALÉRIE BLASS
Organized and circulated by the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
Curated by Lesley Johnstone, MACM Curator.
On view until September 23, 2012

Eighteen works are featured in the first solo exhibition in Ontario by the acclaimed Canadian sculptor Valérie Blass. Employing virtually every sculptural technique—from moulding, casting, carving and modelling to assemblage and bricolage—Blass explores the territories between animal, human and inanimate forms, creating strange, hybrid objects.

The impact of Blass's work resides in the anachronistic way she navigates between sculptural traditions. She makes free-standing, vertical, handmade, human-scale autonomous pieces that locate her squarely within the classical tradition of figurative sculpture. But the diversity of her materials and the plethora of mass-produced, bought and found objects she uses anchor her art in assemblage and bricolage. A major publication accompanies the exhibition.

NATURE AND SPIRIT: EMILY CARR’S COASTAL LANDSCAPES
Organized and circulated by the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Curated by Ian Thom, Senior Curator, Historical, Vancouver Art Gallery.
On view until October 28, 2012

The AGH is the only stop in Eastern Canada for this exhibition of more than 38 masterworks by Emily Carr. Nature and Spirit: Emily Carr’s Coastal Landscapes traces the evolution of Carr’s profound vision of Canada and her celebration of nature and the landscape of Canada’s west coast.

The works span Carr’s early experiments with European modernism, to her powerful first encounters with Canadian First Nations art and culture, through her mature landscapes, to a final series of works from the period 1940-1942 when she returned to First Nations subjects.

ALEX COLVILLE: HORSE AND TRAIN
Curated by Tobi Bruce, Senior Curator, Canadian Historical Art, AGH
Alex Colville's iconic Horse and Train, by far the most asked after work in the AGH holdings, occupies a unique place within the broader Canadian imagination and the Art Gallery of Hamilton's permanent collection. Three preparatory studies on loan from the Art Gallery of Ontario, which have never before been exhibited with the painting, are also on view along with selected objects and documents. Together they provide a greater understanding of Colville’s working methods and set the work and its acquisition in context. The painting will be installed semi-permanently in order to allow visitors a greater opportunity to view it.

SIMON FRANK: VIEW (FROM THE ESCARPMENT)
Curated by Melissa Bennett, Curator, Contemporary Art, AGH
On view until September 3, 2012

Simon Frank’s site-specific installation in the AGH foyer is a large monochromatic abstraction created by the physical destruction of the museum wall. By hammering into the drywall with a traditional log-marking tool, he symbolically investigates the history of industries such as logging, exploring their cultural and environmental impacts. Frank often incorporates the landscape in his works, frequently as the result of performative actions. In this way, he highlights the relationship between people, their labour and nature.

ANSELM KIEFER
Curated by Melissa Bennett, Curator of Contemporary Art, AGH
On view until September 9, 2012
One of the most important European artists in the last four decades, Anselm Kiefer’s works are rarely seen in Canada. This exhibition of three of Anselm Kiefer’s large mixed media paintings is unparalleled in its powerful content, which negotiates the cultural residue of WWII. Kiefer has become well-known internationally for his highly textured paintings. Symbolic meaning is embedded in his use of natural materials, numbers and text.

BY POPULAR DEMAND
Curated by Tobi Bruce, Senior Curator, Canadian Historical Art, AGH
On view until September 9, 2012

By Popular Demand presents 20 favourites from the AGH permanent collection by artists whose names have become well-known in popular culture. Masterwork, icon, and treasure are all words repeatedly used to define the singular and the memorable in art. But what is it about certain works that enables them to break away from the crowd? The exhibition includes works by Lawren Harris, Tom Thomson, Cornelius Krieghoff, Auguste Rodin, Joe Fafard, and Christopher Pratt, among many others.