[BCMA] [MEDIA RELEASE] Gwaii Haanas – Islands and Sacred Sites on view at Kelowna Art Gallery

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

For Immediate Release


Gwaii Haanas – Islands and Sacred Sites on view at Kelowna Art Gallery

Joice M. Hall: GWAII HAANAS – Islands and Sacred Sites
January 20 to April 1, 2018

January 17, 2018 – Kelowna, BC: A new exhibition of work by Kelowna-based artist Joice M. Hall may have visitors feeling as if they have stepped out of the Gallery and into the moss-draped cedar and Sitka spruce forests of Haida Gwaii.

Hall’s exhibition entitled Gwaii Haanas – Islands and Sacred Sites was inspired by a two-week artist’s residency in Haida Gwaii that she was selected for in 2016. The residency was presented by the Haida Gwaii Museum in collaboration with Gwaii Haanas/Parks Canada.

The exhibition features an 18-foot-long painting installation, comprised of fourteen separate works. Together they form a composite landscape that celebrates the ocean, forest, and marine life she saw while being guided around Gwaii Haanas. Hall referenced 1,600 digital photographs that she took during her visit to create the high-realism paintings in the exhibition.

Hall was also deeply moved by the five historic Haida heritage sites she visited, and what resonated with her the most were the mortuary poles around the longhouse sites at S’Gang Gwaay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Anthony Island. These centuries-old carved poles stretch over twenty feet into the sky and depict maps of Haida lives and lineages. Hall chose to paint five of these poles and place them within the composition of her installation, to act as spirits watching over the longhouse sites.

The goal of the Gwaii Haanas residency is to connect artists to this unique place, and then further to connect, through these artists, Gwaii Haanas to Canada and the greater world.

GWAII HAANAS – Islands and Sacred Sites will give Gallery visitors that opportunity. The exhibition opens on January 20 and runs through to April 1, 2018.

Hall spent most of her career based in Calgary before moving to Kelowna in 1999. She studied at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary. She has exhibited her work in galleries across Canada, and in Mexico. In 2010, the Kelowna Art Gallery organized a full-scale survey of Hall’s work, entitled Surreal. Real. Ideal: The Art of Joice M. Hall.

A reception to celebrate the opening of the exhibition will be held on Friday, January 19, 2018, from 7 to 9 pm. This is a free event, open to Gallery members and guests, by invitation.

The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street in downtown Kelowna. For more information about current exhibitions, public programming or special events, please visit the Kelowna Art Gallery online at www.kelownaartgallery.com<http://www.kelownaartgallery.com> or call 250-762-2226.

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[Image credits]

Joice M. Hall in her studio, 2017.

Joice M. Hall, Longhouse Site 5/SGang Gwaay (detail), 2017, acrylic on stretched canvas, 36 x 75 in.

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For more information, to schedule an interview with artist Joice M. Hall, to access a preview of the exhibition, or for additional high-res images, please contact:

Media Inquiries

Joshua Desnoyers | Marketing and Events Coordinator

Kelowna Art Gallery
1315 Water Street | Kelowna, B.C. | V1Y 9R3
250-762-2226 ext. 305
josh at kelownaartgallery.com<mailto:josh at kelownaartgallery.com>  |  kelownaartgallery.com<http://www.kelownaartgallery.com>  |  facebook.com/KelownaArtGallery

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