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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif">Nanaimo Art Gallery<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif">150 Commercial Street, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 5G6, </span><a href="http://www.nanaimoartgallery.ca" style="color:blue;text-decoration:underline"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif">www.nanaimoartgallery.ca</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif">, 250.754.1750<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">Contact: Chris Kuderle (</span><a href="mailto:chrisk@nanaimogallery.ca" target="_blank" style="color:blue;text-decoration:underline"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">chrisk@nanaimogallery.ca</span></a><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">)</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"><span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">For immediate release: <b><i>The Orchids / Had the Look of Flowers That Are Looked At<span></span></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"><b><i></i></b></span></p><div><b><i><img src="cid:ii_jif2efrh0_164003e60210f28c" width="454" height="303"><br></i></b></div><b><i><br></i></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span id="gmail-_x0000_t75"> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span><span id="gmail-Picture_x0020_3" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="ARVO LEO VANDA ORCHID WITH KNIVES" style="width:468pt;height:312pt"> <span> </span></span></span></b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"><span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Image: Arvo Leo, <i>Vanda Orchid With Knives</i>, 2018, digital photograph<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"><span> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">The Orchids / Had the Look of Flowers That Are Looked At</span></i></b><i><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> An exhibition by Arvo Leo<br> <br>Curated by Jesse Birch and Emma Sise<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">Join us for the opening reception Friday, June 22 at 7 pm </span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in"> </span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">June 23 to July 22, 2018</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Each species of orchid has cunningly evolved its appearance, and its fragrance, to attract a specific pollinator to aid in sexual reproduction. Yet somehow they also attract us, and our encounters with them have shaped both botanical and human cultures. In Arvo Leo’s film <i>The Orchids / Had the Look of Flowers That Are Looked At</i> these flowering plants assert their agency in a human-centric world. Plants and films both need light and time to exist, and through stop-motion animation, cyanotype photography, and sculptural installation, orchids spring to life, meddling with the environment they’re constrained to; frolicking, creating, and destroying with self-determination and amusement.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">The history of the orchid involves layers of colonialism, economic activity, and cultural beliefs that intersect centuries and continents. Arvo Leo has not only been engaged with these histories, but also with the everyday relationships between orchids and people, tending daily to the orchids in his studio, and actively participating as a member of the Nederlandse Orchideeën Vereniging (Dutch Orchid Society). Leo has also made connections in Nanaimo, and throughout the exhibition, living orchids will be in the foyer of the gallery through a special collaboration between the artist and the Central Vancouver Island Orchid Society.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Speaking of and with these wild domestic plants, The<i> Orchids</i> is the second exhibition in a year in which Nanaimo Art Gallery asks the question:<i> How can we speak differently?</i> through exhibitions, educational programs and off-site events. <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">For<i>The Orchids</i>, we also present a series of public events called<i> The Surroundings</i>, which includes a poetry reading at Buttertubs Marsh, and a film screening at Bowen Park.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Arvo Leo grew up in Roberts Creek, BC, and carries a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, and an MFA from the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam. He is currently enrolled as artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Leo is also one of five artists from the West Coast and Yukon to be longlisted for the 2018 Sobey Art Award.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Emma Sise's curatorial internship at Nanaimo Art Gallery is funded by an Early Career Development grant through the British Columbia Arts Council. <span></span></span></p>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"> <hr size="1" width="100%" noshade style="color:rgb(51,51,51)" align="center"> </span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Gallery Tours<span></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Saturday, June 23, 2 pm, FREE</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Join us for a personal and engaged tour of <i>The Orchids / Had the Look of Flowers That Are Looked At</i> with artist Arvo Leo.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Tuesday, July 3, 12 to 1 pm, FREE</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Join Gallery staff over the lunch hour for a discussion based tour. </span><span style="font-family:"Univers 45 Light",sans-serif"><span></span></span></p>
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