This exhibition is an opportunity to question the biases, assumptions, and tastes that affect how we perceive art by critically engaging with the history of Canada, and how it relates to Ivan Eyre’s landscapes.
Eyre’s landscapes, to a degree, communicate the European-Canadian values that were common throughout his life. They are without signs of human conflict, hold evidence of personal and national land ownership, and represent a version of progress — they are beautiful, here for pleasure, of settler making, and to fulfill settler needs. But to what degree is this interpretation determined by how Canada has used land as a symbol and as a justification? To what extent would bearing witness to the shaping of a nation influence how an artist imagines and creates landscapes?
WAG@The Park presents a rotating series of exhibitions curated by WAG-Qaumajuq at The Pavilion at Assiniboine Park Conservancy (APC). Art is selected primarily from the APC collection, as well as from WAG-Qaumajuq’s vast holdings.
To plan your visit, check out wag.ca/visit.
