The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) has announced the opening of two galleries to showcase selected pieces from their permanent collections.
One gallery will feature world-renowned Asian art, and the other will be devoted to works by both Indigenous and Canadian artists from the nineteenth century to the present.
Titled, A View From Here: Reimagining the AGGV Collections, this impressive accumulation of art is co-curated by AGGV Chief Curator and Director of Collections and Exhibitions, Steven McNeil; AGGV Curator of Asian Art, Dr. Heng Wu; and AGGV Assistant Curator, Mel Granley
These galleries will open on April 27th and will run through until April 2029—plenty of opportunities to visit multiple times and see the rotating selection of art.
“We have planned these galleries to increase the visibility of our vast collections, and to connect those collections with some exciting upcoming traveling exhibitions the AGGV will host in 2024 and 2025,” said McNeil.
“There will be a common approach to interpreting the collections within these galleries: to look at key historical works through a contemporary lens.”
McNeil added that the interpretive approach is intentionally broad because their collections themselves are quite broad—spanning the continent of Asia and the lands that make present day Canada, with strong emphasis on Coastal British Columbia art.
Visitors will be given the chance to reconnect with treasured objects that the AGGV is well-known for, including works by Emily Carr and Frederick H. Varley.
In addition to the works of Carr and Varley, the Indigenous and Canadian gallery will feature art by Arthur Lismer, A.Y. Jackson, J.E.H. MacDonald, Lawren S. Harris, Meryl McMaster and Dylan Thomas.
The Asian Art exhibition will include around 400 objects—the pieces organized according to their material and medium.
Guests will gaze upon fine examples of jade, bronze, ceramics, prints, ivory, Yixing purple clay pots and more.
“We hope visitors will also find some surprises amongst the extraordinary objects that have had less public exposure or, in some cases, have been very recently acquired,” added McNeil.
AGGV Exhibition Opening
- Where: AGGV, 1040 Moss Street
- When: April 27th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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