Submitted. The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford opens its spring exhibitions during a free public reception on April 17, 2014 at 7pm with the remarkable works of bill bissett, Simone Jones, Fraser Valley Chapter of Canadian Federation of Artists and The Leonard Frank Studio.
“textual vishyuns: image and text in the work of bill bissett is not only a coup for Abbotsford but for all of Canada, because it is only the second major exhibition of bissett’s work and the first major retrospective of his work,” says Dr. Carl Peters, guest curator of this exhibition and author of the first scholarly study of bill bissett. “Although internationally recognized as a pioneer of concrete, sound and performance poetry, there is little recognition of bill bissett’s work in the visual arts.”
Based on Carl Peters’ book textual vishyuns: image and text in the work of bill bissett, the exhibition will comprise of bissett’s total art: assemblages, collages, paintings, drawings and the illuminated book lunaria. bissett makes use of everything he comes in contact with including the fragments, remainders and remnants of everyday items that are the source and inspiration for his work.
This first overview of bissett’s art since 1984 consists of works on loan from the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Contemporary Literature Collection (Special Collections) at Simon Fraser University and from various private collections, and is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Vancouver Foundation.
Born in Halifax in 1939 and living in Toronto and Vancouver, bill bissett is a unique figure in the history of Canadian literature and art. But he is a humanist first and foremost; a political thinker, a social activist and a great painter who continues to change and define Canadian art. He is the author of over 80 books of poetry and the founder of blewointment press, which published the early work of many experimental poets, including Milton Acorn, Margaret Atwood, D. A. Levy and bpNichol (among others). Since 1967, bissett has published with Talonbooks in Vancouver, and in 2011 published his first (self-referentially titled) novel – a “novel” with “conneckting pomes n essays.”
Readings, Dialogues and Films in conjunction with textual vishyuns:
Friday, April 18, 2014 @8pm I Free – text bites and textual vishyuns: a reeding and dialog with bill bissett (followed by discussion of his work by publisher Karl Siegler, author Carl Peters and artist/writer/educator Jerry Zaslove) at The Western Front, Vancouver
Saturday, April 19, 2014 @1pm I Free – bill bissett reading at The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford
Thursdays, May 22 and June 5 @7pm I Free – Poetry and Cinema – screening and lecture with Dr. Carl Peters at The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford
Thursday May 29 @630pm I Free – George Bowering reading at The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford
Saturday, June 21 @1pm I Free – Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Painting with guest curator Dr. Carl Peters at The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford
Saturday June 28 @1pm I Free – Adeena Karasick reading at The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford
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Other exhibitions opening at The Reach on April 17 and showing until June 29 include:
All That is Solid – Simone Jones
All That is Solid is 32-foot long animated projection onto four screens that joins black and white photographs and supersaturated colour geometric space. The computer-generated 3D cubes, spheres and reductive architectural models tumble vertiginously over film photos of hallways and staircases. Simone Jones is a Toronto based artist who has been investigating the artistic application of robotics and technology for more than two decades.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014 @7pm I Free – Artist Tour and Talk with Simone Jones at The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford
Fraser Valley Chapter of Canadian Federation Presents
Since 1992, the emerging and professional member artists of the Fraser Valley Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA) have exhibited at various venues throughout the valley. A panel of senior members of the FCA selected the best works from the submissions for this exhibition, and these 49 works are as varied and eclectic as the artists who created them.
History Through the Lens: The Leonard Frank Studio
This historic exhibit is a unique opportunity to explore Abbotsford’s industrial beginnings: logging, an industry that had a lasting impact on virtually every community in BC, and was particularly significant to Abbotsford and the Clayburn Company. It was responsible for BC’s first company town, Clayburn, Abbotsford’s next largest economic driver and the drainage of Sumas Lake that began the shift from industry to agriculture.
Frank was born in Germany and first moved to San Francisco before travelling to Alberni, BC to work in the mining industry. This is where his interest in photography started before moving to Vancouver in 1916. His work focused on capturing the industries and infrastructure of the province. This exhibition combines the resources of the Jewish Museum & Archives of BC with The Reach photo collection and is supported by the Lohn Foundation.
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The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford, located at 32388 Veterans Way Abbotsford, is the first ‘Class A’ public gallery and museum in the Fraser Valley and our mission is to be the centre of cultural and creative innovation in the Fraser Valley. We are committed to preserving and sharing the stories of our rich and diverse cultural heritage and showcasing the best in visual arts both inside and outside our community. The Reach is a multi award-winning gathering place and fosters intercultural and intergenerational exchanges in an environment of mutual respect and understanding.
For more information check thereach.ca or call 604-864-8087.
cxPictured: Simone Jones, All That is Solid, 2010, Projection/installation