Image: Audain Art Museum, Vancouver
In celebration of the Museum’s 10th anniversary, the Upper Galleries were officially named the Gordon Smith Mezzanine at the opening of ‘Solstice: Through Storm & Stillness’.
Gordon Smith (1919–2020) was a defining figure in Canadian painting, and over more than 70 years he continually evolved his practice across painting, printmaking and sculpture while moving between representation and abstraction. The museum said Smith’s work holds a prominent place in its permanent collection and described designating the Gordon Smith Mezzanine in his honour as a fitting tribute to his legacy.
‘Solstice: Through Storm & Stillness’ explores winter as both a natural environment and a metaphor for the emotional and psychological experience of enduring difficult times. Anchored by Smith’s ‘Winterscape’, the exhibition brings together works by Andrew Dadson, Gathie Falk, Gordon Smith, Karin Bubaš, Kim Dorland and Landon Mackenzie, offering distinct yet connected perspectives on landscape, material and atmosphere.
Smith’s ‘Winterscape’ dates from 1991 and is an acrylic painting on canvas in the Audain Art Museum Collection. His ‘Black Paintings’, described as his most autobiographical works, use direct personal references and a darkness not previously seen in his work to reflect his wartime experience.
The exhibition also includes Landon Mackenzie’s ‘Rose Snow and Pink Sky (a universe for Carl Hart)’, made in 2014–15.
