The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford holds an opening reception on Thursday, May 25 for its latest set of exhibits.
The event begins at 7 p.m. and includes an opportunity to meet the artists showcasing their works at three exhibits – Ready Player Two, The Great Experiment and The Irretrievable Moment.
Ready Player Two is a new collaborative body of work created by B.C. artists Sonny Assu and Brendan Tang.
The artists combine elements from science fiction, comic book and gaming cultures to consider how these forms alternately reinforce and transcend racial boundaries in youth culture.
Informed by their mixed-race backgrounds and experiences of Canadian life in the 1980s and 1990s, the artists bring together found objects, selections from previous bodies of work, and new collaborative pieces.
The Great Experiment presents a selection of large-scale multi-coloured lithographs by accomplished printmaker Ericka Walker.
This American-born artist, now based in Nova Scotia, explores the relationship between war-era propaganda and continued notions of patriotism, industrialization, and capitalism in North America.
Her exhibition’s title refers to an essay, penned by American John O’Sullivan in 1845, which popularized the notion of manifest destiny. Images of industry, agriculture, and warfare mix with fragments of text drawn from a variety of historical sources.
The third exhibition opening in May is the second half of a two-part retrospective for White Rock artist Jim Adams.
This exhibition, titled The Irretrievable Moment, brings together more than 100 works spanning nearly 50 years by this prolific senior artist.
The retrospective takes place at two venues. Surrey Art Gallery (April 8 to June 11) hosted the first part of the exhibition with a wide selection of works that explore Adams’ earlier art production.
The second part of the exhibition, opening at The Reach, focuses on Adams’ last two decades of artmaking, and includes a selection of paintings and objects that combine imagery inspired by classical and African myth and the visual language of science fiction.
The three shows will be featured at The Reach (32388 Veterans Way) until Sept. 3.
Additional public programs offered in conjunction with the exhibitions include: Brunch with the Artists, a ticketed event on May 27 at 10:30 a.m.; a free talk with Adams on June 17 at 1 p.m. at The Reach; and an artist talk and public mural unveiling/reception with Walker in early summer at the Fraternal Order of Eagles hall.
Visit thereach.ca or call 604-864-8087 (dial 0) for more details.