The Reach Gallery Museum opens a new season of exhibitions on Friday, May 27 at 6:30 p.m.
The feature exhibition, Game/Culture, is an exploration of sports, art and society. It features works by four prominent Canadian contemporary artists and examines the ways that sports and games have fundamentally shaped societal expectations of gender, sexuality, race and ability.
These ideas and more will be discussed at the opening reception in a short Q & A with exhibiting artists Lucas Morneau (New Brunswick), Nathalie Quagliotto (Quebec), Mallory Tolcher (Ontario) and Craig Willms (B.C.), moderated by Adrienne Fast, curator of art and visual culture.
Guests will have the opportunity to mingle and meet the artists and to engage with several of the participatory artworks in the exhibition. Works by the artists invite guests to shoot some hoops, throw a wiffleball, and go head-to-head in a mini-putt challenge.
RELATED: Reach Gallery in Abbotsford earns Governor General’s History Award
“I remember hearing an old cliche growing up, that artists go into the arts because they’re not good at sports, when in fact the worlds of sports and art have more in common than most people think,” Fast said. “Both invite passionate, even obsessive, dedication. Both require rigorous practice to succeed in fields that can be tremendously competitive. And perhaps most critically, they both encourage certain kinds of behaviours in particular kinds of people.”
The season of exhibitions also features the short documentary film The Queen of Basketball, from director Ben Proudfoot and executive producers Shaquille O’Neal and Steph Curry.
This Academy-Award-winning film profiles the life of Lucia “Lucy” Harris, who scored the first basket in women’s Olympic history, and was the first and only woman ever drafted to the NBA. The film will be presented continuously in a screening gallery for the duration of the exhibition.
The Reach is located at 32388 Veterans Way. Visit thereach.ca for more information.