East Meets West at Gallery Connexion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gallery Connexion is pleased to present its next exhibition, East Meets West - a juried members' exchange between Gallery Connexion and aceartinc in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Gallery Connexion members sent proposals to aceartinc, and five Fredericton artists were selected for a group exhibition; Sarah Petite, Stephen May, Stephanie Weirathmueller, Carol Taylor, and Janice Wright Cheney. Their exhibition at aceartinc is opening Friday, the 26th of October. Janice Wright Cheney will be travelling to Winnipeg for the opening and giving an artist talk on Saturday, the 27th of October.

Gallery Connexion chose a group show of ten artists from Winnipeg, including; Cyrus Smith, Michael Benjamin Brown, Sylvia Matas, Veronica Preweda, maclean, Collin Zipp, Mélanie Rocan, Martin Finkenzeller, Doug Melnyk, and Rob Fordyce. The exhibition includes a video by Zipp, a sound piece by Melnyk, paintings, drawings, photography and installation. Eight of the ten Winnipeg artists will be present for the opening on Friday, October 26th from 7 to 9pm. On Saturday, the 27th of October, Gallery Connexion is hosting a panel discussion with the visiting Winnipeg artists and with local participating artists. The topic is on making art in Canada, regional differences, and challenges an artist may face at different points in his/her career. Robin Peck, a sculptor and teacher in the Fine Arts department at Saint Thomas University will moderate the panel discussion. Everyone is welcome to attend both events.

Thanks to the generous support of The New Brunswick Arts Board and The Manitoba Arts Council we were able to produce a catalogue, in which East truly meets West. This documentation serves to bring together the simultaneous exhibition of Winnipeg artists at Gallery Connexion, and Fredericton artists at aceartinc. in Winnipeg. Ray Cronin has contributed greatly to the catalogue with an insightful text on artist-run culture and on the work involved in the exchange.

"The two exhibitions in this exchange program have been prompted by a desire on the parts of two communities of artists to reach out, to break down some of the regional barriers that mar our ongoing conversations. But what happens, in terms of art making, with exchange? Perhaps the most important thing is that communities of artists expose themselves to different approaches, to different notions about what art making is or can be."
- Ray Cronin, excerpt from the catalogue essay East Meets West; Artist-Run Centers, Exchanges, and Other Strategies for Survival

For more information, contact Meredith Snider, Director of Gallery Connexion, at 506.454.1433 or connex@nbnet.nb.ca.