Shary Boyle Right before the Sobey Art Award announcement a few weeks ago, I spoke to AGNS director Ray Cronin and Rob Sobey about their trip to London for the Turner Prize announcement. The Turner, which is presented annually to a British artist under 50, is as well known and discussed in the UK as the Oscars are in North America. Sure, a lot of the media attention is paid to notorious behaviour at the events themselves, and to “questionable” art (elephant dung, porn, blow-up dolls, etc., tend to get the public talking, especially as it somehow confirms many people’s
AGNS Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
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Photos: ArtRising takes off
Last night, after the Sobey Art Award, the party moved onto ArtRising, a fundraiser for the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Hosted in the gutted Dooly’s space in the Roy Building on Barrington, the industrial feel—the peeling walls, the concrete floor—made you feel as if you were transported to another place (or decade, actually, minus […]
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David Altmejd wins the Sobey Award
The white wine was flowing as hundreds of artists, politicians, men in suits and other well-wishers crowded into a large tent, in the courtyard of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia last night for the Sobey Art Award reception. Hosted by Seamus O’Regan, wearing his arty face, and Laura Regan (which had Mad Men fans […]
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Secret party: AGNS keeps ArtRising location under wraps
Pastoralia in the studio, Go North! 2009 Remember that episode of 90210 where the gang had to take an egg to a convenience store, in exchange for the party location? Well, keep the produce at home, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is going to release the location of its fundraising party, ArtRising, on its […]
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Patterson’s past
There’s something weird going on in Canadian art, easily evidenced by this year’s crop of Sobey Art Award nominees. Fantastic, dark, playful and pop-culture influenced, nominees David Altmejd, Shary Boyle, Marcel Dzama, Luanne Martineau and Graeme Patterson all share similar sensibilities and themes, making the award exhibition at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia one […]
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The rise of fall arts: performing arts
THEATRE A Beautiful View October 13-31 at Neptune Theatre, 1593 Argyle Street, $15-$35, 429-7070, neptunetheatre.com Love without labels. That’s what actor-writer-producer Jackie Torrens feels the two women in Daniel MacIvor’s A Beautiful View have spent 20 years working towards. “As humans, there seems to be a need for us to define something, to label it,” […]
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Obama at the AGNS
Look out Maud Lewis, there’s some seriously famous company near your little house. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia unveiled a new piece to its permanent collection on Monday, none other than “The Obama Family,” by beloved Nova Scotia folk artist Bradford Naugler. Naugler carved all four members of the Obama family: Barack and Michelle […]
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Hot Summer Guide: Visual arts events
Will Gorlitz: nowhere if not here Through August 23 Guelph-based artist Will Gorlitz begins a painting by looking for the telling detail. “When determining the actual subjects I wish to paint, a crucial consideration is that the subjects present some acutely visual feature,” he explains in an email. “Commonly, this involves the tactile materiality of […]
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Musical layers peeled back in Sometimes Always
The elevator doors to the third floor part, allowing multiple and intermingling sonic currents to rush down the length of the narrow corridor, flooding the carriage. Against the flow of machine and mouthed sounds, a visitor steps into a gap in the room; a breathing space to pause and get bearings before plunging into Sometimes […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Gallery
One of the coolest things going on currently at the AGNS is work by the Sobey Prize-winning Michel de Broin. The Montreal sculptor took the $50,000 award in October, and his spherical collection of boardroom chairs—called Black Whole Conference—is on display, along with work by the four other artists under 40 years old who were […]