Random pieces of junk have been given a new sense of purpose at one art exhibit in the Harbour City.
Currently on display at the Nanaimo Art Gallery’s downtown location is Gleaners, an exhibit that features the reuse of discarded items.
Curated by Nanaimo Art Gallery artistic director Jesse Birch, the exhibit was inspired by Jean Francois Millet’s 1857 painting called The Gleaners. The painting shows three peasant women picking the remainders of a harvest.
“The traditional practice of gleaning is the gathering of things that were forgotten or left behind,” Birch said. “They were things that were not valued much by one person, but became very valuable for another and for me that is a metaphor for the work in the show, which is largely artists who find objects or stories that are perhaps under recognized or forgotten.”
The exhibit features work by Kara Uzelman, Sean Alward, Mary Atkinson, Joost Conijn, Randy Lee Cutler, Steven Davies, Michael Drebert, Joar Nango and Agnes Varda.
Among the many works in the exhibit is Uzelman’s piece, Stalactite, which is made of magnetic materials collected from around Nanaimo.
Uzelman, who hails from Nokomis, Sask., and graduated from Emily Carr University in 2004, said her artistic focus has always been on objects.
“My practice always revolves around objects and imagining the histories behind found objects, future, past and present and how objects are constantly changing in terms of their esthetics value and use value,” Uzelman said.
Gleaners runs until May at the Nanaimo Art Gallery’s downtown location, 150 Commercial St. For more information, please visit www.nanaimoartgallery.com.arts@nanaimobulletin.comFollow @npescod on Twitter