About the Exhibit
On June 13, 2021 we opened the gallery doors to share with Tofino—and people from around the world—Canadian contemporary art by local and regional artists in painting, sculpture and photography. We are grateful to live, work and play in this diverse community located in the traditional and unceded territories of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation on western Vancouver Island in the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve.
Join us in celebration of TGCA’s third anniversary June 13, 2024 from 5—7:30 pm for libations and the debut of The Divine Feminine, a dynamic group show featuring artworks by Marion Evamy, Anne-Sophie Falconer, Miles Lowry, Birgit Piskor, Jim Schwartz, Lucy Schappy and Elly Smallwood in figurative painting and sculpture.
The theme of the show is a celebration of qualities associated with femininity: form, wisdom, strength, compassion, independence, vulnerability, sensuality and ultimately, confidence. The selected artworks in this group show thoughtfully speak to these attributes in some way, and it is a pleasure to represent this group of talented Canadian contemporary artists in their chosen genres and mediums. We hope you enjoy the exhibit as much as we enjoyed curating it for you. View in person or online at http://tofinogalleryofcontemporaryart.com. Complimentary delivery can be arranged between Tofino and Victoria. International shipping is available.
Leah McDiarmid, Gallery Director
Featured Artists:
Marion Evamy Sidney, BC
Figurative and abstract painter Marion Evamy strives for a sense of history and mystery, of things revealed and concealed. Her tropically-coloured abstracts are often inspired by music, while her ‘fictional’ portraits and figures consist of anything from a face with strong shadows to quirky people. Common themes in Evamy’s paintings are mystery, power, compassion, humour and individuality. She has a dedicated collector base and is known for her bold colours, playfulness and whimsy.
Anne-Sophie Falconer Victoria, BC
Emigrating from France, French-Canadian figurative sculptor Anne-Sophie Falconer draws inspiration from the human condition, our human frailty, starting with her own. Through Falconer’s process, she strives to highlight what we try to hide from one another, revealing both vulnerability and empathy: her sculptures elicit an emotional response. Winterstone is Falconer’s medium of choice and she creates in limited editions of 5 or 9. Her work is held privately and corporately throughout Canada.
Miles Lowry Victoria, BC
Miles Lowry is a visual and sound artist, writer and director best known for his vibrant paintings and life-size sculptures which explore the body as an expressive canvas. He has achieved acclaim for his ongoing series of cast figures—Crucial Fragments—and has exhibited paintings and sculptures since 1981. Lowry works with light-weight yet durable cotton fibre, a sculptural medium that complements his painterly approach. His sculptures are cast from real people, imbuing the works with vitality and personality.
Birgit Piskor Deep Bay, BC
Born in the Black Forest region of Germany, Birgit Piskor currently lives and works in Deep Bay on Vancouver Island. Working in modified concrete, her work is bold and sinewy, yet surprisingly soft and fluid. Working from sketches, all sculptures are created entirely by hand using successive layers of small hand-mixed batches of a modified concrete formula over a metal armature. This hand-building process results in slight variations within any given sculptural series, thereby ensuring the uniqueness of each individual piece. Piskor’s work is collected throughout Canada, the USA and in Europe.
Lucy Schappy Courtenay, BC
Lucy Schappy was born on the Canadian prairies and grew up loving sun and open sky. Leaving her dental practice in 2000, Schappy has devoted herself to painting full-time, finding and refining her voice in art. She strives to make work that is unconventional and original, working in various genres. Matisse and Picasso are big influences in her playful work, and she places her figurative subjects in lovely scenes, women who bask in life’s “splendid now” moments. Schappy’s work is held in personal collections in Canada, the USA and Germany.
Jim Schwartz Tofino, BC
A native of California, Jim Schwartz spent his formative years in Central California drawing, painting
and carving. He was part of the San Francisco Bay area art movement in the 1960s, contributing drawings to underground newspapers, working on light shows, painting acrylic hard-edge abstracts and creating poster art. Landing in Montreal, Canada in 1967, Schwartz enrolled in the Montreal Museum of Fine Art and studied under its then faculty dean, Arthur Lismer. As an artist, he was involved in the underground newspaper business and spent much of his time at the museum school drawing. Currently, Schwartz works from his Tofino home studio and is involved in 3D scanning clay maquettes and casting bronzes based on various themes. His latest work, Occult #4, is based on the concept of universal fertility.
Elly Smallwood Ottawa, ON
Elly Smallwood has garnered an international following for her lush, visceral and intuitive figurative work. Smallwood loves to create on large canvases however, she occasionally paints small and these works have an intimate, personal feel. Living and working in Ottawa, Smallwood seeks to explore raw, vulnerable moments of the human emotion. Her subject matter is a confluence of mythology, nature, anatomy and everything mythical. Smallwood draws inspiration from the people around her, as well as history, old anatomical books, tarot cards and the forest. With an extensive exhibition list, she has held solo shows in Munich and Toronto and numerous group shows in Miami, San Francisco, New York, Toronto, Mississauga, Victoria and, most recently, Tofino.
