KWAG boasts two new exhibits

Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (KWAG) takes pride in displaying the artwork of both Canadian and international contemporary artists. Currently, KWAG is showing Another Victory Over the Sun, Let’s Glow and an array of permanent art.

Another Victory Over the Sun was originally curated by Nora Burnett Adams and Adam Lerner and originated at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver [MCA Denver]. The exhibit opened at KWAG (located on Queen Street in downtown Kitchener) on Jan. 20 and will run until March 11.

The nature of creation is sharing and Another Victory Over the Sun allows its audience to connect with the art through minimalist displays. The exhibit is devoid of light, illuminated only by the artwork.

Crystal Mowry, curator of exhibitions and collections at KWAG, explained in an interview with The Cord that she expects “visitors to experience a dream like state” upon viewing the exhibit.

While traveling through the exhibit, which Mowry described as inducing “an irrational state of being,” the viewer is easily able to extract meaning from the pieces.

The seven artists that contribute to the exhibit have created works that are extremely different, yet in some ways overlap. The blacked out exhibit is heightened by a variation of sounds and illumination, which Mowry described as “a way to understand how you move through space without assistance.”

Another Victory Over the Sun is inspired by set designs in the 1913 Russian opera Victory Over the Sun. The vision and innovation behind the exhibit is the concept of art surrounding architecture. The central piece of the exhibit is Spencer Finch’s creation of a dock constructed on a reflecting pool.

The serenity of Finch’s piece contrasts Miguel Calderon’s video of a panther, the darkness punctured by visions of the animals gnashing teeth, the sound only broken by its snarl.

A second new exhibit at KWAG is Let’s Glow; a product of the artistic collaboration of Magda Wojtyra and Marc Ngui. Let’s Glow opened on Jan. 18 and will run until Mar. 4. Wojtyra spoke to The Cord about her and Ngui’s exhibit, about which she was adamant about the importance of color in the artwork.

Wojtyra has a deep belief in the power of colour and the artist outlined her hopeful vision of those viewing the exhibit. “Smiling, enjoying it, going ‘wow look at this colour,’ That is what it was designed for, a blast of color in the middle of winter.”

The focus of the exhibit is the numerous “Crystal Kings” the artists have created, of which Mowry remarked, they symbolize “ideas of self-willpower, they are self-generating organisms creating themselves out of nothing.”

Wojtyra and Ngui’s exhibit communicates feelings of joy through the use of vivacious colours and grandiose.

The engaging and diverse nature of the two new exhibits currently on display at KWAG makes the gallery a worthwhile destination.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated since its original publishing date.

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