Visions of B.C.

Keith Anderson,/The Daily News

Kamloops Art Gallery registrar Trish Keegan and Vancouver Art Gallery conservator Kathy Bond hang charcoal pictures by Emily Carr Wednesday for the Two Visions exhibit at the Kamloops Art Gallery.

He knew and admired Emily Carr, but a much younger Jack Shadbolt struggled to free himself from her profound influence on his own art.

Kamloops Art Gallery’s winter exhibition contrasts original works by Carr and Shadbolt — two of B.C’s most prominent artists — and explores their common concerns with the province’s landscape, people and culture.

“She has, as no other artist among us yet, evoked the presence of the terrible and elemental force of our landscape such as only those who know our landscape can recognize as authentic and appreciate,” Shadbolt once wrote of Carr.

Over time Carr (1871-1945) and her work have become iconic, shaping visual perceptions of the West Coast and even defining the province’s identity. Shadbolt (1909-1998) is less well known in the public realm, which adds to the interest of Two Visions, a touring version of a Vancouver Art Gallery that last fall marked the 100th anniversary of his birth.

“I saw it at the Vancouver Art Gallery and thought it would be a good anchor show,” said Annette Hurtig, KAG curator. “They hadn’t planned to tour it but agreed to make it a reduced exhibition.”

Though scaled down, this version of Two Visions still represents the largest collection of works by both artists anyone is likely to see outside of the VAG. Carr, after all, represents the core of VAG’s permanent collection.

“It is a rare opportunity for the public and I think it’s made possible by a very good relationship that Kamloops Art Gallery enjoys with Vancouver Art Gallery staff,” Hurtig added.

Two Visions opens Saturday and continues to March 31. On Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Ian Thom, VAG’s senior Canadian curator, leads a tour of the exhibition. On succeeding Sundays (Feb. 7 and 21, March 7 and 21 at 1:30 p.m.) Lisa Henderson, a Kamloops-based writer, curator and art historian, takes the lead.

The two painters were a generation apart but both lived in Victoria and as a young artist Shadbolt would visit Carr in her studio. His early work clearly shows her influence in depicting the landscape and First Nations, Henderson noted.

Carr was a trailblazer, a voice in the wilderness, who defied the rigid social constraints of the Victorian era to pursue her artistic vision. Frustrated, she abandoned her art for 15 years but ultimately found affirmation from the Group of Seven in the East in the late 1920s.

Shadbolt, by contrast, absorbed the art movements of his time, 20th century modernism and post-modernism. His legacy can be measured not only in his art but in teaching. For more than 30 years he taught at Vancouver School of Art (which became Emily Carr University of Art and Design).

“Shadbolt was among the pre-eminent B.C. painters of the last half of the 20th century,” Henderson explained on a preview tour. “He was also very different because he was engaged with other artists in Vancouver.”

“Jack was very plugged in, whereas Emily was very isolated,” Hurtig added.

“At the time (Shadbolt) was a young artist, she was becoming very famous,” Henderson said. She found him overly-critical and was suspicious that he and his friends might steal her ideas. He was critical but found her influence difficult to overcome.

“Shadbolt was tormented by his obsession with Carr,” but broke free and developed his own style, Hurtig said.

Her influence is clear in his earlier works. His distinctiveness is clearly evident in larger-scale oil paintings and particularly with series of works he called suites. One of these, India Suite, occupies an entire wall of the KAG’s Weyerhaeuser gallery.

“It’s pretty awe-inspiring.”

Yet throughout Two Visions, nature is a dominant theme. There are also connections in their use of iconography.

“For her what is holy resides in the forest and in nature. Life can be catastrophic. Live involves death. There is always that ambiguity.”

“I think it’s work of great stature,” Henderson observed of Shadbolt’s painting. “Their historical context was so different. There wasn’t the institutional structure to accommodate her and that’s partly why she stuck out.”

EXHIBITION

WHAT: Two Visions: Emily Carr and Jack Shadbolt

WHERE: Kamloops Art Gallery

WHEN: Opens Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., continues to March 21

TOURS: Jan. 24, March 7 and 21, Feb. 7 and 21, 1:30 p.m.

LECTURES: Robin Laurence on Emily Carr, Feb. 11, 7 p.m. Scott Watson on Jack Shadbolt, March 11, 7 pm.

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