Sculpture from the Iris and B, Gerald Cantor Foundation
Vancouver Art Gallery (June 18-Sept. 22)
Currently at the Vancouver Art Gallery is Vancouver's first ever major Rodin exhibit. This is also the first time in thirty years that any Rodin pieces have been shown in Vancouver.
The young sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was denied entrance into the top art schools of the time, which was likely a liberating experience for him as he was able to go on to become one of the most important pioneers of modern sculpture through his use of fragmentation and his depiction of the frailty and vulnerability of the human body.
Rodin is most famous for his works 'The Thinker', 'The Kiss', and 'The Burghers of Calais', and this exhibit features a number of versions and studies for these works (including the heads of a couple of the burghers), as well as a number of his smaller works.
In his prime, Rodin was considered the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo, and this exhibit has enough pieces in it to allow one to see the development and progression of his work - you can decide for yourself.
Other exhibits at the gallery include Body: New Art from the UK. This exhibit is actually what attracted me to the VAG on the day of my visit, but frankly I was disappointed by it. Based on the theme of the body, the exhibit features a collection of work by 13 contemporary British artists, about half of them hailing from the yBa (young British artist) group, a loose collective. Their commentary on social rupture and dissent has been described as being aggressive and 'in your face', but just left me flat. The one bright spot in the exhibit was the self portraiture of photographer Sarah Lucas.
Next was Franz West (May 28-Sept. 12), who is one of Europe's best known contemporary sculptors. His exhibit was divided into three different categories: Passstucke (Adaptives), Sculpture, and Furniture. Taking his inspiration from the performance art of of the Viennese Actionism movement of the 1960s, his adaptatives work involves pieces that are designed to be handled and posed with. Call me lazy, but I don't want to have to work at something myself to make it 'art' - that's the artist's job. I found this exhibit to be rudimentary at best.
My favourite piece of the day was found in the Wang Du: Parade exhibit. The artist is an Asian who is now permanently based in Paris. He is a sculptor who works in images that originate in the mass media. Essentially, he takes 2-D images and recreates them in a 3-D form. I especially liked 'Enter' (2004), a piece that had been commissioned for this exhibited and was done in a style reminiscent of R. Crumb.
image by www.paris-art.com
Overall, I was once again disappointed with my trip to the gallery. Having been to a number of well-known galleries in Europe, I often find, in comparison, that the offerings at the VAG are presented in a very antiseptic way. It's a sad thing for me to say, as I always enjoy cheering for the home team, but in this case, I just can't give this exhibit my stamp of approval.
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