ArtsList

Learning all about the birds and the bees at Oakville Galleries

This Saturday (March 5), Oakville Galleries is pleased to open the exhibitions The Birds and the Bees at Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens (on view until June 5), and Sublimation at Oakville Galleries at Centennial Square (on view until May 15).

Opening receptions, including curator’s talks will be held Sunday, March 6 from 2:30 pm  to 3:30 pm at Oakville Galleries at Centennial Square, and from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm at Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens.
The Birds and the Bees
At Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens, The Birds and the Bees will see spring come early to the Galleries, with a bit of the outside world brought indoors. Bringing together local and international artists, this exhibition examines the contemporary use of birds and bees in art—as metaphors, as inspiration, even as collaborators—as a means to provide us with a greater understanding of what it means to be human. Bringing back memories of camped-up vintage songs such as Jewel Akens’s “The Birds and the Bees” and Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do it (Let’s Fall in Love),” which refer to “the birds and the bees” as a euphemism for love and sex, this exhibition instead uses sculpture, video, photography and a fragrant beeswax-tiled room to suggest new allegorical possibilities for these winged creatures.

Featuring works by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot & Ariane Michel (France), Wendy Coburn (Canada), Aganetha Dyck (Canada), Karen Knorr (United Kingdom), Kristiina Lahde (Canada), Neeta Madahar (United Kingdom), Liz Magor (Canada), Adam Makarenko (Canada), and Penelope Stewart (Canada).

With support from the British Council.

Sublimation
Sublimation—the phenomenon of matter gathering enough energy to turn from solid to vapour—serves as a vivid metaphor for artworks that contemplate the limits of what the human eye can see. Drawn from Oakville Galleries’ permanent collection, the works in this exhibition use a variety of tactics—including abstract painting, video installation, and large-scale sculpture—to investigate the gaps between physical presence and observability. Curated by Rose Bouthillier.

Featuring works by Arabella Campbell (Canada), Paterson Ewen (Canada), Yves Gaucher (Canada), Hadley+Maxwell (Canada/Germany), Bethan Huws (Wales), Gareth Long (Canada), David Merritt (Canada), Sandra Rechico (Canada), and others.

Oakville Galleries is a not-for-profit charitable public contemporary art museum serving communities in Oakville, Halton Region and wider audiences nationally and internationally. Oakville Galleries acknowledges the ongoing support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the Corporation of the Town of Oakville, along with our many individual, corporate and foundation partners.