Polygon Art Gallery Visit: A Reflection
On November 17th, I went on a trip to the Polygon Art Gallery to get a sneak peek of an upcoming exhibition by Vancouver artist, Steven Shearer. My class got to experience what a gallery looks like during the setup of a new show and talk with the gallery’s curator.
Steven Shearer
Shearers solo exhibition features a large array of his works produced over 25 years. It features a monumental archive of photography and print material. There are many books filled with snapshots of strangers’ lives. Giving you a glimpse into what life has been like over the years.
His collection offers a real and personal perspective on the lives of others. Many of the images are candids of friends or family and the series even features a section dedicated to pictures of people’s Christmas trees. What I liked most about this work was how personal it felt. It shows how powerful photography can be, even in the hands of an ordinary person, taking pictures simply because they can. By collecting all these images, Shearer turns that simple art into art.
The Potter
The Potter is a painting by Shearer that was featured in this exhibit. The Polygon usually focuses on photography so seeing a painting there (more than one of in fact) stood out to me a lot. The painting depicts a long hair man sitting at a potter’s wheel wearing only pajama pants. In the background, he is surrounded by completed works of pottery. But if you look closely, Shearer paints patterns in the pots that have you questioning whether they are really pottery or instead, jars filled with organs and creatures. I really loved his use of colour in this painting. The painting is realistic but he utilizes colours in an unconventional way. It’s one of those paintings you can look at for a while and keep finding new details.
Our visit to the Polygon was insightful. It felt like we were VIPs witnessing the show before anyone else. But it was also a great opportunity to see what putting an exhibition together is like. Since I was there last, a whole wall to the gallery had been removed and the space became a single open room. It made me realize that the space the art is displayed is just as important as the art itself.