by Scott Hayes
I’ve always enjoyed Frank van Veen’s playful and explorative approach to his art. Now, I get to enjoy his wordplay too.
One look at the written title of his new exhibit featuring bridge structures, Over/Under Paths, might not afford one the right phonetic sense to get the joke. It’s only when he reads it out loud, slowing down over the last consonant cluster does the blurred line become apparent.
“Paths,” he says, repeating it with a subtle change that makes it sound more like “pass.”
“That’s why I called it Over/Under Paths. It’s a play on words. I think that they’re all going somewhere. These are all paths that we’re taking.”
Van Veen has been on the path to completing this exhibit since late 2012. His fascination with their geometry, engineering and purpose all wrapped up into one philosophical feast for the eyes. Driving underneath overpasses so much led him to consider the nature of his travelling under someone else’s travelling in a different direction.
Phenomena like the still relatively new multiple Anthony Henday overpasses had a profound impact on him, and not just because of the drastically changing landscape.
This collection of paintings doesn’t simply show overpasses. The massive concrete works of architecture become abstracted objects that you couldn’t imagine yourself speeding past, experiencing for only a fleeting moment as we all usually do. These structures are compelling, well decorated and otherworldly even, all in the playful van Veen way, complete with gel-transferred photos and non-sequiturs.
One looks like an elaborate futuristic monorail. Another has people all over it. One has all kinds of images like hieroglyphics on the side. Is there a deeper social commentary to be discovered? Does the artist want the viewer to consider our place in an ever-changing landscape? Is van Veen simply having fun with his oeuvre and his audience or is it all a deliberate attempt to change people’s perspectives on what it means to be in motion and what we miss when we stand still and really look at things that would otherwise have been gone in a blink of an eye?
If you ask van Veen to tell you, he’ll only refer to the eye of the beholder.
“That I leave to the viewer. No matter how much I say, you’ll say, ‘oh yeah’ or ‘I don’t see it.’ Art being what it is, as soon as you make it you lose it because it goes on a life of its own, no matter what your intention.”
Over/Under Paths runs until July 31. An opening reception will be held tomorrow evening from 6 to 9 p.m. The artist will be in attendance.
The Visual Arts Studio Association is located at 25 Sir Winston Churchill Ave. in the Hemingway Centre. Call 780-460-5993 or visit www.vasa-art.com for more information.
Tomorrow evening will feature the July ArtWalk event at several locations throughout the Perron District. From 6 to 9 p.m., people can enjoy art and art events including intuitive artist NKM Featherstone at Elevate Activewear and gigapan photographer David Belcher at the St. Albert Public Library.
Painter Mike Dendy will be featured at the Musée Héritage Museum and the St. Albert Quilters' Guild in the WARES store in St. Albert Place. Pat Trudeau, Marylou Olsen and Susan Scott will join forces for a show at the Bookstore on Perron as well.
Participants can experience a printmaking lesson with Megan Stein at the Art Gallery of St. Albert from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.,. Then at 8 p.m., there’s an art demonstration going on at the Bookstore on Perron.
The Art Bus also returns this month, making stops at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, St. Albert Place, and VASA. It’s free to ride but donations are accepted.
Visit www.artwalkstalbert.com for more information.
Rachelle LeBlanc, St. Albert’s premiere international rug hooking artist, will be one of the premier participants in the Alberta Craft Council’s upcoming exhibit called Here and There.
The show is designed to focus on some of the council’s major artists who have established themselves with international renown through exhibitions, major sales or commissions, acquisitions and awards, academic activities, workshops, conferences, residencies and exchanges; or web-based activity such as sites, networks and virtual organizations.
LeBlanc has shown her work all across Canada and the United States. Her work can also be found in numerous private collections there and in Japan.
Sixteen other craft makers including Dawn Detarando, Charles Lewton-Brain, Brenda Malkinson, Sara Norquay, Julia Reimer, Shirley Rimer, Tyler Rock, Jenna Stanton, Barbara Tipton, Sam Uhlick, Dirk Van Wyk and Kari Woo will join her. All works in the show were either produced abroad or were heavily influenced by the artists’ international experiences.
Here and There is set to run from July 11 to Oct. 3. There will be an opening reception on Sat., July 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. Artists will be in attendance.
The Alberta Craft Council is located at 10186 106 St. in Edmonton. Call 780-488-6611 or visit www.albertacraft.ab.ca for more information.
