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New show at Kelowna Art Gallery a composite of urban living

Gary Pearson’s Short Fictions features 50 works spanning a 15-year period
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Gary Pearson’s The Bird Fountain is one of 50 works on display in the new Kelowna Art Gallery exhibition Gary Pearson—Short Fictions. —Image: contributed

A new exhibition of work by Kelowna-based artist Gary Pearson opens at the Kelowna Art Gallery this month. It includes a selection of 50 of the artist’s paintings, drawings, and films from the past 15 years.

The exhibition is entitled Short Fictions and the works that comprise the show form a composite portrait of urban living and contemporary society.

Pearson draws his subjects and themes primarily from things he has seen and experienced while travelling. Visitors will encounter a wide cast of characters and scenes in the artist’s paintings and drawings. Urban settings such as cafés, bars, lounges, parks, and hotel lobbies provide the backdrop for Pearson’s observations on the everyday. His works show a strong graphic sensibility and his subjects seem to be deliberately understated, almost like they were simply captured in a casual snapshot. This lends a transient or voyeuristic quality to some of the works and visitors may feel as if they have stepped into the middle of a conversation with strangers.

A tour and talk with the artist will be held on Jan. 19 at 6 p.m., which will be followed by an opening reception from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The free event is open to KAG members and guests, by invitation.

Gary Pearson: Short Fictions will be on view gallery from Jan. 20 to March 18.

Gary Pearson was born in a small town in Saskatchewan but grew up in Prince George, B.C. He studied art at the University of Victoria and later obtained an MA in Visual Art from the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon. He taught at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, and afterwards at UBC Okanagan. His work has been exhibited widely throughout Canada as well as in a number of countries internationally.

The exhibition is accompanied by a full colour publication with critical examinations of Pearson’s work by Liz Wylie, Ihor Holubizky, Aaron Peck, and Michael Turner.

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