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The golden summer evening light blessed the opening party of the Sculptors’ Society of BC’s exhibition in the VanDusen Garden. Sculptors, gallery directors, art collectors and friends mixed and mingled amongst the lush foliage — a perfect backdrop to the striking works of art installed in the garden.
There was a very good turn out for the event, which ran from 5PM until 9PM when the light began to leave and the mosquitoes began to arrive. With a cash bar and complementary hors d’ouevres, guests enjoyed the contemporary song stylings of Louise and Greg Weir, local Vancouver favourites, who performed during the evening. Louise is one of the sculptors in the SSBC and along with being a gifted performer, has recently won an important monumental commission from the Roman Catholic Church here in Vancouver.
The sculptures were ranged though out the main glasshouse area, with Ron Simmer’s witty large metal colorful dogs dominating the lawn area and Ferenc Molnar’s exquisite smaller jeweled sculptures dominating the fragrance garden. There were strong and provocative bronzes by Cliff Vincenzi and the witty bronze ‘Puzzle’ (puzzle pieces being smashed by a hammer) by Linda Schmidt. Granite impressions of Black Tusk by James Fletcher graced the lily pond, along with the striking marble portrait of an Indian beauty by David Walker. Jesse Rubin’s creatures are so lifelike it is hard to believe he didn’t model them from life but they are his own inimitable miniature creations in resin clays. Colleen McLaughlin Barlow suspended seventeen lead crystal glass sculptures of whalebones in the old catalpa tree. Whimsical yet powerful figures by Suzy Birstein celebrated the female and Jean-Guy Dallaire’s highly original abstractions based on beach concretions are reminiscent of the work of Henry Moore –an important influence for Jean-Guy. A beautifully detailed polar bear in stone surfacing in water was featured among Alex Schick’s work. Garry Davies luxuriant reclining figures coated in rough packing string seemed at home in the garden environment. Tary Majidi, Golshan Massah and Parvaneh Roudgar all offered very diverse abstractions in several different scales. Waterfowl in tennis shoes sounds a bit goofy but Sam Hesse’s highly polished stone sculpture is extremely elegant as well as humorous. Sylvia Escobedo’s usual graceful portraiture was much admired.
There were a number of sales resulting from the opening, notably ‘Heron’ by Kathi Bond, purchased for the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Grant Butler of Vancouver. The diversity of the Society is what makes this exhibition so interesting — there are sculptures of terra cotta, granite, steel, precious gems, marble, resin and cast lead crystal glass. Quite apart from the materials, the sculptors’ themes range from traditional renderings of people, birds and animals to extreme abstraction and art created from ‘found objects’. The scale of pieces goes from monumental down to miniature and the wit, intelligence and joy of the creations is all encompassing.