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23 Jun 2016, 6-9 pm

Inauguration: Glenn Lewis, Classical Toy Boat

  • Glenn Lewis

    Artist

    Glenn Lewis (Canadian, b. 1935) is a contemporary conceptual artist based in Vancouver. Lewis became a central figure within Vancouver’s prolific avant-garde art scene of the late 1960s. Initially trained in ceramics, his practice expanded to include photography, sculpture, performance and video, and is often grounded in collaborative projects or approaches. Lewis’s work questions the dualities of the social and the natural, the conventional and the mythical, as well as the static and the transient. Over time he has become increasingly inspired by paradise myths, nature and topiary, which motivated his travels around the world photographing gardens. These interests intersect in his commitment to preserving rare and regional botany. Lewis received a degree from the Vancouver School of Art in 1958 (now Emily Carr University) and later a teaching degree from the University of British Columbia. He went on to study ceramics under artist and potter Bernard Leach at St. Ives in Cornwall, England from 1961 to 1963. Upon returning to Vancouver, Lewis became involved in numerous artists’ collectives and artist-run centres, including Intermedia (1970) and the New Era Social Club (1968). In 1973, he co-founded the Western Front Society with Martin Bartlett, Mo van Nostrand, Kate Craig, Henry Greenhow, Eric Metcalfe, Michael Morris and Vincent Trasov. As an educator, arts administrator and arts programmer, Lewis has curated numerous exhibitions and programs, including the Performance Art Program at the Western Front (1977-79), the Exhibition Program at the Western Front (1986-87) and the Western Front Historical Exhibition at the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Germany (1983). Lewis has served on numerous boards and councils, including the Vancouver Art Gallery Board of Directors and the Western Front Board of Directors. His work has been exhibited extensively across Canada and abroad.

     

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Classical Toy Boat (1987) by Vancouver artist Glenn Lewis is the most recent outdoor artwork to be installed at UBC. This sculpture was initially located outside of the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery on the Toronto waterfront in 1987 as part of the exhibition From Sea to Shining Sea. It was purchased by the Belkin Art Gallery in 2009 for the University Art Collection and restored in anticipation of its new location. Classical Toy Boat will be celebrated in conjunction with the opening reception on Thursday, June 23 for the Belkin’s upcoming exhibition, Becoming Animal/Becoming Landscape: Works from the Collection (June 24-August 14, 2016).

The site chosen for this work is the pool on the north side of University Centre (formerly the Faculty Club) designed by Frederic Lasserre with an addition by Arthur Erickson and landscape design by Cornelia Oberlander. The shape of the boat reflects the innocence of a child’s toy and the material, Italian Carrera marble, makes reference to classical Roman sculpture, a juxtaposition that lends this work a tone of humour. In spite of the weight of the marble, the boat conveys a spirit of resilience in that it defies gravity and magically hovers above the surface of the water. This work and its site provide a strong connection between the indoor spaces of the University Centre building and the outdoors—a visual punctuation to a subdued and discreet site. This work was originally conceived as a reference to temporary installations in the gardens at UBC undertaken in the late 1960s and early 70s by Lewis, Michael Morris, Gathie Falk, and others.

Classical Toy Boat was purchased with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program and the Morris and Helen Belkin Foundation. The installation was made possible with the support of the UBC Matching Fund for Outdoor Art. The work will add to an outdoor collection that includes recent acquisitions of works by Edgar Heap of Birds, Myfanwy MacLeod, Rodney Graham and Robert Murray.

Glenn Lewis, Classical Toy Boat (1987). Photo: Michael R. Barrick

  • Glenn Lewis

    Artist

    Glenn Lewis (Canadian, b. 1935) is a contemporary conceptual artist based in Vancouver. Lewis became a central figure within Vancouver’s prolific avant-garde art scene of the late 1960s. Initially trained in ceramics, his practice expanded to include photography, sculpture, performance and video, and is often grounded in collaborative projects or approaches. Lewis’s work questions the dualities of the social and the natural, the conventional and the mythical, as well as the static and the transient. Over time he has become increasingly inspired by paradise myths, nature and topiary, which motivated his travels around the world photographing gardens. These interests intersect in his commitment to preserving rare and regional botany. Lewis received a degree from the Vancouver School of Art in 1958 (now Emily Carr University) and later a teaching degree from the University of British Columbia. He went on to study ceramics under artist and potter Bernard Leach at St. Ives in Cornwall, England from 1961 to 1963. Upon returning to Vancouver, Lewis became involved in numerous artists’ collectives and artist-run centres, including Intermedia (1970) and the New Era Social Club (1968). In 1973, he co-founded the Western Front Society with Martin Bartlett, Mo van Nostrand, Kate Craig, Henry Greenhow, Eric Metcalfe, Michael Morris and Vincent Trasov. As an educator, arts administrator and arts programmer, Lewis has curated numerous exhibitions and programs, including the Performance Art Program at the Western Front (1977-79), the Exhibition Program at the Western Front (1986-87) and the Western Front Historical Exhibition at the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Germany (1983). Lewis has served on numerous boards and councils, including the Vancouver Art Gallery Board of Directors and the Western Front Board of Directors. His work has been exhibited extensively across Canada and abroad.

     

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