The Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) is pleased to announce the purchase of Brendan Lee Satish Tang’s, Manga Ormolu Version 4.0r for the 40th anniversary of the permanent collection through the generosity of the Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program.

Brendan Lee Satish Tang, a multi-disciplinary artist living and working in Vancouver, BC (Unceded territory of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations), is widely known for his sculptural ceramic work. The AGB is thrilled to have acquired a seminal work from his ongoing, widely recognized and exhibited series Manga Ormolu.

Tang’s work explores issues of identity and the hybridization of our material and non-material culture while simultaneously expressing a love of both futuristic technologies and ancient traditions Although he is primarily known for his ceramic work, Tang continues to produce and exhibit work in a wide variety of mixed and multiple mediums.

He is a full-time professor at Emily Carr University and received an MFA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. He is the is the recipient of numerous awards, both nationally and internationally, including most recently he was honoured with the City of Nanaimo’s Excellence in Culture Award, the 2016 Biennale Internationale de Vallauris Contemporary Ceramic Award, France, shortlisted for the Sobey Art Prize, and a finalist in the Loewe Foundation’s International Craft Prize, Madrid, Spain. Tang’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC, the Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, the Musee National Des Beaux-Arts du Quebec, Quebec City, QC, the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy, the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, QC, the Boston Art Museum, Boston, MA , the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA, the Foundation d’Entreprise Bernardaud, Limoges, France, among many others.

This is the AGB’s first acquisition of this important and recognized Canadian contemporary ceramic artist. Over the last forty years, the AGB has amassed the largest comprehensive collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics in the world, totalling over 4,000 works. This year we celebrate the anniversary with an exhibition honouring the artists, curators, educators, volunteers, and donors who have built the holdings and contributed to the intellectual growth of ceramics in the country.

At the AGB we have leaned into our unique position of being a public art gallery at the crossroads of craft and contemporary art production and presentation. We exalt the material wonderment of craft and its rich history of production, ancestral traditions, cultural sensitivities, functional forms, and high-level techniques. We remain unwavering in our dedication to the multiplicity of contemporary art, craft, and related thought and strive to play a dynamic role in critical conversations on the intersection of craft and contemporary art. Tang’s contribution to the national discourse of contemporary ceramic sculpture cannot be overstated.

We would like to thank the Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program for the generous support in being able to add Tang’s seminal work into the collection. Administered through the Ontario Arts Foundation, the program aims to foster a broader appreciation of Canadian visual art and artists by assisting public art galleries and museums in Ontario to grow their permanent collections, increase the public’s knowledge of collecting and permanent collections, and support community engagement between a gallery or museum and its local community.

Manga Ormolu Version 4.0r will be on view at the Gallery at the opening of our winter exhibition, Caroline Monnet’s Holding Up The Sky on Friday January 13, 2023 6 – 8:00 pm and prominently featured in the upcoming exhibition The Weight of Clay (June 16 – October 7, 2023) at the AGB celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the permanent collection.

The AGB would like to thank Shane O’Brien at Gallery Jones (Vancouver, BC) for his time and energy in making this possible and we gratefully acknowledge the ongoing support of the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Art Gallery of Burlington is proud to acknowledge that the land where it is located is part of the ancient Dish With One Spoon Treaty and also the Brant Tract Purchase, Treaty No. 3 3/4 of 1795, and it is grateful to the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Six Nations of the Grand River for sharing this territory. The Art Gallery of Burlington is located at 1333 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, Ontario.

1333 Lakeshore Road Burlington, ON L7S 1A9
www.agb.life
@artgallburl

Exhibition guided tours available upon request
Stephanie Vegh, Head of Learning
905-632-7796, ext. 313 stephanie@agb.life

Image credits: Brendan Lee Satish Tang, Manga Ormolu Version 4.0r, 2013, Ceramic and mixed media, 16 x 13 x 20 inches. Purchased in part through the support of the Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program, a program of the Gordon Foundation and administered by the Ontario Arts Foundation.