Fall Opening Reception at Varley Art Gallery of Markham

Opening Reception

Friday, September 29, 2023
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Free, Registration not required.

It’s a fête at the Varley Art Gallery. You are invited to the opening of our fall exhibitions A Legacy Unfolding, Woodland Boogie Woogie 6, and Medium: Paint. Also on view is Among the Drupes (Elegy for a Wasteland). This free public event will include tours with Shantel Miller and Native Art Department International (Jason Lujan and Maria Hupfield.) Enjoy food and music, and get hands-on with a family-friendly studio activity.

A Legacy Unfolding

September 16, 2023 to January 7, 2024

In A Legacy Unfolding, Shantel Miller tackles the nuanced relationship between faith, spirituality, and the church, and the ways in which these are expressed within her Jamaican-Canadian community. On view is a new series of figurative paintings and photographs showcasing the people and traditions that make up the Legacy Christian Community Worship Centre in Markham.

Woodland Boogie Woogie 6

September 23, 2023 to January 7, 2024

Native Art Department International, with Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Steve Snake, and John Laford.

Woodland Boogie Woogie 6 is a collaborative painting installation by Native Art Department International (NADI) shown alongside works from the collections of the Varley Art Gallery of Markham and Markham Public Art. Focusing on key elements of the Woodland School, NADI seeks to expand the visual language of this First Nations style that developed in the 60s and 70s, and continue the cultural conversation.

Medium: Paint

September 9, 2023 to January 7, 2024

Featuring the works of William Berczy (1744–1813), Maurice Cullen (1866–1934), Pat Fairhead (1927–2023), Frederick Hagan (1918–1969), Janet Jones, Doris McCarthy (1910–2010), James Wilson Morrice (1865–1924), Herbert Sidney Palmer (1881–1970), F. H. Varley (1881–1969), and Gustav Weisman (1926–2000)

To complement our Main Gallery exhibitions, paintings from our permanent collection have been taken out of the vault. Featuring paintings in watercolour, gouache, oil, tempera, and acrylic, this exhibition showcases the versatility and range of these mediums.

Among the Drupes (Elegy for a Wasteland)

July 1, 2023 to January 7, 2024

In Among the Drupes (Elegy for Wasteland), multispecies artist and scholar Cole Swanson engages with F. H. Varley’s field sketches of sumac, and creates a suite of natural materials from the organic, mineral, and human-made constituents surrounding a grove of stag-horn sumac in Toronto. In this project, the artist demonstrates how art can move us to bear witness, attend to, and form unlikely kinships within our more-than-human communities.

About the Varley Art Gallery of Markham

The Varley Art Gallery of Markham is a vital cultural hub for artists and diverse communities. A municipal gallery, we create critical conversations about Canadian art and society. We inspire local and national audiences to engage with art through outstanding exhibitions and rich public and educational programs relevant to the communities we serve. We support artists from York region and seek to broaden access to the arts for diverse artists and cultural groups. We also share and celebrate the life and work of F.H. Varley.

We share and acknowledge the traditional territories of Indigenous Peoples and their commitment to stewardship of the land. We acknowledge the communities in Circle. The North, West, South, and Eastern directions, and Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Anishnabeg, Seneca, Chippewa, and the current treaty holders Mississaugas of the Credit Peoples. We share the responsibility with the caretakers of this land to ensure the dish is never empty and to restore relationships that are based on peace, friendship, and trust. We are committed to reconciliation, partnership, and enhanced understanding.

Varley Art Gallery of Markham
216 Main Street Unionville, Markham, ON, L3R 2H1
varley@markham.ca
905.477.7000 ext. 3261

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Hours
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 12 PM to 4 PM
Wednesday: 12 PM to 4 PM
Thursday: 12 PM to 4 PM
Friday: 12 PM to 4 PM
Saturday: 10 AM to 5 PM
Sunday: 10 AM to 5 PM

Accessibility:
Admission is free. Our venue is accessible, with automatic door openers to enter the building and exhibition spaces. One accessible washroom is available.

For more information, please contact:
Anik Glaude, Curator
aglaude@markham.ca

Image credits (from left to right): 1) Shantel Miller, Sis Diandra (detail), 2023, oil on canvas, 40.6 cm x 30.1 cm. Courtesy of the artist. 2) Installation view of Among the Drupes (Elegy for a Wasteland), Varley Art Gallery of Markham, 2023. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. 3) Native Art Department International, Woodland Boogie Woogie 6 (detail), 2022, acrylic on panel, 172.72 x 147.32 cm. Markham Public Art Collection. Courtesy of the artists.