But ts it art?

New modern exhibit opens at Confederation Centre Gallery

by Sean McQuaid hen is a tree not a tree?

When its stripped, dipped in

beeswax and suspended upside down rom the ceiling. Then it’s art. f the preceding riddle intrigues you then you ay want to check out the new Gallery of ontemporary Art at the Confederation Centre Gallery & Museum. Thenew exhibit, housed n the newly renovated west galleries, is a road, eclectic mixture of artworks in a variety f styles and mediums.

The centrepiece of the new exhibit is the forementioned tree, an ‘‘installation”’ art piece y artist Richard Reitzenstein. The piece is eant to link art and nature, reminding people at the Earth is the ultimate source of our ulture, art in itself and deserving of considera- ion and protection. It’s an environmental state- ent and an expression of the beginnings of art, ymbolic of the sacred Edenic grove and the ythical origin of human knowledge and aware- ess. The beeswax that coats the upside-down ee is symbolic of the collectivity of nature and umankind (in recollection of the collective ature of bees in their hives). The huge upside- own tree is very striking in itself, but is not the

only element in this installation piece. Below it are rows of wood slices and a pile of wood and containers of spruce and cedar oils, all symbolic ofman’s exploitation of nature. The piece speaks to viewers on a number of levels.

The new gallery also houses a number of more conventional forms of art, though all are unique in their own ways. Reitzenstein’s other contributions include drawings of skeletal mus- cles in earth powders, chalk on paper. A more powerful and immediate study of human physi- ology can be found in the huge untitled pastel drawing of a hand by Allan Harding MacKay, an arresting work with an enigmatically monu- mental quality. Equally enigmatic is Robert McNealy’s pastel diptych drawing of an ab- stract human figure within geometric lines and planes, a basic but thought-provoking study in form.

More accessible to most viewers is the ‘*Small Wharf Over the Pond’’, an impression- istic landscape in pastel, acrylic, and gouache paper. The rich, deep blues and purples of the jewel-like rippling water and the darkened sky make it a simultaneously tranquil and intrigu- ing piece.

The exhibits also include less representa-

tional pieces, like Harold Klunder’s painting ‘‘Hymn to Matter’’; a swirling whirlpool of color and form that has an almost religious intensity in its celebration of color and move- ment. Starker and less easily interperable pieces include Ron Shuebrosk’s “‘Plea’’ ( a painting dominated by solid reds and blacks), and Roland Paulin’s ‘‘Dans D’Etendu’’ (a charcoal draw- ing of black forms on white). Some of the strangest and most colorful works are those of Ron Martin, whose ‘‘It’s Emotional’’ is a thick, paint-encrusted, multi-colored mass of acrylic on canvas. A bit more refined is Martin’s eso- terically titled “‘For the Composite Power #8”’, a wavelike mixture of sand and acrylic on canvas creating a grainy, rippled surface that look likes black beach sand. Martin’s works rely more on color and texture in themselves for emotional effect rather than representing any particular subject.

The new gallery houses a wide variety of works ina multitude ofstyles, and ifapproached with an open mind it can be a great source of enjoyment. Admission is fairly cheap, and free on Sundays, so it’s a bit ofhigh culture that even students can enjoy. @

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