Drove to St. Catharine’s last night to check out the opening of “Family Portrait” at CRAM Gallery – a teeny, tiny gallery within a larger, co-operative artists’ space. The reasons for going were totally personal: two of the artists, Nick and Charlie Bierk, are former students of mine. It was so exciting to see them “at work” and to see what they created. Totally amazing.
Here’s an excerpt from Jeff Bierk’s description of the show:
The CRAM exhibition is an opportunity for the four of us to work together on something conceptually and to create work that addresses our similarities as well as our differences. With the death of our parents the very structure of our family was broken and this work attempts to rebuild it.
The exhibition exposes schisms, but also unites us. Familial boundaries and separations are acknowledged, but in moving ahead we reject the negative and embrace the positive. Instead of looking back and holding on to our differences, we four brothers look to each other for a new vision to hold our family together.
The show is up until October 5th, so if you’re anywhere in the Niagara region, get there quick to check it out!
