The Sunshine Coast Arts Council presents local painter Sheryl McDougald and Vancouver Island sculptor Frances Semple at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt, June 9 to July 4.
In Contemporary Renaissance, McDougald's monochromatic paintings are of the contemporary human form in classic poses of the Renaissance. She presents these large, formally posed, dramatic images on unstretched canvas. Her study of Mannerist art of the Late Renaissance with its highly erotic references and intense emotional strain results in her portrayal of contemporary figures with the tension and uncertainty implicit in the Mannerist period. The marginal, the repressed and the alternative aspects found in Mannerist art and overlooked in scholarly art discourse are the aspects she focuses on in her contemporary depictions of provocatively posed tattooed and pierced figures. With these current works she creates a dynamic interface between the past and the present. Semple presents Just A Thought. This installation piece is an amalgamation of figurative sculpture, text, sound and video. She created it in reaction to the on-going holy wars that are surrounding us today. Her work explores mythology and religion, how they are formed and how they ironically contribute to never-ending global conflicts.
"It suddenly occurred to me that the basis of all this violence is really a human desire to find truth, the meaning of life and inner peace," Semple said.
Meet the artists at the opening reception Wednesday, June 9, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Arts Centre, Trail and Medusa in Sechelt.
