The Perennials: Works from the Permanent Collection

Curated by Crystal Mowry
Opening Reception: Thursday 27 June, 8:00 pm

Featuring the work of Robert Bourdeau, Edward Burtynsky, Jane Buyers, Annie Dunning, Melissa General, Isabelle Hayeur, Ernest Lindner, Jo Manning, Scott McFarland, Meryl McMaster, Ray Mead, Mary Catherine Newcomb, Jenn E Norton, Reinhard Reitzenstein, and Joyce Wieland

Each plant can be seen as a living register of change within its environment. Whether one’s aim is to provide sustenance for a community or to partake in the intimate pleasure of watching a flower from bud to bloom, gardeners know a thing or two about causal relationships. In their ability to thrive, gardens educate their caregivers on the virtues that can’t be rushed into realization. The attentive gardener trusts that if they are patient, all things will inevitably return.

The Perennials features works from the Permanent Collection that expand on notions of continuity and cultivation. Often relying on a visual language that incorporates botanical life and allusions to what it may mean to be “rooted”, the works in this exhibition also provide insight into an artist’s perpetual engagement with a singular subject – and the cycles of renewal that can animate an individual practice over time.

This exhibition will mark the KWAG premiere of new acquisitions by artists such as Meryl McMaster, Reinhard Reitzenstein, Robert Bourdeau and Jane Buyers, in addition to an Augmented Reality response by Jenn E Norton, commissioned specifically for this occasion.

Jane Buyers (Canadian, b. 1948), Chronicles #8, 2005. Etching and graphite on paper, 67.5cm x 86.5cm. Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Collection. Gift of the Artist, 2018. © Jane Buyers. Courtesy of the Artist. Photo: Laura Arsiè.