Some Kind of Wonderful:
The 4th KW|AG Biennial
July 15 - September 11, 2009

Gareth Lichty, Range (detail), 2007 - ongoing. Nine kilometers of hand woven garden hose. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: K. Jennifer Bedford.

Presented in cooperation with
the Kitchener-Waterloo Society of Artists
View the Some Kind of Wonderful e-invitation >
View the Some Kind of Wonderful Publication >

Opening Reception: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 7 - 9pm

Guest curator: Nancy Campbell

Artists: David Blatherwick, Josh Cleminson, Patricia Deadman, Susan Dobson, Scott Everingham, Ann Marie Hadcock, Shane Krepakevich, Gareth Lichty, Eileen MacArthur, Janet Morton, Ehryn Torrell

An eclectic mix of art from the Kitchener-Waterloo region is highlighted in the 4th installment of the KW|AG Biennial. Woven garden hose, hand knitted columns, fibre and wire bonfires, set alongside painting, photography and installation present of snapshot of the wonderful, creative energy evident in the region. A publication featuring a text by Nancy Campbell, interviews with the artists, and images will be posted here once the exhibition opens.

Join us for our Curator Talk with Nancy Campbell on Thursday, August 27, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Free admission. Everyone is welcome.

Nancy will discuss the highlights and challenges of putting together the Biennial "Some Kind of Wonderful", a showcase of work that not only interests her, but also represents certain artistic practices prevalent in the area. She will also discuss how the exhibition celebrates different kinds of "wonderful", which can help us formulate a new perspective or lens through which we view our world. An excerpt from her exhibition text is below:

"As guest curator for the fourth Kitchener/Waterloo Biennial, I have had the opportunity to look at the work of many artists from the region. For me, this has been a challenge as well as a delight. My task was to assemble a showcase of work that not only interests me but also represents certain artistic practices prevalent in the area. This process is different from curating a juried exhibition, where a juror chooses works in certain media based on their craftsmanship and originality. It is also different from putting together a group exhibition, formed by a thesis or theme that the curator already has in mind when selecting the works or artists to be included. This Biennial exhibition is a composite of the two; it brings together artists from the Kitchener-Waterloo region whose work resonates with my curatorial sensibilities and who show originality and promise in their execution and content. When I reviewed the submissions, pursued studio visits and spoke with curators in the region, I kept an open mind. I had no idea what themes or types of work I might find. What I was seeking was that unexplainable sense of wonder that some works emit. As the exhibition came together and the works I selected were assembled and juxtaposed, I understood how wonderful the work from the region was. There was a wide variety of media, including painting, sculpture, fibre arts, installation and photography, and each work was chosen because I felt it was special.  With a theme so intentionally broad, it soon became clear to me that it would be difficult to summarize the art practice of the region by making generalizations. Each of the eleven artists selected for the exhibition has a unique practice and his or her personal interpretation of the concept of wonder.

Some Kind of Wonderful is the title of the exhibition. While immediately recognizable and hip, the expression (which was the title of two different songs in the 1960s and 1970s, as well a film in the 1980s) alludes to the idea that there can be many kinds of wonderful. Certainly there is a long history of wonder, or the wondrous, in visual art; when describing the sentiments produced by art, we often use words like unexpected, beautiful, awe-inspiring or otherworldly. Looking at, for instance, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel or a light-filled painting by Degas, we can immediately sense the wonder in the work. But wonder, as a verb, also implies questions. It can break us out of pre-conceived notions or expectations, and bring us to a new comprehension of the way in which materials and presentation can reinvent what and how we see." -- Nancy Campbell

About Nancy Campbell

Nancy Campbell is an independent curator and writer who has produced exhibitions and writings for public museums across Canada and the UK. She is a past curator for the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (Guelph), and she has served as an adjunct curator for The Power Plant (Toronto). Her curatorial projects have included exhibitions by artists Andrea Zittel, Annie Pootoogook, Christine Davis, Wim Delvoye, Zacharias Kunuk and Brian Jungen. Campbell is currently based in Toronto.