Guess what? It's that time of year again! That's right, it's ArtWalk, where they make you work to enjoy your art.
Close to 50 local artists are showing their work in different galleries and businesses around Whistler beginning Saturday (June 30).
But 50 is such a staggering number when it comes to walking around and visiting various locations. Imagine visiting 50 parks in one day! Or the home of 50 different people! Or 50 types of anything!
ArtWalk runs until the end of August of course, but since we're all busy people with lives that exist outside the realm of arts and culture, we'll assume you will devote one day specifically to checking out the latest and greatest from the Sea to Sky's many artists.
Last year, Pique picked its favourite, absolutely-must-see artists and this year we thought we would offer that up again. Our list is completely different than last year's, even though most of the artists that made our list last year have returned to this year's ArtWalk.
The ArtWalk opening reception will be held at Millennium Place on Thursday, July 5, from 6:30-9 p.m.
Kris Kupskay @ Shaw Cable Systems:
Kupskay's graffiti and mural art combines exaggerated pop culture characters (Marilyn Monroe, Slimer from Ghostbusters) with humorous takes on B-movie horror. His creative use of space makes for some of the most memorable graffiti Whistler has seen — which is not bad for a relative newcomer to town.
Olivia Bidzinski @ Scandinave Spa:
Too often, abstract painting comes off like the artistic outlet for people with limited talent. It's not always the case, of course, as proven by ArtWalk newcomer Bidzinski, whose use of the brush and of colour evokes a blissful, foggy dream state. Her paintings are deceivingly complex, as if every dab of paint had been planned out, then executed with excess emotion. A talented newcomer, for sure.
Susie Cippola @ Adele Campbell Fine Art Gallery:
Landscape art is big business in Whistler, so if you're going to spend the cash, we recommend you go with the best. Cippola's realistic portraits of natural and urban landscapes demonstrate an emotional depth to, say, a Granville Island alleyway or a bird feeder hanging on a wall that most people might never have realized.
But Cippola sees the beauty in subtlety and captures it beautifully. The Federation of Canadian Artists thinks so too — they gave her the "Award of Excellence" at their annual Landscape exhibition earlier this year.
Jeff Boyce @ Whistler Athletes Centre (Cheakamus Crossing):
Yeah, this town is full of photographers, but photojournalist Boyce has a placed himself far beyond the realm of bike and snowboard photography. He's also one of the finest sport photographers in Whistler. He has what seems to be an innate sense for capturing peak emotion in the middle of sport — whether its careening down the side of a mountain on a bicycle or pitching a strike right over home base, he has it pegged.
Andrea Mueller @ Showcase Snowboards:
Mueller works for the Whistler Arts Council as the visual arts programmer and events coordinator. She's also one of the more intriguing artists currently living in Whistler... and, no, she had nothing to do with getting chosen for ArtWalk this year (all artists are picked by a jury process).
Her work often explores the weird and creepy underbelly of the natural world — the side people rarely think of when exposed to the exquisite beauty of British Columbia. But it gets weird in those bushes. It also gets really, really pretty. Mueller captures both sides. You'll see.
Andrea Padovani @ Delta Inn & Suites:
Italian-born, Whistler-based artist Padovani's modern take on impressionism exaggerates colours and distorts lines of perception, whisking the viewer inside the head of a myopia-suffering mescaline enthusiast.
It's a beautiful world inside this head and one we'd sooner escape to should this summer fail to materialize.
