Framagraphic is pleased to present the work of three talented Kitsilano Secondary students in our gallery. These young artists were given the challenge to take a piece of artwork from Framagraphic’s collection, and incorporate it into their own way of art-making. The original artworks by Joanne Issac, Coar, and Brian Mason, were the starting points. The students invested both their time and their newly developing skills into the project. From drawing on top of the originals, to cutting and collaging the artwork, each student has taken a different approach as to how to how to use what other artists have left behind. Julie (Based on Untitled (Jar), by Coar) When I was younger I went to the UBC Museum of Anthropology and saw something that completely shocked me. A group of Tibetan monks were working on a beautiful mandala with soft, colourful sands. Once it was finished, the fragile art [...]
Framagraphic is pleased to present the artwork of Nino Dobrosavljevic, which will be on display in our gallery until June 1st. Nino Dobrosavljevic is a self-taught painter whose skills have been developed by a passionate study and observation of the old artists. In the nineties, Dobrosavljevic moved from Croatia to Germany, where he exhibited widely. In 1996, he immigrated to Vancouver, Canada where he continues to paint. Dobrosavljevic opens windows to the past by making contact with painters that have come before him. He represents their work in front of us, often quite literally- by creating an arrangement of contemporary objects, photos, or books, which foreground historical tropes. In this way, his small tableaus put Pierre Bonnard into view with Vermeer, or Kandinsky into a Dutch Renaissance still life. The illusionism of the paintings, the “tromp l’oeil”, or trick of the eye, is one that tests the painterly techniques [...]
Framagraphic is proud to be a donor for Ballet BC’s Silent Auction Gala at the world premiere of Giselle by Resident Choreographer José Navas. Giselle will run April 25 – 27 at 8 pm at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The performance, from the choreography to the all-Canadian production design, works out a contemporary take on a legendary classic. Witnessing the story of love and loss, Janet Smith of the Georgia Straight comments, “they are creatures from the second act’s vision of the afterlife, and it looks like the world’s most graceful mosh pit until they all pull back into synchronization again.” Tickets for the performances are still available online at Ticketmaster. Framagraphic will be donating an original painting Peaceful Valley by Marie-Claude Boucher for the Gala. Marie-Claude Boucher was born in Charny, Quebec in 1973. Her interest in art began with drawing with her twin sister at an early age, and painting has since [...]
“The horrors which can lurk behind a picture’s seemingly innocent window mat” – Rebecca Pavitt A customer came in the other day with a number of limited edition prints and original artworks that have suffered damage from the materials that were used to frame them. The prints have an outline of a brown line- appearing as though someone has spilled coffee on the edge of the paper, and allowed it to make a ring around the opening of the mat. This is what is referred to as ‘acid-burn‘. The acid-free materials that are most commonly used today were not always available. It is only the last few decades that acid-free paper has been widely available or marketed to framers and artists. The prints the customer brought in were framed sometime around 1979, and each print has varying degrees of acid-burn. Some are discoloured more than others, which may be a [...]
Dad A few weekends ago, a large and bubbly family came into the store with a vintage Leica camera- one of their late grandfather’s favourite possessions. They had spent some time scouring their own belongings, and were able to find a photograph of their Grandfather holding the Leica, along with the well-used camera strap. They wanted to put together a frame for these mementos as a gift for their Mother’s birthday. For her, this man was Dad. The challenge was that the camera itself was much deeper than most of the frames. To build something that deep, we would have to layer a number of frames on top of one another – stacking them to make them deeper. Luckily, Larson-Juhl has a moulding that is designed specifically for stacking. It is essentially a three-part frame that ends up being approximately 5 inches deep. The frame had a curved profile, giving [...]
Framagraphic has had the pleasure of framing a number of Yellowknife based artist Germaine Arnaktauyok ‘s work from the Inuit Gallery. Three prints from this edition have passed through the store, each framed in a very unique and different style. From a light maple frame to this wonderfully textured Roma Savoir frame, there is a wide variety of options when it comes to framing this piece. “In this print The Sisters’ Story, Germaine revisits the Inuit legend of how Thunder and Lightning were created. While she has explored the story earlier in her career, this etching shows Germaine’s wonderful graphic skills and her eye for detail that make her the foremost visual storyteller of the Far North. The artist has also hand-coloured each of the individual print editions creating a striking and captivating image. The artwork tells the Inuit legend of two young orphaned sisters who were adopted by [...]
Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak has passed at the age of 85. A reserved woman with a powerful spirit, Kenojuak Ashevak made a lifelong contribution to the arts, with a vision that was uniquely her own. She has been a mentor to many, and her legacy will live on in those she has inspired. Some of her work will be shown in Creation and Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art which will be opening soon in Winnipeg. More on Kenojuak Ashevak can be found at the Globe and Mail.
The last of our Andy Everson prints are flying (or jetting) off the walls. This latest series included six iconic characters, each extracted from the Star Wars series, and tattooed with Haida patterns. Incredibly eye-catching, these deeply saturated prints are available both framed and unframed. The limited series can only be found at Hill’s Native Art and Framagraphic Picture Framing. Control, the Storm Trooper, has already sold out. Wisdom, Fear, Power, Money and Language are still available, though there are only a handful of prints left from the edition of 120. ABOUT THE ARTIST “Andy Everson was born in Comox, BC in 1972 and named Na̱gedzi after his grandfather, the late Chief Andy Frank of the K’ómoks First Nation. Andy has pursued avenues where he can sing traditional songs and perform ceremonial dances at potlatches and in a number of different dance groups, most notably the Le-La-La Dancers, the [...]
Our latest framing task was this pair of Turkish camel bags. This wool piece was brought back to Vancouver from travels abroad, and had been mounted unframed on a wall for a number of years. Our customer wanted to frame the piece to give it more of a presence on the wall. To create the appearance of a linen liner, Keith stretched fabric over a board of MDF. The bags were then secured onto the board by drilling in through the back. Using the MDF had the added benefit of opening up the selection of frames that could be used for this piece. At 66″ x 38″, this large piece had quite a bit of weight. Without the board, the customer would have had to pick a much thicker and stronger style of frame just to be able to support the weight. Because this was no longer a concern, the [...]
Painting strokes to stitching threads… Needlework is a labour-intensive and extremely skillful craft. It takes an meticulously patient and careful artisan to work with this medium, but those who do find it extremely rewarding. Because needlework is often very delicate, framing this type of art can be difficult. Typically the fabric will be stretched over a board, so that the image or the stitching will be taught. This helps to eliminate wrinkles and sagging. The stretching needs to be done very carefully however, so that final piece is not skewed in any way. Framagraphic Picture Framing and Print Gallery offers a variety of framing options for needlework. Whether stitched on mesh, or on cloth, from fine petit-point to cross-stitch, our framers are able to tackle even the most complicated pieces. One of our most recent customers brought in an embroidered piece of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. It is [...]
