Ocean romance

Peter Dykhuis at Dalhousie Art Gallery with Alex Livingston's Water and Land Paintings. (Danny Abriel Photo)

Whether or not they make their living on the water, Nova Scotians’ relationships with the ocean are nothing if not complex.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy, the Dalhousie Art Gallery is opening a new exhibit, Safe Passages and Welcome Harbours, which contemplates some of these relationships.

Made up of pieces from the Art Gallery’s 1300 strong permanent collection, the exhibit is split into four different themes: “Harbors and Safe Shores,” “Ships and the Sea,” “Land, Water and Sky,” and “Contemporary Views”. Each approaches the topic in a slightly different way, ranging from landscape pieces with little human presence, to scenes portraying the bustling industry and infrastructure surrounding the ocean.

“Whenever an exhibition like this is put together, it’s always a conversation between the individual works,” says Peter Dykhuis, curator of the Dalhousie Art Gallery. “Everything is brought together to speak well about each other.”

The show encompasses many different forms of artwork from many different eras, including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, and mixed media.

And while thematically the pieces differ – some displaying a sort of idealism, while others are more bleak – they all tell a story about the nature of life by the ocean, from the pragmatism required to eke out a life in the oft- harsh conditions, to the romanticism experienced by travelers from away.

The best part of shows like this, says Mr. Dykhuis, is that they bring together pieces that might not have ordinarily been put together. He points to pieces in the ‘Contemporary Views’ section, one called Middling by Wayne Boucher, painted in 1995, and the other called Wave, painted by Jack Bush in 1969.

“If this were a show about Canadian art history, they’d be in different parts of the museum,” he says. “We get to see work put together for the first time that will probably never be put together again.”

“This is a conversation between a Boucher and a Bush that would never happen normally,” he adds. “And that’s the fun of these exhibitions.”

Safe Passages and Welcome Harbours is open now at Dalhousie Art Gallery and runs until July 4th.