Beaverbrook Art Gallery Reopens
Any Fredericton resident who frequents the downtown area has seen the cluster of construction which surrounds the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. What used to be the focal point of Fredericton’s art scene has, for the last year, been covered in plastic sheets and drill holes.
Due to Covid-19, plans to reopen the Gallery were pushed back, but with mandates being lifted and construction nearing completion, people can once again flock in to see a wide array of art projects.
The Gallery has opened half its floor space to showcase its collection of paintings, sculptures, tapestries, and photographs, to which they will later open the second half upon completing renovations.
For its opening day, the gallery has put together an assortment of old exhibits, such as their renaissance portraits, as well as a constant rotation of feature pieces.
Additionally, this was a particularly important reopening, as the new feature exhibit marks the first-ever solo project to be launched by a person of colour in New Brunswick.
“My first thoughts were ‘why am I the first?’ There have been Blacks in New Brunswick for over 300 years. There were artistic [and] creative Blacks here from day one,” said the exhibit’s creator Gary Weekes in an interview done by Hillary Leblanc featured on byblacks.com.
The exhibit is a collection of black and white photos taken by Weekes at the local Fredericton boxing club. Pictures taken by American photographer Larry Fink are also included in their joint piece, thus explaining the boxing-like title “Larry Fink vs Gary Weekes”.
Trying to capture the essence of what it’s like to be a boxer, Weekes and Fink chose to take “gritty” photos, focusing more on hard training rounds and the aftermath of hard-won bouts. The black and white filters were an artistic choice, creating a sense of unity and continuity between photos.
On top of historic and groundbreaking pieces like Weekes’, another attractive feature of the Gallery’s reopening was people’s ability to go see Salvador Dali’s famous piece titled “Saint James the Great”.
Since the building has been closed for a while now, the Gallery expects an entirely new wave of art enthusiasts to come and enjoy its collection. In an attempt to help these newcomers understand the pieces featured along the walls of the Gallery, workers have placed pamphlets and books recapping the rich history of the pieces, as well as talking about what inspired the various artists.
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery will now be open for the foreseeable future with new exhibits and pieces being added every month. Covid is, tentatively over, and Art is, not so tentatively, back for good.
