Free Thursdays at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

On Thursday night, after an accidental trip to Dartmouth and the realization that it was just a little too cold for the short walk from our bus stop to the casino, we made a quick stop into The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia to warm up en route to Imbibe.

Every Thursday night from 5pm-9pm the gallery is free to the public thanks to a partnership with BMO. I always love exploring the AGNS. The variety of exhibits and execution is always excellent, and even though I’m not by any means well versed in art, I usually leave having learned something new.

A happy wrong turn on the way to see the Mary Pratt exhibit led us straight into this…

I am usually not one for installation art, but the RAM exhibit (Rethinking Art and Machine) was pretty cool – each piece was interactive, with many incorporating your movement into the installation. It was made up of pieces from many different artists around the central theme of relationships with electronic technology, light, graphics, robots and sound.

Then it was up to the third floor for our intended destination. If someone had told me there was an exhibit of paintings featuring jams and chicken, I wouldn’t have been that excited. But in this case I would have been wrong. Mary Pratt’s paintings are so realistic, depicting simple, everyday acts around the home from boiling water to cutting fruit to preserving jellies and jams. The simple themes and stunning execution pull at memories of home.

One floor down we stumbled upon the Collective Remembrance exhibit, a collection of propaganda posters from World War I. As with the Mary Pratt exhibit, the curation, execution and presentation of the collection heightens the experience. The colour choices and pairings are an art unto themselves.

You can catch the Mary Pratt exhibit for two more weeks. It ends on March 1st. Both the RAM Exhibit and Collective Remembrance will be there a little longer, until March 22nd. While it is free on Thursday to explore, feel free to leave a donation if you are able to help the AGNS continue providing great exhibits!