The Reach Gallery Museum is now accepting submissions from regional artists for the Fraser Valley Biennial exhibition.
This is the seventh edition of the biennial, which showcases exceptional artwork over the past two years.
Since its launch in 2011, the exhibition has helped to facilitate and contextualize local and regional visual art practice, while broadening the public’s awareness and appreciation of the immense creative talent that finds its home in the Fraser Valley.
The full exhibition will premiere at The Reach from January to May 2023. Smaller, specially curated versions will then be presented by regional partners throughout the remainder of 2023.
This year, the biennial welcomes two new presenting partners – The Langley Arts Council and the Fort Gallery – in addition to long-time partners at the Abbotsford Arts Council, Mission Arts Council, Kent Harrison Arts Council and Chilliwack Visual Artists Association.
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Each show is organized by a guest curator, and this year The Reach has invited Candace Couse.
Couse is an assistant professor of visual art at the University of the Fraser Valley School of Creative Arts. She holds a master of fine arts from the University of Calgary (2010) and a PhD in interdisciplinary humanities from Brock University (2020).
Couse’s work has been exhibited across Canada, the US, the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Trinidad, Pakistan, Nepal, Iceland and India.
Artists are encouraged to submit work that deal in some way with the theme of “the body.” This may be interpreted in a wide variety of ways. Some possible approaches could include a focus on issues of ability and disability, disease, strength and resilience; the body as it relates to others, the earth, and the universe; the body as a system; the body as a metaphor; the five senses; or the relationship between the body and technology.
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“I always look forward to the biennial. It’s such an exciting opportunity to see what artists in our community are making,” said Adrienne Fast, The Reach’s curator of art and visual culture. “With this one exhibition, I learn more about the creative landscape of this region than I do in two years’ worth of studio visits.”
To be eligible to apply, artists must currently reside in the Fraser Valley (from Hope to Langley) or have lived in the region in the last two years. Only original works of art can be submitted for consideration, and all works must have been produced in 2021 and/or 2022.
The deadline to apply is Oct. 15. Visit thereach.ca/submissions to download an application form.