Aaron Paquette Journal

June, 2007
For Immediate Release

The Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba
710 Rosser Avenue
Brandon, MB
R7A 0K9
(204) 727-1036
Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10:00-6:00
Admission is free

The Main Gallery Presents

Deborah Forbes
Shadow Princesses

Aaron Paquette, Jason McLean, Jeff Nachtigall,
Neil Dyck, Patrick Lundeen, Roger Crait
Painter Pants

July 5 – August 18, 2007
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 5 at 7:30pm
Artist Talk: Thursday, July 5 at 8:00pm

BRANDON, MANITOBA..... Summer is finally here and the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba invites you to escape the heat by visiting our latest shows Shadow Princesses and Painter Pants! For the months of July and August, the AGSM is pleased to present two new exhibitions that playfully explore the representations of gender in art. In Shadow Princesses, artist Deborah Forbes examines the popular image of the princess, taking as her main influence the Diego de Silva Velasquez painting of the Infanta Margarita. Forbes believes that the image of this princess with her long wavy hair and full gown has infiltrated the cultural memory bank of the Northwestern hemisphere, affecting everything from the creation of Disney characters to Halloween costumes. Through a multi-media installation, Forbes explores how the “little princesses” on the child beauty pageant circuit act as an abbreviated version of this archetype and continue to influence our perceptions of girlhood today. Deborah Forbes is an artist and art educator in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Also in the Main Gallery is the group show Painter Pants. Allowing that throughout Art History painting has been dominated by the shadow of male painters such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Pollock, Painter Pants mischievously asks, “Who wears the pants now (and how are they wearing them)?” Featuring work from young and emerging painters Aaron Paquette, Jason McLean, Jeff Nachtigall, Neil Dyck, Patrick Lundeen, and Roger Crait, this exhibition takes a lighthearted look at masculine identity in contemporary Canadian art. While offering a cursory glimpse at a generation of young men raised on feminism(s), Painter Pants makes no claims as to whether these artworks truly divulge a masculine identity. Rather, by pushing the boundaries of the medium through an exploration of content, colour, and alternative canvases, the artists of Painter Pants hold the door open for viewers to choose for themselves.

Together, Shadow Princesses and Painter Pants provide a study of the ways in which artists are responding to the representation of male and female identities in Contemporary Art and in Art History. It is a dialogue that is ongoing and the AGSM welcomes everyone to come down for a visit this summer and join in!

For more information contact Jenny Western, AGSM curator at 204.727.1036