Break Away! is a group exhibition that includes work by five contemporary Canadian visual artists who use or have been influenced by themes of play, leisure or sport in their art practice. The exhibition brings together paintings, sculptures, photographs, film and video produced by Aganetha Dyck, Billy McCarroll, Euan Macdonald, Shannon Oksanen and Gu Xiong. Break Away! brings the work of many of these artists to the Okanagan Valley for the very first time.

The initial inspiration for this exhibition came about last year when it was learned that the city of Kelowna had been chosen as the host city for the 2004 Memorial Cup Junior Hockey Tournament. This is a major community event and the Kelowna Art Gallery is pleased to be a part of it by producing a variety of programs and exhibitions. The inspiration for the title of Break Away! is from a song written by Canadian songwriter Jane Siberry. Entitled Hockey, this song takes the listener on a journey back in time to childhood, a time of our lives when we played games passionately for hours on end and had more leisure time than we knew what to do with. It is a song that reminds all of us adults that playtime is not just for kids, we all need to “break away” from our daily routines once in awhile. 

All of the works assembled for Break Away! are strong and thoughtful contemporary works of art produced by mid career and senior Canadian artists. Several works share an element of playfulness such as Aganetha Dyck’s shunken toques in Hockey Night in Canada and Euan Macdonald’s video Hammock. The paintings of Billy McCarroll and Gu Xiong depict particular sports from either a player’s or a spectator’s point of view. Shannon Oksanen’s film projection Spins induces an almost trancelike sense of nostalgia for a time when a childhood dream of becoming the next Olympic gold medal figure skater still seemed achievable. A similar sense of nostalgia is echoed in Jane Siberry’s song:

don’t let those sunday afternoons
get away get away get away
break away break away break away break away

 Linda Sawchyn
Curator

The Kelowna Art Gallery is very grateful for the Vancouver Foundation’s support of the exhibition Break Away!