Exhibition at the Reach “Bearing Witness”
Even if you have nothing more than 10 minutes to spare, there is no reason not to pop in to the Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford and take in this exhibition. The exhibit is comprised of works from the permanent collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery and is a mix of works on paper and photographs. Specific to photographs and the reason that I think any photographer in the area with a moment to spare should stop by is the inclusion of works by historically important photographers, such as Robert Frank, Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Capa and others. It covers documentary to conceptual photography but for me the one image that I’m drawn to most is the monumental Edward Burtynsky Three Gorges Dam Project, Wan Zhou #6, Yangtze River, China 2002 . It depicts life literally on the edge as the people recover the building materials around them. There is just so much going on in that image. You know it’s real despite it’s depiction of a separate existence so different from our own sense of how life is lived.
While it is a small exhibition it does provide an opportunity to look at images from some photographic masters, The exhibit runs until June 10, 2012 and is free as always at the Reach.