Recent Acquisitions exhibition, featuring the work of artist Jane Billaux. Runs until Oct 27/07.
This exhibit was co-curated and researched by Jacquline Mabey, Master of Arts Candidate, Critical and Curatorial Studies.
Opening at the West Vancouver Museum on September 15, The Black Slip: The Painting of Jane Billaux is a recent acquisitions exhibition, featuring the work of artist Jane Billaux. Though born and raised in London, England, Billaux has strong ties to West Vancouver. She immigrated to Canada from England in 1934 with her husband, Hugh Clifford, and their young daughter.
Over the span of forty years, Billaux painted pictures evocative of both the times in which she lived and the artist’s solitary practice. Almost immediately, Billaux began exhibiting widely and prolifically in both Canada and the United States. Her work was consistently well received. Indeed, she won the Beatrice Stone Medal at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Annual B.C. Artists’ Exhibition twice, in 1939 and 1942.
The title of the exhibition alludes to an early self-portrait Women in the Mirror where the artist portrays herself in a black slip. Playfully posed before a full-length mirror, Billaux appears self-assured, every bit the young bohemian moving within London’s avant-garde circles. The painting palpitates with the artist’s quiet fearlessness, a combination of courage and conviction that would take her halfway across the world to follow her passion for painting.
Billaux painted slowly, carefully and, thus, left a small body of work. However, in this instance, quantity should not be confused with quality; what we are left with is remarkable in its clarity.
For more information, please contact the Museum at: 604-925-7295.
Gallery Hours Tuesday-Saturday 11am to 5 pm
