The Road to Utopia

In Europe and North America, 20th century modernism was often driven by idealist dreams of an egalitarian future. These utopian impulses found especially fertile ground on the Canadian west coast, an environment distinguished by interaction (however unequal) between European, Asian and First People's cultures as well as close proximity between nature and a rapidly developing urban environment. Through key works from the Gallery’s collection, this exhibition explores the territory between those utopian yearnings and the skepticism engendered by the tensions, displacements and disappointments that emerged in modernism's wake.

The artists represented in the exhibition include B.C. Binning, Kate Craig, Arni Haraldsson, Lawren S. Harris, Beatrice Lennie, Mark Lewis, Liz Magor, Mark Ruwedel, John Vanderpant, Jeff Wall and Vera Weatherbie, among others.

Image: Charles Hepburn Scott, Alfresco, 1923, VAG 61.28