Laura Schneider, Director/Curator of the CBU Art Gallery describes the exhibition as an important opportunity to showcase Kennedy’s latest work and to frame it in a way that recognizes the impact that he has had on the artistic community in the three decades that he has lived here.
“What is also interesting about this exhibition is that it gives audiences a chance to think about how artists absorb the elements that surround them, and how these things may surface, transformed in a body of work such as this one,” she says.
A student of the Vancouver-based, Emily Carr College of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design) in the 1970s, Gordon met his late wife, photographer Carol Kennedy, in Toronto in 1981. In 1982 the couple relocated to Cape Breton. After having two sons, Carol and Gordon became extremely artistically productive and found a sense of home and community amongst the community of artisans and musicians that populate St. Ann’s Bay. The artist acknowledges the impact that life on the island has had on him, both personally and professionally, Kennedy claims that “living in Cape Breton has allowed me to focus on my art and to have a great quality of life.”
Soft Forces opens with a reception on Friday, November 16 from 6-8 pm, with the artist present at the celebration. The exhibition runs until January 18, 2013. Everyone is welcome and all events are free to the public.
