Black Sheep Gallery - Folk, Outsider and Self-taught Art

We are pleased to send you another update. It is hard to believe it is already August!

It is raining cats and dogs at the gallery - folk art cats and dogs that is. We have an adorable white spotted cat with a red bird perched on its back by our favorite contemporary folk artist Barry Colpitts. The seated spotted dog was made by Garnet McPhail. We think the crack adds to the character of this piece. After all, as Leonard Cohen said, “there is a crack, a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” And don’t miss the smiling grey spotted dog with leather ears and a fine set of teeth. We are not sure who created this friendly fellow, although we think it may be by Eddie Mandaggio. Please let us know if you have any idea who made it. And finally take a look at our new Maud Lewis painting of a white cat with butterflies and wool. This painting was one of those selected for exhibition in “The Illuminated Life of Maud Lewis” in 1997. The exhibition opened at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and toured Canada for two years.

The Guangdong Museum of Art in China hosted the exhibition “Maud Lewis And The Nova Scotia Terroir” in April and May of this year. In June, the exhibition moved to the Coast Art Museum in Zhuhai and will then move on to the He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen before returning to Nova Scotia. This exhibition celebrates the artistic production of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Anchored by folk artist Maud Lewis, the exhibition describes the sense of place and the history that informs it.

The ongoing exhibition “Buoys and Gulls” at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is worth a visit. The imagery of the ocean and its shores has served as subject and muse to folk artists in Atlantic Canada for generations. This selection of whimsical and sometimes humorous works from the permanent collection reflects this region’s cultural heritage and ties to the sea. The artists exhibited include many prominent folk artists such as Samuel Bolivar, Ralph Boutilier, Cyril Hirtle, Sidney Howard, Maud Lewis, Albert Lohnes, Clarence “Bubby" Mooers, Joe Norris, Lorne Reid, Joseph Sleep, Randall Smith, and Charlie Tanner.