MICHAEL FERNANDES
DON’T KNOW — Exhibition | Public Open Studio | Installations
CVAG Window + Plaza Media Gallery | video + audio + implied drawing installation runs 24/7
HUB Gallery – video | Adrian’s Tower
CVAG Main Gallery – Installation | Public Open Studio
MICHAEL FERNANDES
DON’T KNOW | Public Open Studio
The artist invites you to bring something of yourself.
Bring something to work on.
Start something new.
Store something in progress.
Take your project home, bring it back.
Leave something behind.
Visit again.
Public Open Studio will provide materials and the space. Drop in and immerse yourself. Independently or collaboratively, with friends or other visitors. A work space to experiment, take chances, and have fun while developing your project. Public Open Studio – sharing materials and ideas in a safe, supportive and creative environment of the arts.
MICHAEL FERNANDES
Michael Fernandes is a Trinidad-born artist who came to Canada in the 1960s to study at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. His works often rely on polemical constructs like “us and them” to provoke a self-recognition on the part of the viewer. His installations have a sense of improvisation and literalism, which results in an intimacy and directness and opposes the packaged, the streamlined and the simulated. One could say — at least metaphorically — that his work is in the first person, present tense, and that it stands against facade and spectacle in favour of activism. At NSCAD, where he has taught since 1973, Michael is known for the subtlety of his pedagogical methods. He has exhibited extensively across Canada and abroad. In 2020, Fernandes was the recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts.
Visit the gallery:
- Pubic Open Studio – Self-directed MakeArt Stations for drop-in art-making opportunities | Wednesday to Saturday, 10AM – 5PM
- Facilitated MakeArt Projects – Artist/technician facilitated opportunities to build new making skills | upcoming dates will be posted to the CVAG website, Facebook, and in the CVAG e-newsletters
All are welcome, those 15 and under and anyone needing individual support must be accompanied by an adult care-person. Gallery staff are present to offer an orientation to the space and materials available.
CVAG spaces are accessible and programs are barrier free (no cost) — DONATIONS are appreciated and contribute to ongoing community interactive programming.
Public health considerations — we ask that visitors choose not to visit if they are experiencing symptoms of colds and flus. Hand sanitation dispensers are available at CVAG. Wearing a mask is at the discretion of the visitor.
Don’t Know is part of the OPEN ⋮ REALITY convergent program at the Comox Valley Art Gallery