Virtual Exhibitions
You can now visit the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery virtually. Please enjoy the exhibitions as you navigate the Gallery through your various devices.
Facing North
Jean Hay
In the High Arctic you become acutely aware of the fragility of life. You know that the magical beauty of the place is deceiving. For the Arctic is unforgiving to the unwary. – Jean Hay
Paintings by regional artist Jean Hay are brought together from the permanent collections of the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery and Thames Art Gallery to explore notions of aging, creative drive and ecological responsibility.
The exhibition has been curated in collaboration with the Thames Art Gallery and will travel for exhibition at both
Focus Finder
Susan Dobson
Anchoring the Focus Finder exhibition is an immersive video installation presented in unison with a series of photographs of Lake Huron. Contemporary photo-based artist Susan Dobson disrupts the traditional viewing experience of photography by blurring time and place. By layering digital focus icons as well as the viewfinders of historic cameras over her expansive waterscapes, she changes our experience from passive viewing to active witness and encourages a reassessment of our relationship to technology and the natural environment.
An Abridged Sonic History of Global Conflict
Lee Henderson
In 2015, a controversy raged around the Calgary band then known as Viet Cong, and their decision to adopt a name so fraught with trauma, violence, nationalism, and imperialism. In observing the controversy, I contemplated both the costs of such a choice, and the rock music traditions of which it is the obvious result. "An Abridged Sonic History of Global Conflict" is the resulting compilation of musical bands named for wars, including acts of war, armed uprisings, military figures, and siege weapons.
As I continue to grow my list of these through research, I use that history to inform my choices as I design an embroidered patch for each, grouping them by relevant conflict—the Vietnam-American War, World War I, the Postwar Period, and so on. They are thus reconnected to the violence of their etymologies. After all, patches are how we demonstrate our belonging and our position within a subculture, whether as a Private First Class or as a fan of obscurely niche death metal...while the bodies they adorn onstage in a rock show (young adult, mostly male) are the same bodies we traditionally send to kill and die (young adult, mostly male).
- Lee Henderson
Group of 7: Their Visions Revisited 100 Years Later
Fragments of historic ephemera guide you down a century-old path to uncover early connections between the iconic Group of Seven painters and the beginnings of the Sarnia Women's Conservation Art Association and the Sarnia Art Movement. A selection of paintings and drawings from the Gallery's permanent collection are partnered with archival photographs and handwritten notes between members of the Group of Seven and the pivotal community members who contributed to the cultural shift in our community.
Ode to the Inside Out Questions
Z'otz* Collective
Nahúm Flores, Erik Jerezano and Ilyana Martínez
Taking its name from the Mayan word for “bat,” Z’otz* Collective consists of three artists with Latin American roots: Nahúm Flores (Honduras), Erik Jerezano (Mexico), and Ilyana Martínez (Mexico/Canada). For over fifteen years, these artists have worked collaboratively out of a shared Toronto studio on drawings, paintings, collages, sculptures, and site-specific installations.