National Gallery of Canada and Winnipeg Art Gallery form partnership

Agreement will allow Winnipeggers to experience exceptional works by internationally renowned artists such as Janet Cardiff, Louise Bourgeois and Christian Marclay

OTTAWA and WINNIPEG, Sept. 10, 2012 /CNW/ - The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) announced today that they have signed a three-year partnership. The two institutions will present exhibitions in a specially dedicated space called The National Gallery of Canada at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Beginning in January 2013, visitors will be able to see masterpieces from the national collection, both Canadian and international. This agreement also coincides with the Centennial of the WAG, whose programming will be marked by year-long celebrations and leave an anniversary legacy.

"Winnipeg has a famously lively artistic community and we are very happy to be there. Not only will this partnership be stimulating for our curators, it will put the national collection to greater use," said NGC director Marc Mayer. "We offer our warmest thanks to our colleagues at the Winnipeg Art Gallery for initiating a relationship that will let us serve one of Canada's most discerning local audiences."

This is the third partnership of this kind for the NGC, which launched The National Gallery of Canada at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto in November 2010 and The National Gallery of Canada at the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton in 2009. These partnerships enrich the NCG's extensive touring art exhibition program, allowing the Gallery to reach audiences in other large Canadian urban centres. The artworks exhibited in these spaces will range from the presentation of single works or newacquisitions, to exhibitions covering a variety of collecting areas.

"I can't think of a more distinguished art institution to partner with in the country than the National Gallery of Canada," said Stephen Borys, WAG Executive Director, "and to see this partnership launched in our Centennial year is particularly exciting. The [email protected] initiative allows us to bring to Winnipeg the very best in historical, modern, and contemporary art, giving our visitors an opportunity to see some incredible pieces from Canada and around the globe."

Featured masterpieces

Canadian artist Janet Cardiff's famous and much-loved work Forty-Part Motet will open the exhibition space in January and be on view until April 2013, while Louise Bourgeois 1911 - 2010 will begin a summer run in May 2013. Christian Marclay's masterfully gripping work The Clock will be shown in fall 2013. For more information on the exhibition calendar, visit wag.ca.

Janet Cardiff. Forty-Part Motet

From January to April, 2013, WAG visitors will be able to experience the exceptional Forty-Part Motet. Acclaimed by both audiences and critics, this brilliant sound sculpture by Canadian artist Janet Cardiff is a reworking of Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis, a 16th-century English composer. Forty separately-recorded choir voices are played back through 40 speakers positioned around the gallery.

Louise Bourgeois 1911-2010

The remarkable artistic career of Louise Bourgeois, who passed away in May 2010 at the age of 98, will be in the spotlight from May to September 2013. The installation pays tribute to the French-born, American artist best known in Ottawa for her majestic bronze spider Maman, which greets visitors on the museum's plaza, and whose work the NGC has been collecting for nearly two decades. Louise Bourgeois 1911-2010 is an opportunity for viewers to admire more than twenty major sculptures and drawings by the artist created between 1949 and 2008.

The Clock.  Christian Marclay

In fall 2013, from September to November, The NGC at WAG will host The Clock, an ode to time and cinema by the internationally-acclaimed artist Christian Marclay. The work is made up of thousands of film clips making reference to time compiled into a 24-hour single channel real time video. Viewers of the work are drawn into a vast range of cinematic settings and moods within the space of a few minutes, making time unravel in countless directions and rupturing any sense of linear, narrative sequence. The work is both a homage to more than a century of film history and an affirmation of our present time. This installation was jointly acquired in 2011 by the NGC and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

About the National Gallery of Canada 

The National Gallery of Canada is home to the most important collections of historical and contemporary Canadian art, including the extensive collection of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. The Gallery also maintains Canada's premier collection of European Art from the 14th to the 21st century, as well as important works of American, Asian and Indigenous Art and renowned international collections of prints, drawings and photographs. Created in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada has played a key role in Canadian culture for well over a century. Among its principal missions is to increase access to excellent works of art for all Canadians. To do so, it maintains an extensive touring art exhibition programme. For more information: www.gallery.ca

About the Winnipeg Art Gallery

As Manitoba's leading art museum, the Winnipeg Art Gallery holds over 26,000 works of art ranging from ancient Roman glass to 21st century multi-media art, including works on paper, photography, decorative arts, contemporary and studio pieces. The WAG is also home to the world's preeminent collection of contemporary Inuit art. Known around the world for its iconic modernist building, the WAG is a creative, relevant, and accessible forum for all ages to understand and experience art and art-making. Through its innovative exhibitions and programming, and one of the most comprehensive studio programs in Canada, the WAG enriches, inspires, and engages people with the world of art and culture. As Canada's oldest civic art gallery, the WAG is celebrating its Centennial year with an unparalleled series of exhibitions, programs, and events, which can all be viewed at wag100.ca. 

SOURCE: National Gallery of Canada

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For more information, please contact:

Josée-Britanie Mallet
Senior Media and Public Relations Officer
National Gallery of Canada
613.990.6835
[email protected]

Catherine Maksymiuk
Manager, Communications and Marketing
Winnipeg Art Gallery
204.789.1767
[email protected]