While exploring Granville Island recently, my family and I stumbled into this gallery where we separated and happily wandered about for a while, each of us getting lost in our thoughts on the art pieces contained within, soaking up the creative atmosphere of this lovely place. This gallery is the perfect space to showcase art: there's much natural light from the window walls, and it feels quite large due to its open floor plan, light wooden floors and stark white walls.There's an upstairs loft as well (which I didn't check out. There appeared to be textiles up there, although I am not sure). Despite feeling large in scale, the gallery itself feels inviting, and it encourages wandering about - as any good gallery would!
This place showcases artwork from Zimbabwe and there's an abundance of sculptures here made of natural stones. The works have both a primitive and a contemporary feel about them (quite the dichotomy, I know, but it's true). Personally, I am not a fan of African sculptures, but I definitely appreciate the workmanship and the art-form. That said, I am a big fan of modern, abstracted paintings, and this gallery had many, many gorgeous paintings by Zimbabwean artists that were stunning: some vibrant and bold, some with slightly more subtle palettes, all remotely impressionistic but not quite, reflecting an African influence in the way they portray their subject matter. The painted works were what drew us in to this gallery; many were show-stoppers.
The lady who was behind the desk when we were here seemed wrapped up in some project on her computer. We were not greeted or engaged in any conversation. Which was fine with us as we preferred to wander and browse at our own individual pace(s). Still, we enjoyed our exploration of this gallery and we plan on returning when we next visit the Island. read more