Gary Bowden, Chris Brady... And They Thought, Where Do We Go

And they thought, where do we go from here? is a 40th anniversary exhibition of our founders: Gary Bowden, Chris Brady, Bob Evermon, Monique Fouquet, Michael Jolliffe, Deborah Koenker, and Renée Van Halm. In 1975, these seven artists, all associated with the Vancouver School of Art (Emily Carr University of Art + Design), gathered at the Mido Gallery on Main Street to create a new society that would allow them to apply for funds for an international print exhibition. 40 years later, we’re showing their work from that time period, along with newer work. Please join us for the opening celebration on Thursday, November 12, 2015, from 6pm to 9pm.

Gary Bowden was a professor in the printmaking department of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design for over 30 years. He received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1969, and a MFA from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1971, where he taught printmaking for two years in 1972 and 1973. His work has been exhibited in exhibitions internationally, and is represented in private and public collections in the United States and Canada. He lives in Vancouver.

Chris Brady was the first Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Malaspina Printmakers Society in 1975, while he was still a student at the Vancouver School of Art. He moved to New York in the late 1970s.

Bob Evermon was a professor in the printmaking department of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design for over 30 years, and has taught at institutions across Canada and the United States, and in Italy. A master printer in stone lithography, he previously worked at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Hollywood, and the Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles. His work has been exhibited internationally, and is included in numerous private and public collections, including the Walker Art Center, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. He lives in Sechelt.

Monique Fouquet holds a MFA from Simon Fraser University and a PhD from The University of British Columbia. She taught at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and served as Vice President Academic and Provost from 2002 to 2011. From 2013 to 2014 she was Distinguished Visiting Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, where she also held the post of Interim Director of Foundation. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in group and solo exhibitions, and most recently was included in Out of Sight: New Acquisitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2014. She lives in Vancouver.

Michael Jolliffe studied at the Vancouver School of Art from 1974 to 1975, and received his MFA from Concordia University in Montréal in 1982. He started his artistic career as a printmaker, but after he discovered Christianity in 1980, he began exploring religious themes in large, brightly coloured and heavily impastoed oils, and mixed media abstractions. After a visit to Florence in 1992, his palette became more subdued, but still focused on biblical parables. Jolliffe’s work has been exhibited across North America since the mid-1970s, and is included in numerous public and corporate collections. He previously taught at Concordia University and at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design, and now lives in Montréal, Québec.

Deborah Koenker received a BA from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a MFA from Claremont Graduate University in Southern California, and studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, England. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Until recently, she was an Associate Professor of Visual Art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and she is currently based in Vancouver.

Renée Van Halm completed her undergraduate studies at the Vancouver School of Art, and received a MFA from Concordia University in Montréal. She helped to establish Mercer Union, an artist-run centre in Toronto, in 1979, and taught for over a decade at York University before joining the faculty of Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 1992. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions internationally, and is held in private and public collections in Canada and elsewhere. In 2012, the Burnaby Art Gallery mounted a 35-year survey exhibition and published a catalogue of her works on paper. Her work is represented by Birch Libralato in Toronto, and Equinox Gallery in Vancouver, and she lives in Vancouver.