Photo: Kyle L. Poirier

Installation photograph of What is Fragile? on view at the Kelowna Art Gallery from April 20 to July 12, 2024.

Two Master of Fine Arts candidates at UBC Okanagan explore fragility in a new exhibition at the Kelowna Art Gallery.

Kelowna-based Victoria Verge and Salmon-Arm based zev tiefenbach are featured in the presentation titled “What is Fragile?” that runs until July 12, 2024. An opening reception is scheduled for Friday, April 26, from 6 pm. to 8 p.m. at the Kelowna Art Gallery, and admission is free.

Verge’s works, titled Chasing the Echoes of Home, include interactive sculptures and a large installation featuring wallpaper and vintage furniture. Teifenbach’s collection includes photographs and videos called these are fragile days.

“Through their unique artistic explorations, Verge and tiefenbach shed light on how fragile the human spirit can be,” says curator Christine May. “Visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to think deeply about how art can transform us, and the important role that artists play in shaping today’s social and cultural stories.”

A pair of fellow MFA student from UBC Okanagan, Jessie Emilie and Troy Teichrib will also be showcasing their work at the Lake Country Art Gallery from May 18 to July 14.

“Through a range of mediums, these students are offering visitors the opportunity to explore the next generation of contemporary art across a variety of styles,” says Wanda Lock, curator at the Lake Country Art Gallery.

The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street. The Lake Country Art Gallery is at 10356A Bottom Wood Lake Road.

Photo: zev tiefenbach

Photo-based installation, these are fragile days, including approximately 1800 photos mounted on steel plates, wooden archive box, and magnetic rails.

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A painting by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt that was believed lost for the past 100 years, is to be auctioned in Vienna.

There are many unanswered questions about the unfinished painting, Portrait of Fraulein Lieser, which Klimt began in 1917 – a year before his death.

There are also debates about who the woman in the picture is, and what happened to the painting during the Nazi era.

The painting’s value is estimated at up to €50m ($53m; £42m), although it may fetch a higher price.

It is believed to depict one of the daughters of either Adolf or Justus Lieser, who were brothers from a wealthy family of Jewish industrialists.

Art historians Thomas Natter and Alfred Weidinger say the painting is of Margarethe Constance Lieser, the daughter of Adolf Lieser.

But the im Kinsky auction house in Vienna, which is auctioning the artwork, suggests the painting could also depict one of the two daughters of Justus Lieser and his wife Henriette.

Henriette, who was known as Lilly, was a patron of modern art. She was deported by the Nazis and died in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.

Her daughters, Helene and Annie, both survived the Second World War.

The auction house said in a statement that the exact fate of the painting after 1925 was “unclear”.

“What is know is that it was acquired by a legal predecessor of the consignor in the 1960s and went to the current owner through three successive inheritances.”

The identity of the current Austrian owners has not been made public.

The painting is being sold on behalf of these owners and the legal successors of Adolf and Henriette Lieser, based on the Washington Principles – an international agreement to return Nazi-looted art to the descendants of the people the pieces were taken from.

Ernst Ploil from im Kinsky told the BBC: “We have an an agreement, according to the Washington principles, with the whole family”.

The im Kinsky catalogue described this agreement as “a fair and just solution”.

However Erika Jakubovits, the executive director of the Presidency of the Austrian Jewish Community, said there were still “many unanswered questions”.

She has called for the case to be researched by “an independent party”.

“Art restitution is a very sensitive issue, all research must be carried out accurately and in detail, and the result must be comprehensible and transparent,” Ms Jakubovits said.

“It must be ensured that there is also a state-of-the-art procedure for future private restitutions.”

Klimt’s art has fetched huge sums at auction in the past.

His Lady with a Fan piece sold for £85.3m at Sotheby’s in June 2023, making it the most valuable work of art ever sold at auction in Europe.

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A Penetanguishene couple is saddened that someone has complained to the town about the folk art displayed on their lawn.

“We’re not happy,” says Jim Duguay, who along with his wife Elizabeth, sells and gives away pieces of repurposed painted furniture and wood that would likely otherwise end up in the landfill under their hobby business Dragonfly Unlimited.

Duguay tells MidlandToday that they’re actually recycling old furniture and pieces of board that people no longer want so it’s good for the environment by ensuring fewer things end up being thrown away as garbage.

“I barely cover my costs and a lot of what I do goes to charity,” Duguay says, noting local organizations will often ask for one of his pieces to feature in raffles and as auction items.

Besides art and repurposed furniture, Duguay also creates murals and barn quilts and also paints bureaus and other furniture with specific themes such as sports or in the case of one child, who loved Volkswagens and was in Sick Kids, a dresser and side table featuring car themes.

“Before COVID, we had our stuff out and there was not a problem,” says Duguay.

But that changed a few years ago as Duguay recalls how the town sent a “young lad” who told them there had been a couple of complaints about their lawn display.

“He told us, ‘you have to get this shit off the lawn,’” Duguay says. “It just sucks. We’re keeping a lot of stuff from going to the dump.”

According to the recent notice sent from municipal law enforcement officer Chris Smith, the Duguays are violating zoning bylaw 2022-17.

“Where a home occupation is permitted, the following provisions shall apply: No outdoor storage or display of materials, equipment, wares or merchandise is permitted,” the letter signed by Smith reads, adding that the Duguays have until May 3 to comply with the order.

After MidlandToday contacted the town for a further explanation, Penetanguishene communications and technology coordinator Sarah Marshall​​​​ provided a response from the bylaw department that further reiterated what was written in Smith’s letter to the Duguays.

“We will not comment on how many complaints were received for a specific property,” the email from the town to MidlandToday reads.

“However, it only takes one to prompt action should an infraction be found.”

The house is actually zoned commercial-residential, according to Duguay, who notes its close proximity to the Main Street and the fact it housed other businesses in the past.

He also adds that other apparent ‘eyesores’ can be found throughout the town, something he notices while taking walks with his dog.

“I’m not picking on anyone, but there’s a ‘72 pickup truck sitting on blocks and three Ski-Doos that are not ever going to run again,” he says.

As well, he notes that their business draws people from out-of-town, who might stick around the area after picking up an item or two to have a meal at one of the local restaurants or shop at one of the town’s stores.

“We’ve had people come up all the way from St. Catharines,” he points out.

Duguay, who is 60 and on the Ontario Disability Support Program due to serious leg issues, says he’s always operated above-board and declares any income he receives from their venture to the government.

“We appreciate those who have supported us,” Duguay notes. “We had a good run for a non-business/hobby. Any future sales will have to be done online as we are no longer displaying our art.

“It saddens us deeply to have to change in this way. Unfortunately, we will no longer be in a position to donate any furniture, or signs to the local charities. This was never a business, just a glorified hobby. We did the best we could.”

And the couple has found support on their social media account.

“It was always a pleasure to see your art and what was new. So sad that it affected some Karen and felt the need to complain,” Sarah Deanne Tizzard writes.

“Eyesore… really? I can think of many other things that are eyesore way more than the beautiful colours of your beautiful creations.”

Adds Carol Pollock: “It’s disgusting what the town is doing to you guys. It’s infuriating actually. So sorry to hear about this.”

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