May 20 – June 18, 2022

Agnete Newman

Artist Talk: Friday May 20th 5-7PM

During My Life is a retrospective that highlights a range of topics central to Agnete Newman’s experience and interests, including landscapes and nature, immigration, family, and religion/spiritual practices. It is fascinating, and at times sobering, to notice how many images connect to past experiences in the artist’s long life, and at the same time resonate deeply with crises at the forefront of our own daily news.

In the Artist’s Words:

There are two sides to my work, which tends to depict the many places and people I have seen. Art can be beautiful, moving our senses, and it can be a learning tool if people are willing to look. We need to treasure things, but we also need to question things. Sometimes art shows a side of life we would rather not recognize.

I have always been interested in history, the lives of women, and the movement of people. There is the journey of trying to find one’s place, which can include the heartbreak of leaving family but also the excitement of new vistas.

My landscape paintings reflect upon the beauty, moodiness, and continual change of Canada’s West Coast, as well as the variety in other regions that I’ve been able to visit. I enjoy being outside and most of these paintings were done plein air. I used to paint everywhere, on the beach or in the back of a pick-up truck, stopped along the highway to capture a view.

Agnete Newman was born in Denmark in 1931 and began her artistic training in her teens but didn’t take up painting until she was in her fifties. Newman graduated from Copenhagen’s School of Arts and Crafts in 1948. Immigrating to Canada with her older brother in 1951; she first lived in Vancouver and later in Kamloops. Her studies had focused on textiles and fashion, but in Canada, Agnete discovered an affinity for ceramics, both wheel-thrown and hand-built. She loves being outdoors, on walks, driving trips, and later as a member of the Gibsons Paddle Club. Wanting to capture these experiences, she turned more and more to painting. Agnete attended classes at Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts in Victoria, BC, and earned a Fine Arts Diploma from the University College of the Caribou in Kamloops (now Thompson Rivers University). In 2003, she settled in Sechelt, where her daughter also lives. Her work has not often been exhibited here, but she has participated in numerous shows in Kamloops, Gibsons, and other BC locations.