Burnaby’s Brad McMurray turns his lens on familiar local neighbourhoods, revealing their strange artistry, in a new show at Burnaby Art Gallery.
Brad McMurray: Pedestrian runs from April 3 to May 3 and will kick off with an opening reception on April 2.
A press release notes the exhibition explores urban and industrial environments, often punctuated with unexpected decoration and splashes of colour, bringing a fresh perspective to areas that may or may not be familiar to Burnaby audiences.
“My body of work reflects a long-term interest and fascination with the everyday artifacts of a culture. I look for seemingly insignificant details of places within the urban landscape – the unremarkable, the banal and the forgotten,” McMurray said in the release. “The viewer is confronted with an image that they likely walk by every day and never really look at.”
The large-format photographs in the exhibition were taken in Metro Vancouver, the B.C. Interior, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
McMurray, who’s based out of Burnaby and the Okanagan Valley, draws upon a long lineage of photographers working in the New Topographics tradition. His work has been exhibited at the Vernon Public Art Gallery and the Penticton Art Gallery, and his works are also in the City of Burnaby’s Permanent Art Collection. The Penticton Art Gallery loaned 11 of McMurray’s works to the Burnaby gallery for this exhibition.
Along with curator Jennifer Cane, McMurray will host a photographers’ walking tour of the Metrotown area and its industrial surroundings on April 26. During the one-hour tour, McMurray and Cane will discuss urban landscapes and the New Topographics tradition. The tour is free, and participants are welcome to bring cameras, but you’re asked to register ahead at www.burnaby.ca/webreg (barcode 532191) or call 604-297-4422.
On April 19, the In the Bag Family Sunday studio drop-in will focus on the theme of Observing the Ordinary. You can explore the gallery, then head into the studio for family-friendly art projects from 1 to 4 p.m. It’s free.
Burnaby Art Gallery is at 6344 Deer Lake Ave. It’s open Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is by donation, with suggested donation of $5.
See www.burnabyartgallery.ca for information.
