2016 Art Show: “Metamorphosis”

We’re excited to announce the theme for its 2016 art show, “Metamorphosis”.

This special exhibit will feature artworks that explore the concept of transformation as it applies to Algonquin’s wildlife and landscapes.

Why Metamorphosis?

One of our principal aims at the Centre is bridging art and science through special art exhibitions. Our philosophy is that science and art are part of the same spectrum of experience, and that choosing or emphasizing one over the other will reduce the full breadth and significance of experiencing Nature.

Based on this integrated science/art approach, we chose Metamorphosis as our 2016 theme. Before scientists appropriated the term in the 17^th century,   ‘Metamorphosis’  had a much broader, more significant meaning, especially for the arts. As the Roman poet Ovid described in his poem, “Metamorphosis”, penned over 2,000 years ago, metamorphosis describes a vital life process: “All things change, nothing remains the same.”
For Ovid and his artistic successors, which include painters and poets from all eras in Western art history, including Correggio, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Kafka, and more recently, Anne Carson, metamorphosis represented a vision of life in which all organisms (humans, animals, plants, etc.) were bound by the same fate: transformation. Life was in a constant state of flux, and although there was great resistance to this view,  these artists offered a bold, refreshing, and sometimes sublime view of life as change.

For our 2016 show, we want to restore the artistic meaning to Metamorphosis by exploring its connection to landscape and wildlife in Algonquin Park and Ontario’s protected areas.