Pnina Granirer at Bastion Books, Victoria, May 3, 7 pm

April 13, 2018 by by GVIP

Date: Thursday, May 3, 2018
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Bastion Books, 14 Bastion Square, 250-385-8786
Speaker: Pnina Granirer
Topic: Light Within The Shadows: A Painter’s Memoir

Painter Pnina Granirer will discuss the various aspects of writing a book — as opposed to the creation of a painting. The most dramatic difference between these two is the element of time. While working on a visual piece, the artist sees the work in its entirety during its creation, with each addition and change visible as soon as they happen.

Not so with writing. Reading the written words requires time; once they are written and as the writer continues writing, the first text recedes, allowing for the new words to appear. The writer cannot see all the words at one given moment; time is needed to access the story and to become fully aware of its contents.

Conceived as a play in three acts, Pnina’s story unfolds from her Romanian hometown on the Danube River, to art school in Jerusalem, followed by three years spent in the USA, time in Montreal and later in Paris, finally settling in Vancouver. Issues of dislocation, ‘otherness,’ and the uprooted soul’s wish for permanency and belonging will be discussed.

For the fortunate ones who have not experienced war, fascism and communism, the historical references seen through personal experience might be enlightening and revealing of unfamiliar realities.

“From my experience as a visual artist, I realised that most people know almost nothing about the creative process and the politics of the art world. This talk will give the listeners a glimpse into this unknown territory,” Pnina explains.

Since 1962, Pnina Granirer has exhibited her work locally, nationally and internationally in more than 80 solo shows. Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions and in books and exhibition catalogues in Canada, Israel, Spain, Portugal, Costa Rica and Chile. Her works are found in many private and public gallery collections in Canada (some as cultural property donations), the US, Chile, Europe and Israel.

In 1993, she initiated and co-founded “Artists in our Midst”, the first ongoing open studio walk in Vancouver, BC. For six years, she organized and hosted “Philosopher Art Cafes”, sponsored by Simon Fraser University.

Her works are found in the collections of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and the Legacy Gallery. A large painting has been selected recently for the collection of Government House.