Submitted by Sylvia Roberts on January 8, 2016 – 4:05pm
The Melva J. Dwyer Award is given to the creators of exceptional reference or research tools relating to Canadian art and architecture. The Award is administered by the Canadian Liaison to the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), also the Chair of ARLIS/NA Canada, and is adjudicated by a jury of three Canadian art information professionals.
The 2016 Melva J. Dwyer Award will be given at the 2016 Joint ARLIS/NA + VRA Conference convocation ceremony on Friday, March 11, in Seattle, WA (details http://sched.co/4bfB).
Shortlisted titles
1920s Modernism in Montreal: The Beaver Hall Group. Jacques Des Rochers and Brian Foss, eds. (Montreal, PQ: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; London: Black Dog Publishing, 2015). ISBN 9781908966933
http://blackdogonline.com/art/the-beaver-hall-group.html
“In addition to the high quality reproductions, many of which have never been exhibited previously, there are a number of scholarly entries by curators, researchers and academics. The editors have indicated that though the research was arduous, the work around this exhibition was an important undertaking. Thee artists tell a story about Canada that hasn’t been conveyed in any other place. “The Beaver Hall Group offers an alternative, progressive vision what Canadian modern art can be,” It contrasted the Group of Seven by offering a distinctly Montreal type of modernism.” (from the nomination)
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Making the modern landscape. Herrington, Susan. (Charlottesville; London: University of Virginia Press, 2014). ISBN 978-0813934594 (cloth) ISBN 978-0823935362 (ebook)
http://books.upress.virginia.edu/detail%2Fbooks%2Fgroup-4295.xml
“Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (1921- ) is unquestionably the most accomplished landscape architect Canada has ever known. In this, the first major account of her life and work, author Susan Herrington, a professor of architecture and landscape architecture at the University of British Columbia, brings to light Oberlander’s many contributions to forging a distinctively modern landscape.” (from the ARLIS/NA Review, cited in nomination)
Colville. Andrew Hunter. (Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 2014). ISBN 978-0864920171 Co-published by the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada and Goose Lane Editions
https://www.gooselane.com/books.php?ean=9780864920171
“When renowned Canadian painter Alex Colville died in July 2013 at the age of 92, he left behind an extraordinary artistic legacy. Colville, published by the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, and Goose Lane Editions in conjunction with a sprawling retrospective, reflects this long and fruitful career. Featuring high-quality reproductions of Colville’s most iconic works alongside thoughtful analyses and visual pairings, this exceptional catalogue cements—and celebrates—the painter’s place in Canadian art history.” (from the nomination)
Curationism. David Balzer. (Toronto, ON: Coach House Books, 2014). ISBN 978-1552452998
http://chbooks.com/catalogue/curationism
“provides an excellent overview of the historical role of the curator, offering a smart synthesis of that highly detailed and well-researched history along with an extrapolation of where the role of the curator is going, and how it fits into both the visual arts and everyday life.” (from the nomination)
John Greer: retroActive. David Diviney, ed. (Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 2015). ISBN 978-0864928900
Published by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
https://www.gooselane.com/books.php?ean=9780864928900
“celebrates enlightening production from one of Nova Scotia’s, indeed, one of Canada’s most important artists. This fully illustrated book offers insight into Greer’s artmaking from the late-1960s to 2015, featuring work from the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s permanent collection, examples from outside sources, and recently created art works never before made public…. illustrate Greer’s full oeuvre and steadfast commitment to the broader discourse of sculpture.” (from the nomination)
From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia. Sarah Milroy and Ian Dejardin, eds. (Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 2015). ISBN 978-0864928696
Co-published by the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and Goose Lane Editions
https://www.gooselane.com/books.php?ean=9780864928696
“An intrepid explorer, artistic innovator and thought pioneer, Emily Carr created works of art that reflect the dramatic impact of her encounters with the Indigenous cultures and the formidable landscapes of British Columbia in the early 20th century. From the Forest to the Sea, copublished by the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and Goose Lane Editions to accompany an ambitious exhibition, is one of the first major publications to showcase Carr’s work for a global audience. For Canadian readers, the publication presents her art in a decidedly original way; internationally, it has the added aim of introducing a new voice to an established history of art.” (from the nomination)
I Could See Everything: The Paintings of Margaux Williamson. Margaux Williamson. (Toronto, ON: Coach House Books, 2014). ISBN 978-1552452936
http://www.chbooks.com/catalogue/i-could-see-everything
” documents an important body of work, that of Margaux Williamson, and offers via the essays a trenchant commentary and contextualization for the art. The final section of the book, titled “Source material, sketches and text sketches” illuminates the artist’s process. ” (from the nomination)
Jeff Wall: North & West. Aaron Peck. ( Vancouver, BC: Figure 1 Publishing, 2015). ISBN 978-1-927958-48-3
http://figure1pub.com/project/jeff-wall/
“One of Canada’s greatest contemporary artists brings together a selection of his best work to mark the opening of the Audain Art Museum. Jeff Wall has lived in his hometown of Vancouver for all but four years of his life. Most of the images he has created are shot in and around that city, yet his art transcends these local subjects and addresses universal themes of history and memory…. His importance to photoconceptualism is recognized throughout the art world and his cinematographic pictures are immensely popular with the public and the academy alike….North and West is a succinct and indispensable look into the profoundly moving and influential oeuvre of Jeff Wall. (from the nomination)
Made in British Columbia: Eight ways of making culture. Maria Tippett. (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2015). ISBN 978-1550177299
http://www.harbourpublishing.com/title/MadeinBritishColumbia
“the first account of the history of culture in British Columbia….not only provides eight focused, well-researched biographies of important cultural producers in the twentieth century, but offers a compelling argument about the power of art itself in shaping how we see the world around us an docnsequently the importance of art to our culture.” (from the nomination)
Masterworks from the Audain Art Museum, Whistler. Ian Thom. (Vancouver, BC: Figure 1 Publishing, 2015). ISBN 978-1927958490
http://figure1pub.com/project/masterworks-from-the-audain-art-museum-whistler/
“Art is a window into culture and history, and there is no collection that portrays the astonishing breadth of British Columbia’s art from the early nineteenth century to the present as superbly as the one at the Audain Art Museum in Whistler. This beautiful book brings together in a single volume many highlights from the museum’s permanent galleries…Interviews with John and Patricia Patkau, the award-winning architects of the building, and art collector and philanthropist Michael Audain set the works in context. This is the definitive guide not only to the museum but to the history of art in British Columbia.” (from the nomination)
Me Artsy: An Exploration of Contemporary Native Arts. Drew Hayden Taylor, ed. (Madeira Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 2015). ISBN 978-1771620703
http://www.douglas-mcintyre.com/book/me-artsy
“the only collection of first-hand accounts by Aboriginal artists featuring their views on the contemporary artistic experience. Commpiled and edited by playwright, novelist, scriptwriter and journalist Drew Hayden Taylor, the book explores themes around the role of art in First Nations communities, the importance of art in representing Native culture and the fusion of traditional and contemporary techniques.” (from the nomination)
Stephen Andrews POV. Kitty Scott, ed. (Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 2015). ISBN 978-0864928825
Co-published by the Art Gallery of Ontario and Goose Lane Editions
https://www.gooselane.com/books.php?ean=9780864928825
” the first major study of the artist’s work, focuses on these last 15 years of Andrews’s career, a time when painting emerged as his primary area of inquiry alongside a multifaceted approach to production that has resulted in drawings, photographs, animations, videos, installations, ceramics and ephemera….Published to coincide with a comprehensive survey of the artist’s work at the Art Gallery of Ontario… features more than 60 full-colour reproductions of Andrews’s paintings, photographs and works on paper. The book tracks the development of the artist’s work through his simultaneous investigations in abstraction and representation, and through his mediation of a series of successive global crises.” (from the nomination)
War Paintings of the Tsuu T’ina Nation. Arni Brownstone. (Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta Press, 2015). ISBN 978-0803265219
http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/titles/314-9781772120523-war-paintings-of-the-tsuu-tina-nation
“During much of the nineteenth century, paintings functioned as the Plains Indians’ closest equivalent to written records. The majority of their paintings documented warfare, focusing on specific war deeds. These pictorial narratives continue to expand historical knowledge of a people and place in transition. Arni Brownstone studies several important war paintings and artifact collections of the Tsuu T’ina (Sarcee) that provide insight into the changing relations between the Tsuu T’ina, other plains tribes, and non-Native communities during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries….Brownstone’s work furthers our understanding of Tsuu T’ina pictographic war paintings in relation to the social, historical, and artistic forces that influenced them and provides a broader understanding of pictographic painting, one of the richest and most important Native American artistic and literary genres.” (from the nomination)