Vast, broad strokes utilized with a profound rawness that connects provocatively, yet naturally, with the subject. …Huh? 

“I can understand when people say they don’t ‘get’ art because there was a time when I didn’t get it either.”

Coming from Argyle Fine Art Gallery owner Adriana Afford, I feel better.

Fortunate to have seen my fair share of masterpieces – Jackson Pollack’s “One” in New York, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Sidney Crosby in a suit – I’d like to think with my years of exposure, and my ability to smile-and-nod, that I know how to “like” art.

But with such a wide variety of media, methods, and materials on display for our viewing pleasure, including throughout HRM, how does anyone know for sure?

“Be open to looking at different styles of art,” Afford tells me during our chat Argyle’s location at 1559 Barrington St. “Even if you don’t like it, you can appreciate it.”

Afford, who has been with the gallery for more than a decade, deals with the daily dilemma of curious clients looking for meaning who only find frustration. Over analyzing seems to be a common issue.

“If you can show people one element that ties them to art, then they start to get it,” she says.
Sure, there is a clear technical difference between Vincent Van Gough’s “Starry Night” and a 1920s geometric colour block piece, but much like varying tastes in our significant others, you can’t help what floats your boat.

Afford’s advice for those who haven’t found “the one” in the art world: “Keep on looking. That’s how you develop a stronger idea of what you like or what you don’t like, what you get and what you don’t get.”

As for the significant other? Valentine’s Day chocolates have gone on sale.

Events

Alex Colville Exhibit
Where: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
When: Through Sunday
Ticket Info: Free tonight ($12 adults, $7 with student ID

Alex Colville’s 90th birthday on Aug. 24 is an excellent reason to celebrate the life and the art of one of Atlantic Canada’s most renowned artists. To mark the event, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is mounting an installation of select Colville works.

The 10 prints and sketches chosen for this particular celebration span these works and both paintings and prints exhibit the heightened realism, eerie lighting, and dramatic, layered composition, which hints at a seething chaos and darkness kept in check by the careful structuring of the image for which Colville is known. 

The Golden Goal
Where: Hockey Hall of Fame Exhibit @ The Discovery Centre
When: Through Sunday
Ticket Info: $8.50, $7 with student ID

Don’t miss out on you last chance to see Sidney Crosby’s Olympic gold-medal winning puck.
Hosted by the Halifax 2011 Canada Games and the Discovery Centre, this marks the first time the puck has travelled to Crosby’s home province. The exhibit includes displays from across the world of hockey: Wayne Gretzky: The Legend, The NHL Today, Stanley Cup History, and much more.