Internationally acclaimed artist Joan Jonas is on exhibition in We come from the sea, an immersive multisensory installation that pays homage to the beauty, biodiversity, and vulnerability of oceans.
The exhibition reflects years of research, performance, and filmmaking in the waters of Jamaica and Nova Scotia, and in aquariums around the world. Multiple versions of the installation have shown internationally.
The National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia jointly acquired Jonas’s Moving Off the Land II (2019). The installation is the key element of We Come from the Sea, on in Halifax through Oct 4, 2026, simultaneously presented at Eltuek Arts Centre in Sydney and Inverness County Centre for the Arts.
(If you are in the Maritimes this summer/early fall, think about having a look)
DEEP CONNECTION TO CAPE BRETON
Jonas’ deep connection to Cape Breton, where she has lived seasonally since 1970, is woven throughout, bringing local landscapes and local spirit into the mix. Learn more in this video, in her own words.
Through layered projections, soundscapes, movement, drawing, watercolour and storytelling, We come from the sea examines the line between art and nature.
JONAS PUSHES BOUNDARIES
Hero to a generation of younger artists, Jonas is a pioneer of performance and video who has pushed the boundaries since the 1960s.
Jonas (b. 1936, New York, NY) is a world-renowned artist whose work encompasses a wide range of media including video, performance, installation, sound, text, and sculpture. Jonas’ experiments and productions in the late 1960s and early 1970s continue to be crucial to the development of many contemporary art genres, from performance and video to conceptual art and theatre.
Trained as a sculptor, she studied at Mount Holyoke College and later earned an MFA from Columbia University. Jonas has exhibited extensively throughout her long career. Notable retrospectives include Joan Jonas: Good Night Good Morning (Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, 2024) and Joan Jonas (Tate Modern, London, 2018). Animal, Vegetable, Mineral (The Drawing Center, New York, 2024) presented the first major retrospective of Jonas’s works on paper.
At the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
A New York Times feature profile about her connection to Cape Breton
Joan Jonas at Amanda Wilkinson Gallery, London
A National Gallery of Canada feature on Jonas
This is No. 83 in 150 Artists, an ongoing series on Canadian artists you should know.
Discover more from Canadian Art Junkie
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I had never heard of her. Thanks for correcting that.
Well I”m with you. I hadn’t either until I saw the exhibition schedule.