Tompalski opens at the Gage Gallery Feb 23 2017

**Tompalski’s Afghan Boxers at Gage Gallery Victoria Canada, 2017.**

Efren Quiroz’s YouTube and Website exhibit-V, provides an extensive monthly calendar of openings in Victoria B.C. Canada. He covers the Boxers and Beauties show with interviews of Sherry Tompalski and Arden Rose at Gage gallery Arts Collective.

On Tuesdays through Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. the show continues to Mar 11, 2017.

See a 360 degree panorama of the show provided by photographer Barry Herring. Click to view interactively and then play with the buttons. CLICK http://360.io/XJP7w2 . The gallery is Located in Oak Bay Village, the Gage is close to the corner of Oak Bay and Foul Bay avenues.

Tompalski’s new work is based on and inspired by pictures of the Afghan women who train in the basement of the Kabul stadium where the Taliban used to publicly execute women accused of adultery.

Sadaf Rahimi, a female boxer from Afghanistan who made history by being the first Afghan female boxer to be invited to the Olympics recounts, “In Afghanistan, there is so much violence and prejudice towards women. Because of that, when I come here and box, I feel freedom. Here we are all girls, and we talk with each other and practice. Here is freedom for me and for every girl.” The Boxers & Beauties Show was covered by Christine van Reeuwyk of the OakBay News.

Boxers debut with Beauties at Gage Gallery

Oak Bay artist Sherry Tompalski prepares to unveil her boxers, inspired by Afghan female athletes, during her first show as a Gage Gallery artist collective member. — image credit: Christine van Reeuwyk/Oak Bay News

A series of boxers enjoy time in the spotlight this month after waiting three years for a chance in the ring. Boxers, created by Oak Bay artist Sherry Tompalski, were inspired by the Female Afghan Boxing Club in Kabul. “I’ve never exhibited the boxers,” said the new Oak Bay resident. “I’m looking froward to seeing how people respond to them.” Tompalski returned west from Ottawa last June after a dual career as an artist and psychiatrist. Decades ago, after medical school in Vancouver she and her husband Graham Thompson moved to Ottawa for practicum. “We went for one year and ended up being there or 30,” she said. Upon their return, they opted for Victoria, which reminded them of Vancouver as it was three decades ago. Tompalski’s new work is based on and inspired by pictures of the Afghan women who train in the basement of the Kabul stadium where the Taliban used to publicly execute women accused of adultery. She learned of the women after a boxer made history as the first Afghan female boxer invited to the Olympics. “If was shocked, it just sounded almost surreal,” she said.

“This work began as large graphite drawings that are torn up and reassembled with fragments of musical scores, portraying the process of coming undone, reforming and coming together. The Boxers incorporate a fragmented, difficult history which hopefully with healing and strength becomes music.” Beauties by Arden Rose balance the boxers in a shared exhibition at Gage Gallery.
“We got together and I liked her immediately,” said Tompalski. “She’s also a figurative painter so that’s great.” They crafted Boxers and Beauties for the shared show at Gage from Feb. 21 to March 11. “We were thrown together in this and we’re both fairly new to the Gage Gallery,” said Rose, a Victoria resident. “I have been working on these kind of abstract portraits. I’ve been drawn to doing that lately.” She was inspired by an in-depth workshop last fall. “Two of the days we had live nude models. We did a lot of drawing and short sketches of nudes. But the models were all tiny and young. I added flesh to them because it just seemed more realistic. That started the inspiration with the nudes,” she said. “Then I thought I’ll try just the face.” We encourage an open exchange of ideas on this story’s topic, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. Personal attacks, inappropriate language, and off-topic comments may be removed, and comment privileges revoked, per our Terms of Use. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.

Artist Sherry Tompalski’s new show at the Gage Gallery opens on Feb 23, (5-8pm) featuring her Female Boxers.”This work began as large graphite drawings that are torn up and reassembled with fragments of musical scores, portraying the process of coming undone, reforming and coming together. The Boxers incorporate a fragmented, difficult history which hopefully with healing and strength becomes music.” Tompalski’s Boxers are accompanied by Artist Arden Rose’s Beauties at the Gage Gallery from February 21 to March 11, 2017.

The Feb 23 Vernissage

Vernissage has its roots in the old practice of setting aside a day before an exhibition’s opening for artists to varnish and put finishing touches to their paintings-a tradition that reportedly dates to at least 1809, when it was instituted by England’s Royal Academy of Arts. (One famous member of the Academy, Joseph Mallord William Turner, was notorious for making major changes to his paintings on this day.) English speakers originally referred to this day of finishing touches simply as “varnishing day,” but sometime around 1912 we also began using the French term vernissage (literally, “varnishing”). Today, however, you are more likely to encounter sparkling water and truffles than varnish at a vernissage, which is how Tompalski’s February 23 opening unfolded. See pictures below.