H20(h!) - O'CALLAGHAN EXHIBITION ABOUT WATER

 (NEWS RELEASE) H2O(h!) is an exhibition about our most necessary resource: water. It is also Suzanne O’Callaghan’s response to the fact that (among other things that surprised and shocked the artist in her research) Charlottetown is but one of many Canadian cities for whom there are frequently days when more than ninety-per cent of available drinking water is being used. Usage of drinking water and the unique culture of living on an island are central narratives of the show. H2O(h!) is a multi-disciplinary exhibition and includes installation, etching, writing, photography, painting and other works that explore our relationship to water, its pleasures and precariousness, its emotional, psychological and social value, its uncertainty as a natural resource


Science is clear that responsible stewardship of water by humans is increasingly in opposition to our current methods of treatment and usage of water for physical and mental well-being, pleasure, play, industry and so on. The fact that water is a plenary necessity for all forms of life on Earth makes its endangerment a global crisis from which Prince Edward Island is not exempt. While the global crisis around water is not news, in H2O(h!) artist Suzanne O’Callaghan attempts to add an Island aesthetic and literary pedagogy to the global calls to think about and mindfully embrace responsible stewardship of water. H2O(h!) invites audience examination of some of the surprisingly vast (indeed innumerable) ways in which water seeps into every conceivable aspect of our lives, including celebration of the life-sustaining natural resource that water is. Says the artist, “Armed with all that art can afford, I hope that H2O(h!) will encourage personal connection with the future of water” because whatever else water has meant or been to us in the past, and even though memory distills itself, natural resources remain personally relevant. When we engage with art and subsequently impart our own aesthetic upon the subject in real time we cannot but take it personally, after which it has a renewed relevance that we cannot ignore, including the understanding that our individual behaviours bear down on the collective, on all forms of life. Those of us living on islands have a tremendously vital, challenging, complicated and intimate relationship with water; a relationship that is very much defined, ultimately, by our complete dependence upon it and its compelling feminine quality as a life-giving force."


H2O(h!) opens Wednesday, September 16th at 7 pm. There will be a short welcome by the artist. Refreshments will be served and all are welcome. Throughout the run of H2O(h!) Miss O’Callaghan will be working in the gallery in order that visitors may interact with the artist. The Gallery @ The Guild entrance is located at 111 Queen Street (corner of Richmond and Queen), Historic District, Charlottetown, PE. The Gallery is wheelchair accessible and is open daily. For more information 902-368-4413, or 902-620-3333, events@theguildpei.com or the artist at canadianartgirl@hotmail.com. The Gallery @ The Guild is recommended on Trip Advisor and is a recipient of their 2015 Certificate of Excellence! Admission to H2O(h!) is free but donations in support of the gallery are welcome and very much appreciated.


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 "Two Sisters Fishing", 4'x3', by Suzanne O'Callaghan