This visual description audio guide accompanies the exhibition, "Alex Colville: A Story Never to be Told", on view at the Owens Art Gallery from 22 October 2021 to 1 March 2022.

Some of the visual descriptions in this audio guide were written and recorded by students in the Museums, Education and Engagement seminar course at Mount Allison University in 2021.

Alex Colville: A Story Never to be Told Visual Description Audio Guide

Alex Colville
Crow with Silver Spoon, 1972
serigraph on paper
Edition of 70
45.7 cm diameter
Signed, dated and numbered artist’s proof #12
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Alex Colville in memory of Rhoda Colville

Positioned within a circular composition, a large black crow soars up through a blue sky with its wings open; flying away from the viewer. The crow’s head is silhouetted against the sky and one small eye is in view. In its beak, it holds a shiny silver dinner spoon. Dashes of blue, red, and white are used sparingly to define the contours of the crow’s feathers and slightly rounded body. Grey clouds, speckled with white, are scattered sparsely below the crow. White lines over the grey of the paper create the shape of the clouds. The crisp lines of the crow contrast the wispy clouds. The artist’s signature and date of creation are visible along the bottom right perimeter of the work.

Written by Victoria MacBeath

Crow With Silver Spoon

Alex Colville
Sunrise, 1970
serigraph on paper
Edition of 70
30.5 x 61 cm
Signed, dated and numbered artist’s proof
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Alex Colville in memory of Rhoda Colville

In this tightly cropped panoramic print, a figure paddles a canoe passed a large red rocky outcrop of land. The edge of the rock that rises from the water appears green. The figure’s face is obscured by their right arm as they set the paddle into the water on the left side of the canoe. A luminous orange sun rises above the figure's head in the dark blue sky. The warm orange of the sun is repeated in ripples in the water and illuminates the blond hair, blue sweater and khaki pants of the figure. The grey tone of the paper is revealed in the border of the print and is visible throughout the image.

Written by Stuart Trenholm

Sunrise

Alex Colville
High Diver, 1957
serigraph on paper
Edition of 20
99.5 x 44.5 cm
Signed and dated
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Alex Colville in memory of Rhoda Colville

A tall, narrow composition depicts a dark textured road crossing a stream as it weaves through a flat yellow landscape, vanishing into the horizon. The empty blue sky occupies the top half of the image, interrupted only by increasingly tiny power lines which follow the road, and the right half of a metal train bridge. The bridge is tall, faded grey and rounded in a semi-circular shape. On its peak, a young shirtless figure is crouched, hugging their knees. They are wearing dark shorts and have no distinct facial features. Despite this, they are watching as another almost identical figure dives headfirst into the calm water below with their arms extended. In the bottom right-hand corner, a simple pedal bicycle on some gravel next to the road, leans askew against a wooden guard rail.

Written by Chloe Lundrigan

High Diver

Alex Colville
Bridge and Raven, 1993
serigraph on paper
Edition of 70
34 x 48 cm
Signed, dated and numbered artist’s proof I/XXIX
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Alex Colville in memory of Rhoda Colville

A central black bird, wings outstretched and beak open, flies diagonally towards the viewer through the space underneath a bridge over water. The bridge is mostly cropped out of the frame with no sky visible above. The portion of the bridge that is in the frame is dark green and metal with small industrial fixtures. The bridge is supported by a tarnished concrete pillar that takes up the left half of space beneath the bridge and behind the bird. Below the bird there is rippled light grey water that recedes into the space underneath the bridge then fades into a blank white sky in the distance. Each layer of colour is made up of many small dots that create a textured blend.

Written by Daisy Graham

Bridge And Raven

Alex Colville
Kingfisher, 1983
serigraph on paper
Edition of 70
90 x 30 cm
Signed, dated and numbered artist’s proof I/XLII
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Alex Colville in memory of Rhoda Colville

A kingfisher is at the very top of the print, diving downwards with its long grey beak leading and back facing the viewer. The top of the bird’s head has long black feathers sleeked back by the wind. Its body is mostly grey-blue with two large white stripes on its wings and thick neck. Only a small section of the bird’s brown chest is visible and its tail is covered in more small white stripes. The clouds behind the kingfisher are the same colour as the beige water below. The sky is gloomy, with whisps of white defining the underbelly of dark grey clouds dominating the centre of the print. The horizon line is very low, leaving only a sixth of the print to the creamy beige water, where a slim brown peninsula extends from the right side. The water is very calm, with neat grey and white lines at the bottom of the print resembling shore ripples.

Written by Brookie Martin

Kingfisher

Alex Colville
Woman, Dog and Canoe, 1982
serigraph on paper
Edition of 70
43.2 x 70.1 cm
Signed, dated and numbered artist’s proof 1/27
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Alex Colville in memory of Rhoda Colville

A woman in a one-piece, muted red bathing suit and beige sun hat stands in the back of the blue and brown tinted canoe, poling forward through water between areas of green marsh grass. Her black dog sits at the front of her canoe. Both the woman and the dog are facing away from the viewer. The pole reaches the top and bottom edges of the composition, the top of the pole is positioned near the centre and the bottom positioned slightly to the left of the centre, creating a diagonal line through the print. The middle ground is filled with dense tall green grass. Just beyond that, cold-toned blue ocean water ripples in the distance. In the background a long stretch of land takes up two thirds of the horizon from left to right. The last third is occupied by two more land masses further in the distance.

Written by Ruth Curry

Woman, Dog And Canoe

Alex Colville
New Moon, 1980
serigraph on paper
Edition of 70
36 x 45 cm
Signed, dated and numbered artist’s proof 1/28
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Alex Colville in memory of Rhoda Colville

A woman lies on her back with her knees up and hands behind her head looking up at a crescent moon in a starless night sky. She has blonde hair and is wearing a dark coloured stripped sweater and plain dark coloured skirt. The beach is sandy and scattered with small rocks. To her left, an old wooden pier extends into the water. The wood looks worn. The water has small waves and appears to reflect the night sky. In the distance, on the right side of the print, is a dark, rocky land mass.

Written by Shane Smith Bergeron

New Moon

Alex Colville
After Swimming, 1955
serigraph on paper
Edition of 27
63.5 x 38.1 cm
Signed, dated and numbered 14/27
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Alex Colville in memory of Rhoda Colville

A light-skinned man and woman amble towards you, walking along a beach. Their relatively slim figures are fully visible and take up most of the vertical composition. Nondescript features, subtly implied by shadow, give anonymity to their faces. The woman wears a white swim cap matching her partner's short hair, and a strapless black swimsuit with a heart-shaped neckline. A fitted mini-overskirt is joined to the suit at her waist, causing two rows of subtle bunching. She stands to her companion's right, her hip touching the front of his thigh as they step forward, mirroring each other's strides. Her elbow partially covers the band of his matching black swim trunks as she raises a relaxed hand to her chest. She looks slightly downwards, while he turns his head towards her, reaching his bent arm behind her back, lifting the other half of a white towel, which hangs precariously over his left shoulder. The cloudless sky is defined by a greyish-blue band of colour, reflected in the water below. Soft waves are implied by tapering lines of deeper blues, flattening just above the yellowish-beige sand.  

Written by Laika Dadoun

After Swimming

Alex Colville
Seven Crows, 1980
acrylic polymer emulsion on Masonite
50 x 120 cm
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Mr. Ross B. Eddy

Seven crows fly low over marshy grassland towards a dense area of forest. The grassy expanse, which fills the lower third of the painting, is mottled with warm brown and mossy green, painted in minute brush strokes.

The land is dyked, creating a raised berm that contains a narrow grey river that meanders into the distance. A line of short fence posts follows the contour of the dyke from the foreground, eventually crossing a short stretch of grass on the left side of the painting. 

The sky is heavy with a blanket of low, grey clouds. In the far distance, a series of hills recedes towards the horizon.

The two crows nearest us are the last in the flock; they are on the right side of the painting. One glides with its wings outstretched, while the other is caught in a downstroke. In both birds we can see the fine details of their black feathers.

The crow furthest from us, which leads the group, is easy to miss against the dark green of the forest.

Seven Crows

Alex Colville
Athletes, 1961
oil and synthetic resin on board
152 x 242 cm
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery

In this large, horizontal painting, four athletes participate in outdoor sports. The composition is divided vertically into three parts, creating a triptych. 

In the first panel on the left, a light-skinned swimmer in a black bathing suit is poised to dive. Her arms are thrust behind her, and her gaze is fixed forward. She wears a white bathing cap that is secured under her chin. Her body is tense, and her toes grip the edge of the pool. The water in the pool is choppy and painted in shades of bright blue and green.

The middle panel, which is slightly wider than the two outer panels, captures two athletes in the midst of their sports. At the top of the panel, a light-skinned high jumper with blond hair appears suspended in mid-air over the high jump bar and an area of beige sand below. He wears black shorts, a white top, and black sneakers with white details. In the middle distance, a black javelin thrower wearing white shorts and a white top prepares to throw his javelin. He leans backwards, holding the javelin in his right hand, while his left arm reaches forward, mirroring the diagonal position of the javelin. Beyond the javelin thrower is a long, low, grey roof of a structure. The grass of the field is bright green, becoming darker towards the foreground where it includes the details of arching blades of grass intermingled with white clover and dandelion blossoms.

The panel on the right features a light-skinned runner dressed in white shorts, black top, and black sneakers with white detailing. The runner’s head is cast back, and his arms fall to his sides as he reaches the white tape of the finish line, which crosses his chest. The black track, with its white painted lines, recedes into the distance to a vanishing point on the horizon. A white football goal post stands parallel to the track behind the runner.

The three panels, each a distinct scene, are unified by a single horizon line that stretches across the work. The ground occupies the lower third of the composition, while the sky, which fills the upper two thirds, is a cloudless, clear blue.

Athletes

Alex Colville
Ravens at the Dump, 1964
Serigraph on paper
30.5 x 68.6 cm
Collection of the Owens Art Gallery
Gift of Alex Colville in loving memory of his wife Rhoda (Wright) Colville

Two ravens fly over snow-covered debris in this horizontal print. The first raven flies into the scene from the left. The bird is in profile, and we can see the fine texture of feathers over the black silhouette of its body. The bird is flying low and passes behind a large mound of dirt that obscures the tip of its wing.

Higher in the sky, on the right side of the print, the second raven soars with its wings outstretched. 

In the foreground, a rough pile of snow slopes upward from the lower left corner to the midpoint of the right side. Small areas of dirt peek through the snow along with what appear to be crumpled brown and orange cardboard boxes, and a piece of grey timbre. 

In the small clearing between the mound of dirt on the left and the pile of snow on the right, we can see across a frozen bay to blue-grey hills in the far distance. The frozen bay is interrupted only by a narrow band of cool grey water dotted with broken ice.

The overcast sky, which is almost indistinguishable from the snow, is punctuated by wisps of white cloud.

Ravens At The Dump

Alex Colville: A Story Never to Be Told
22 October 2021 - 1 March 2022.

Curated by Emma Connors, Colville House Intern

This exhibition is installed in the Colville Gallery. Standing at the entrance to this gallery, there is a text panel on the wall to your left. It reads,

"Sometimes the absence of a storyline is just as compelling as its presence. In Colville’s work, the feeling that some part of the narrative is missing creates unease and tension. Birds frequently play a key role in this sensation. For example, the painting Seven Crows resonates with an eerie stillness. Do the birds symbolize warning, death, freedom, or prophecy? Informed by the slightly ominous traditional rhyme “One for Sorrow,” whose final lyric is “Seven crows a story never to be told,” this work encapsulates a narrative tension that resonates across Colville’s oeuvre.

This exhibition was made possible thanks to the generous philanthropic support of Mount Allison University alumni Heather and Ian Bourne, as well as funding from Mount Allison University and the Department of Canadian Heritage (Young Canada Works at Building Careers in Heritage Program)."

The first description is for "Crow with a Silver Spoon", which is installed just outside the gallery entrance. Visual descriptions then proceed in a clockwise direction around the room beginning on the left. Some of the visual descriptions in this audio guide were written and recorded by students in the Museums, Education and Engagement seminar course at Mount Allison University in 2021.

All works featured in the guide are in the collection of the Owens Art Gallery. Full label information accompanies each track.