In Conversation: Stephen Borys By: Ariel Gordon Posted: 4:03 PM CST Wednesday, Mar. 6, 2024 Last Modified: 5:43 PM CST Wednesday, Mar. 6, 2024 Updates

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This article was published 06/03/2024 (920 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This year, dozens of Winnipeggers will publish books in every genre you can think of, but only a couple of writers will release exhibition catalogues.

Stephen Borys is one of them. He’s been the director and CEO of the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq since 2008.

Over the past few years, Borys has been focused on being a curator and writer on top of his usual WAG job description, working on Tim Gardner: The Full Story. The exhibit of Gardner’s works will be up at the WAG until April 21 while the exhibition catalogue is available through the WAG’s gift shop for the foreseeable future.

This is Borys’s eighth exhibition catalogue since coming to the city. He’s authored, edited or contributed to about 20 others. So we decided to ask what, precisely, goes into making an exhibition catalogue.

Free Press: What do you want people to know about Tim Gardner: The Full Story?

Stephen Borys: I loved curating this exhibition and writing the catalogue — mainly because Tim Gardner’s art is a pleasure to behold and share with others.

These beautifully crafted high-realist paintings have a way to pull us in, lift us up, make us laugh and cause us to reflect on a moment from our own experience, often from our youth. The images are usually familiar, something we’re either aware of or have experienced ourselves.

In his artmaking, there is clearly an acceptance of his own world, and one that radiates joy as he knows it. Tim manages to act on these impulses to create work showing little pretension or vice, relying instead on his own emotions.

And in the end his art has a way of bringing us together in different ways. I like to think it’s a Winnipeg thing.

FP: Tell me why you decided to bring Tim Gardner’s work to the WAG? In the introduction, you describe a web of associations and encounters with his community and his work that seem to have coalesced into the desire to present a major retrospective exhibition at the WAG. But at what point did it tick over from a “Hmm. Maybe.” to a “Yes!”?

SB: I am always looking for exhibitions that connect with more people, different people and people who have never visited the WAG, or felt inclined or comfortable coming to the gallery. I often think about art that would appeal to a new audience, perhaps connecting people with the art for the first time.

The evolution of this project from a solo show to major retrospective exhibition reflects the stature of the artist and the appeal and power of his art.

The exhibition features over 30 years of artmaking — and the time seemed right for a retrospective. The 130 artworks in the show (and all illustrated in the catalogue) help tell the bigger story and open up the artist’s world a little more.

FP: Does an exhibition catalogue have a duty to be as beautiful as the exhibit or is it another beast altogether? What is its function, do you think?

SB: The exhibition catalogue functions first to support and build upon the physical exhibition, whether the visitor or reader sees the book before, during or after the exhibition.

The catalogue is a way for the viewer to get more, go deeper and revisit the exhibition, particularly if the viewer is unable to return to the gallery space.

The catalogue functions last and longest in offering a permanent record of the exhibition — the artwork, ideas and the visual moments of the show — celebrating and commemorating the production. And for the person who never gets to see the show in person, the catalogue is one way for them to enjoy the art that was brought together in the gallery.

FP: What have you learned about the process of putting exhibition catalogues together or is every project different?

SB: Every book project is a little different, depending largely on the artist, the artwork and the exhibition. And almost every time I work on a book like this, I end up running out of time, trying to squeeze in that last artwork, another paragraph for an essay or that last edit to a text.

But for some reason with the Tim Gardner catalogue everything came together on time, on schedule — like it was meant to be.

FP: In the promotional text for the book, it notes that one of the roles of the WAG is to celebrate “the work of artists who began, continued or finished their careers in Winnipeg.” What have been some of your favourite exhibits from once and forever Winnipeggers?

SB: Bruce Head, Wanda Koop, Eva Stubbs, Karel Funk, Cliff Eyland, Rosalie Favell (and Dominique Rey this fall) — are just a handful of the artists (and exhibitions) who are or were connected to Winnipeg, and who, through their art, have helped us see another side of our city and the communities around us.

There is something truly profound about the way in which Winnipeg has supported so many outstanding Canadian artists. They say it’s something in the water.

FP: You dedicated this book to your late brother Paul. Tell me about him – what do you imagine he would have seen in this work?

SB: My brother Paul was the consummate outdoors guy and a great athlete. There was hardly an outdoor activity or sport he didn’t try at least once in his lifetime. On top of that Paul loved to fly, and he was an excellent pilot.

Not surprisingly he had an immediate connection to Tim Gardner’s work.

Shortly before Paul’s death last December I showed him images of Tim’s work on my laptop — I only wish he could have seen the real thing. Paul died the day the catalogue went to press — a day I will always remember.

The stunning mountain-scape image on the dedication page was chosen by the book designer, Frank Reimer, and it says so much about this exhibition.

Ariel Gordon is a Winnipeg writer. Her next book is Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest, a collection of essays that will be published in June 2024.