The Ottawa Art Gallery truly partied in pink Thursday night, as the annual Give to Get Art Auction came to life with a sold-out crowd.
Art enthusiasts and industry members came together to enjoy a night of art, food, and fun on the third floor of the gallery. The attendees spilled from the Alma Duncan Salon to the balconies and beyond, with several photo booths stationed throughout the gallery.
But most of all, the goal of celebrating and supporting the arts was clear: everyone brought their finest fashions from flowing pink gowns to full neon suits; music echoed from corner to corner; and on the balcony, small hors d’oeuvres, wraps, sliders, and cotton candy kept the crowd fed and happy. Attendees also watched on with curiosity as Allan André painted a vibrant, almost-abstract pair of faces live during the three-hour event.
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Many of the artists who had works for sale were also in the crowd, happily explaining the meaning behind their art and sharing in the celebrations.
Artist Heritier Bilaka said it was his second time participating.
“I’m very grateful for what the gallery did for me before,” he says. “It’s part of our community as an Ottawa citizen, so to give back and also to meet new people … I’m feeling lucky to be part of this kind of event.”
His painting, A New Cycle, is one of the four pieces that were selected for the OAG’s Critic’s Choice. Playing with the past and the present with greyscale bodies in a colourful, vivid background, he says the work is meant to be a point of reflection for viewers. The monarch butterfly, bright among the grey bodies, symbolizes change.
“Since COVID-19, many things have changed economically, politically, [and] with climate change so this is a reflection of how or what we’re supposed to do in the new world,” he says. “Change comes after chaos. This chaos can allow us to think about what kind of world we can live in.”
Héritier Bilaka – A New Cycle. Photo provided.
A New Cycle was sold to the highest bid of $1,500.
Chantal Dahan also played with the past and the present in her photo piece Gaia in the Anthropocene Apocalyptic Era: her pregnant niece poses nude, superimposed by a map from the Age of Exploration and with a gas mask over her face. According to Dahan, Gaia personifies the Earth as an ancestral mother, and the history and future we all share.
Margaret Chwialkowska was another artist featured at the event. Her oil painting, Autumn’s Splendor, highlighted the fall colours of the Ottawa River — colours she says she appreciates as a unique feature of Ottawa’s seasonal environment after having come from Calgary and Poland. Chwialkowska has been painting for more than 20 years, and has participated in the auction for many years now: “It’s always very exciting,” she says.
As the night wound down, the crowd rushed in to get their final bids in for the night. With most of the artworks being sold, the highest bid at the end of the night was $4,500 for Christopher Griffin’s Strong and Free polar bear painting.
The night ended not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with bells ringing in the air — and, of course, a thank you from the Ottawa Art Gallery.
Keep an eye out on the Ottawa Art Gallery’s website for information on next year’s instalment of the Give to Get Art Auction.
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