The 2023 Bletcher Hour reading group series kicks off with a selection by exhibiting artist Elizabeth Zvonar.
Zvonar, whose compelling collages are part of the group exhibition The Faceless Familiar, on at the Gallery until February 11, 2023, has chosen an excerpt from Having and Being Had by Eula Biss for this month’s reading and will participate in the discussion.
Eula Biss is an American non-fiction writer. Her work has been translated into a dozen languages and has been recognized by a National Book Critics Circle Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library. In Having and Being Had, Biss examines our assumptions about class and property and the ways we internalize the demands of capitalism. Zvonar says Having and Being Had is a book that has influenced her own thinking and artistic practice.
The discussion will take place on Zoom on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023 from 6 to 7 PM. This program is free to attend. Please contact Heather Kehoe, Program & Event Coordinator, to register. Readings are sent as PDFs in advance of the event. The Zoom link will be shared the week of the event.
Elizabeth Zvonar makes objects and pictures that think through metaphor and the metaphysical, often using humor and referencing art history while noticing the discrepancies between the sexes and regressive hierarchical structures. She started out in the Capilano Fine Arts Department in 1992 and did a couple of semesters in Japan at Hokkaido University of Art + Design before eventually making her way back to the west coast and graduating with a BFA from Emily Carr University in 2001. Her work has been included in the 2021 Gestalten publication The Art of Protest, Political Art + Activism. She’ll be included in the upcoming 2023 Phaidon publication Vitamin C+, their first comprehensive overview of collage. Zvonar is represented by Daniel Faria Gallery in Toronto and lives in Vancouver.
About the Bletcher Hour
Named after Lethbridge’s first librarian Hazel Bletcher, the Gallery’s critical reading group gathers once a month for open discussion. Readings explore key themes of the exhibitions and current events, with the intent to deepen our understanding of the artworks and their context within our community. Everyone is welcome to take part!