How many times have we heard or said, “I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like.”

An exhibit that explores this topic opens at the Kamloops Art Gallery Saturday, October 15.

“We all respond differently to works of art. Sometimes artworks seem relatively easy to understand: we ‘get’ their meaning or feel their impact right away. Other artworks seem designed to confound us, to challenge us as viewers,” said Dr. Will Garrett-Petts, a Thompson Rivers University professor and researcher who is co-curating, along with TRU colleague Dr. Rachel Nash, an exhibition called Proximities: Artists’ Statements and Their Works, opening this Saturday at 7:30 pm.

So, does an ‘artist’s statement’ help?

“When we enter a gallery space, we have choices to make,” said Garrett-Petts. “Some head directly to the artworks, letting them speak for themselves. Others habitually read the titles first-and still others look to the artists’ written statements, even before viewing the works. The words, whether they are read before or after looking closely at the individual artworks, provide us with a context for viewing.

“Proximities explores what happens when artists’ words and images work together, or collide and contradict.”

But, should art lovers search for deeper meaning, or just let everything flow?

“According to some artists and critics, the search for meaning can get in the way of our authentic or “gut” response; as Archibald MacLeish once said of poetry, art ?should not mean but be.? For most of us, however, understanding an artwork’s meaning is part of the pleasure of going to galleries,” he explained.

Gallery-goers will have the chance to hear what artists themselves say about artist’s statements.

“What artists say or write about their own works is inherently interesting. Their words, their statements, provide us with unique insights into their practices. For working artists, the opportunity to speak and write about their art is part opportunity and part obligation,” said Garrett-Petts.

On Sunday at 1:00 pm, artists Donald Lawrence and Ashok Mathur of TRU, along with Stephan Kurr (Germany), Paula Levine (San Francisco), KristiMalakoff (Vancouver), Jan Peacock (Halifax), Brenda Pelkey (Windsor), Brigitte Radecki (Montreal), and Sandra Semchuk (Vancouver), will discuss issues around artist’s statements at a panel presentation to be held at the Kamloops Art Gallery.

Both the Saturday opening reception and Sunday panel presentation are open to all.

For more information, please contact Dr. Will Garrett-Petts at 250-828-5248 or email.