January 25, 2009
Halifax, NS - The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Western Branch regrets that due to circumstances outside its control, the exhibition Suzanne Swannie: Danish Modern has been cancelled. The exhibition, originally scheduled to open on February 5th has been mounted and circulated by the Mount Saint Vincent Art Gallery and curated by MSVU Art Gallery director Ingrid Jenkner. AGNS invites you to visit its web-site for updates on programming at its Western Branch.

Suzanne Swannie is a Halifax-based designer and weaver who creates functional textiles, tapestries and large architectural installations for private and public environments. She also weaves pictorial tapestries and is known for unique fabric constructions such as the gallery installation Repassage. Both the woven works and the constructions display the “Danish Modern” principle of repetition of modular units as a means of generating surfaces and structures with a typical emphasis on rich colour harmonies.

Swannie’s integrated sensibility - the legacy of her Scandinavian training - allows her to move adroitly between industry, craft and the art world, gaining from each, apologizing to none. The retrospective selection includes tapestry works from the 1970s; pieced and appliqueed wall textiles created in collaboration with the Mi’kmaq women of Eskasoni Reserve (1977-1980); production household textiles (1980s); the creased-silk installation Repassage (1986); subsequent tapestry carpets and their paper studies (1990s, 2000s); and the major figurative tapestry triptych completed in 2007.

The exhibition is organized by the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery. The accompanying catalogue contains essays by Sheila Stevenson, Halifax, Rachel Gotlieb, Toronto and Ron Shuebrook, Guelph. Support from the Canada Council for the Arts and Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture & Heritage is gratefully acknowledged.

For further information on AGNS Western Branch Programming, please contact:

Bernard Doucet, Director of Development

gov.ns.ca (902) 424-0073

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia,
1723 Hollis Street, Halifax, NS B3J 3C8

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About Suzanne Swannie

Ms. Swannie's work has been featured in numerous North American exhibitions including the prestigious international exhibition Design (1984) held at Philadelphia Museum of Art. Other notable exhibitions include Why Bother?, Textile Museum of Canada (Toronto), Ground Cover, DalTech Exhibition and Resource Centre (Halifax), and Shifting Ground, MSVU Art Gallery (Halifax). Ms. Swannie has been the recipient of several awards including grants from The Canada Council for the Arts (2000) and Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture & Heritage (2007). Her work is represented in provincial, national and private collections, including Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Mount Saint Vincent University, Government of Newfoundland & Labrador, and Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council.

 Suzanne Swannie holds a Danish hand weavers Journeyman's certificate, a degree in Textile Design and Technology from Textilinstitutet (Sweden) and a Master of Fine Arts from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Halifax).  Suzanne Swannie works out of her studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia.