On Friday, March 3, 2023, the Fort Frances Museum & Cultural Centre opened the solo exhibit Passionate For Hyperrealism by internationally acclaimed artist Cher Pruys.
Located on the main floor of the Museum, the exhibit runs until May 31, 2023.
Passionate For Hyperrealism is an impressive and rich offering showcasing the wide range of Pruys’ talent and work.
The exhibit features eighty-four originals and one print of mostly newer work in Pruys’ award-winning hyper realistic style. There are an additional five originals in a sister-exhibit at the Fort Frances Public Library & Technology Centre.
While Pruys’ striking portraiture features many instantly recognizable local residents, the show offers a diversity of subjects that brings out the beauty and detail of aeronautical design, landscape, still life objects and the natural world.
Danielle Marshall, Curator Fort Frances Museum & Cultural Centre, said she is thrilled to work with Pruys as the museum’s new curator.
“Working collaboratively with Cher is a dream. To have such a renowned and accomplished artist of her calibre in the first art show for me as the new curator is beyond amazing,” said Marshall.
She also noted that the “Meet the Artist” event will take place on April 27 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the museum. “We’re thrilled to host an evening to meet Cher and talk about her work,” Marshall said.
Pruys was born in Regina. By age three, Cher was seldom found without a drawing tool in hand. She worked in pencil, charcoal and ink over the years, until, she picked up a paintbrush at the age of 35. Beginning with oil paints, she found her chosen mediums in acrylic, water color and gouache.
She has won 293 awards for her work in the International Juried Exhibits. Included in these awards, the first recipient of a major Canadian National Award, The Mary Pratt Crystal Award of Excellence at the 2014 SCA Open Juried Exhibition, The SCA 1st place award of distinction twice respectively, 2016, and 2017 at The Canada’s 150 show.
“Unlike many contemporary artists who choose to repeat themselves in subject matter, I find a strong desire to change my subjects continuously. I find excitement, beauty, and interest in everyday life, from crushed cans with their fantastic shine and reflective surface to a bag of apples ripe for tasting and glistening inside the plastic bag. To find beauty in seemingly trivial objects that are a part of our everyday lives is so rewarding,” said Pruys in an interview as the Art Tour International’s “Star of the Week.”
“My paintings of people, especially children, allow me to recapture childhood’s magic and express my innermost feelings in a nonverbal way. I aim to bring joy to my audience, as well as to help them find beauty in the most mundane of subjects. I want my art to evoke warm, happy, and hopeful feelings in my viewers,” she said.
The Fort Frances Museum & Cultural Centre is currently open to the public Monday to Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Following the May long weekend, Museum hours are Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm.
