A decade from now, 2020 will be the year that West Vancouver-based hyperrealist artist Ann Goldberg remembers as the year she launched an exhibition during a pandemic. Booked well in advance, the mouthwatering pieces for Cake: A Modern Marie Antoinette were well on their way to being created, and no roadblocks were going to stop this professional artist.
Showing at the Pendulum Gallery, HSBC
While the Cake exhibition debuted during the pandemic at the Pendulum Gallery, Goldberg was not about to let this delicious exhibit be ignored. “I wasn’t sure the exhibition would happen as I watched the COVID-19 numbers rise, but the gallery curator Chris Keatley assured me we would find a way to make it happen.”
Ultimately, the exhibition space worked exceptionally well during the pandemic, with the gallery’s large open space viewable to the public 24-hours a day. Visitors were able to mask-up, enter, and enjoy the space comfortably and then cross West Georgia to the historic and prestigious Vancouver Art Gallery Cafe for a late lunch.
Ann Goldberg: An Artist for All Seasons
Ann is a career artist who is professionally represented by Calgary’s Gibson Art Gallery. Her focus lies entirely on finding the most striking version of everyday objects around her, especially observing and translating the importance of light on the focused item.
She practices hyperrealism by taking hundreds of high-resolution digital photographs, then edits and selects the best for aspects like vivid colours or a particularly striking beam of light. The final oil painting becomes so bolder than real life, or “a handmade reproduction of something that has been reproduced mechanically,” she explains.
The Making of Cake: A Modern Marie Antoinette
Goldberg’s artistic style is influenced by her educational background. Before committing to art full-time, she achieved a degree in mathematics and fine arts and then studied and practiced as an architect in Vancouver for ten years. From these precision-focused disciplines comes an artistic exactness that captures qualities that might otherwise be brushed aside with a single stroke.
A Centrepiece of Floral Perfection
At the centre of this exhibition is a marvellous interpretation of Marie Antoinette, which took six months to complete. A commissioned piece, the portrait is presented in the Dutch Baroque style and is lush with blooms, from wildflowers to ornamental cabbage, butterflies that flutter about the skirting, and a modern-day Marie at the centre complete with long flowing highlighted locks, lipstick, and manicured nails.
An International Bio
Ann served on the board of Arts Umbrella for 5 years. She taught art and architecture at Arts Umbrella and was the artist in residence at West Point Grey Academy.
Ann’s work has been exhibited in over a dozen solo and group shows. Notably, Ann worked with the Bruce Lurie Gallery in Los Angeles and was seen as part of their presence at the Art Hamptons Fair in New York. Ann was also featured in the Photorealism group show in Zaragoza, Spain associated with the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona.
Author Profile
- Helen Siwak is the founder of EcoLuxLuv Marketing & Communications Inc and publisher of Folio.YVR Luxury Lifestyle Magazine and digital women's lifestyle magazine EcoLuxLifestyle.co. She is a prolific content creator, consultant, and marketing and media strategist within the ecoluxury lifestyle niche. Post-pandemic, she has worked with many small to mid-sized plant-based/vegan brands to build their digital foundations and strategize content creation and business development. Helen is the west coast correspondent to Canada’s top-read industry magazine Retail-Insider, holds a vast freelance portfolio, and consults with many of the world’s luxury heritage brands. Always seeking new opportunities and challenges, you can email her at [email protected].
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