The opening reception for a new exhibit celebrating the works of sculpturist Peter Soehn will be held Friday, July 14, 6 to 8 p.m., at the Lake Country Art Gallery.
The exhibit runs July 14 to Aug. 26.
You wonÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™t find much about Soehn on the Internet, aside from the occasional credit on a roadside attractions website, or as the creator of some bizarre Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥œworldÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s largest sculptureÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥œ in Western Canada.
In a time before digital posts occupied our lives, we spent time outside, visiting petting zoos, waterslides, theme parks and fruit stands.
In Furbish: Remnant Themes of Post-Amusement, artist Scott August explores what little remains of SoehnÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s unrecognized legacy, from unearthing a buried 1970s Billboard, to posthumously documenting the artistÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s mind-boggling studio.
All that remains of SoehnÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s efforts are fading family photographs, unfinished sculptures and dust-covered memories.
Born in Saskatchewan in 1933, Soehn not only created characters of rural life, he himself was exactly that.
Soehn worked as a television prop builder and on-camera painting instructor in Alberta and in Kelowna at CHBC during the 1960s and Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™70s.
In the Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™80s, his family created ambitious folk-art sculptures and theme-parks for the amusement of others, from the demolished Kelowna Zoo to the redeveloped Old MacDonaldÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Farm. But today, very little remains of his work in the Okanagan.
August is a Kelowna-born artist working between the Okanagan and Vancouver, he has been actively photographing and collecting what remains of the SoehnÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s attractions.
August has previously exhibited at the Kelowna Art Gallery, the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, VictoriaÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s 50/50 Gallery, VancouverÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Interurban Gallery, and abroad at Pop Montreal Arts Festival and ChicagoÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Three Walls Gallery.