WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE?
What's Your Favourite...?
Curator and CAA member Ray Cronin talks Canadian artists, great galleries and the secret to his signature style.
By Nicole Keen
AS AN ART WRITER, magazine editor, curator and former CEO and director of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax, Ray Cronin has worn many hats over the course of his decades-long career. In his new role as curator of Canadian art at Fredericton’s Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Cronin relishes the chance to work with the gallery’s 5,000-plus works — a task he likens to “running a candy store.”
PHOTO: STEVE FARMER
A selection of masterworks from Beaverbrook’s permanent collection on display. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF BEAVERBROOK ART GALLERY
What’s your favourite piece in the gallery at the moment? I was able to acquire quite a major painting by a First Nations artist from B.C. named Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. To bring the first example of his work to a permanent collection in Atlantic Canada was really satisfying and I go look at it regularly.
Are there any other art galleries in the world that inspire you? I love the Tate Modern in London. When I was working in Nova Scotia, I was one of the people who started the Sobey Art Award, and we modelled it in part on the Turner Prize and the Tate. I also like smaller galleries. The size or famous names don’t always determine the innovation or the interesting things being done.
Why is the arts scene in the Maritimes so special? It’s such a resilient community here. There’s always been an attitude of roll up your sleeves, get it done, make things happen.
You’re the former editor, and current publisher, of Billie magazine, which focuses on visual artists in Atlantic Canada. What other periodicals do you read? In terms of art, my favourite is Border Crossings out of Winnipeg.
You always seem to be wearing cool glasses. Do you have a favourite optician? The ones I’m wearing now are from Zenni Optical online — they were less than a hundred dollars! When I was living in Halifax, there was a wonderful optician named Gaudet Optical, which is where I got hooked on bolder frames.
When you think of underrated Canadian artists, who comes to mind? Colleen Wolstenholme. She did a series of works where she was making sculptures of anti-depressant pills. We’ll be opening a career retrospective of her work next year and I think it’s going to blow people’s minds. CAA
“I also like smaller galleries. The size or famous names don’t always determine the innovation or the interesting things being done.”
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Tate Modern houses Britain’s largest collection of international modern and contemporary art; Gaudet Optical specializes in bold and unusual frames. | PHOTOS: MICHAEL TING/ADOBE STOCK; COURTESY OF GAUDET OPTICAL
AS AN ART WRITER, magazine editor, curator and former CEO and director of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax, Ray Cronin has worn many hats over the course of his decades-long career. In his new role as curator of Canadian art at Fredericton’s Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Cronin relishes the chance to work with the gallery’s 5,000-plus works — a task he likens to “running a candy store.”
PHOTO: STEVE FARMER
