The other show, in the West Gallery of Equinox, featured Al McWilliams: Stone Drawings.

At the entrance we saw exactly that, a stone drawing. A large flat piece of marble has been cut with curving drawing lines into interlocking sections. Once inside the gallery space we found a long row of what looks like squished clay lumps, displayed at waist height. Ron Vallis explained to me that a similar lump of plasticene in McWilliams studio was the inspiration for this collection of drawings. Several of these shapes have actually been cast in aluminum so are far from the malleable squishy material they resemble.

On the walls are ‘drawings’ which are layers of papers with stained edges as the pencil line. They depict the lumps. Other drawings are more marble assemblages.

The monochrome series is quite striking and in my mind, rather effective. This show also drew a large crowd. It makes for a fun afternoon to be able to see two fine shows in one location, especially on a rainy, short, Vancouver January afternoon.