Bruce Grenville & Alice Mackenzie of Grenville + Fille

Ann Newdigate, Sentences: Fanakalo and the Vanishing Signs, 1993. Cotton warp, Mixed Media, weft: silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic blends 167.64 x 137.15 cm and Ann Newdigate, Sentences: She had never touched a camera before, 1986. Cotton warp. Mixed media, weft: silk, linen, wool, synthetic blends 198.12 x 198.12 cm. Photography by Byron Dauncey.

Bruce Grenville is a researcher and art consultant based in Vancouver. Together with Alice MacKenzie he formed the art consultancy Grenville + Fille in 2023. Prior to that he spent 30+ years as a senior curator at Vancouver Art Gallery, the Edmonton Art Gallery, and the Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon. Alice MacKenzie is an art consultant, multi-disciplinary artist, and co-founder of BAD ART, a radical approach to creativity and accessibility.

Grenville notes, “The goal of our residency is to support research and documentation of the art and practice of Ann Newdigate (b. 1934, Makahanda, South Africa; d. 2023, Hornby Island, Canada). The study of artistic legacies is a crucial curatorial activity with the goal of documenting and preserving the complexity and diversity of artistic production across a lifetime in all cultures. Ann Newdigate was recognized for her large and small tapestry works, mixed media installations and works on paper. Her art resonates deeply with themes such as anti-apartheid histories, the global impact of colonialism, the emergence of second wave feminism, the persistence of regionalist voices, and the significance of material practices and aesthetics.”