Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works
Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works
“The struggle to realize and to express my nature is my life’s meaning.”
—Erica Rutherford
This nationally touring exhibition explores the rich and multifaceted career of PEI’s Erica Rutherford (1923–2008), a painter, writer, and performer whose work reflects a lifelong engagement with identity, gender, and belonging. Presenting a survey of artworks alongside personal photographs and memorabilia, the exhibition offers an intimate look at an artist whose life and practice were marked by transformation, resilience, and creativity.
Rutherford’s experience of transitioning and living across the gender binary deeply informed her art. Drawing on the bold colours and graphic style of Pop Art, she examined how identity is shaped, performed, and perceived. Her background in theatre is evident in stylized figures, dark humour, and a sense of visual drama that runs through her work. Together, these elements reveal an artist attuned to the complexities of selfhood and society—one whose legacy continues to resonate.
This exhibition is organized and circulated by Confederation Centre Art Gallery in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada.
Publication
Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works accompanies a career-spanning retrospective exhibition of this multidisciplinary Canadian artist and transgender pioneer. This remarkable retrospective includes reproductions of more than 65 paintings, prints, and drawings, as well as personal photographs. An interview with Rutherford’s widow, artist Gail Rutherford, accompanies critical essays by scholars and curators examining Rutherford’s stylistic evolution from dark semi-abstract collages to hard-edged Pop Art.
Published by Goose Lane Editions with Confederation Centre Art Gallery
Purchase a copy online
Accessibility
This exhibition is located on the main-floor. The stairs to the Owens from the entrance nearest the University Chapel have a handrail. There is also ramp access at this entrance, however, the ramp is steep. The stairs to the Owens entrance off York Street also have a handrail, but there is no ramp. The main floor of the Owens is wheelchair accessible. Our second-floor gallery is not wheelchair accessible. Two flights of stairs lead to the second floor. Find more information at owensartgallery.com/visit/accessibility/
Top Image: Erica Rutherford, The Reunion, Human Comey Series, 1997, oil on canvas, 144 x 154 cm, Collection of the Rutherford Family, Prince Edward Island. ©Estate of Erica Rutherford.
