23 Aug Jane Kansas looks back 50 years, and forward to eternity

Halifax filmmaker Andrea Dorfman made Lost and Found, the short movie below about Halifax artist and writer Jane Kansas, in 2008. I somehow missed it until this morning, when someone posted it on Facebook.

That’s timely, because Kansas’s one-woman exhibit, “Kansas: Fifty Year Retrospective,” opens tonight (Aug. 23) at (((Parentheses))) Gallery, 2168 Gottingen St. The exhibit is sure to be head-shakingly funny, arresting, insightful, and touching. Kansas is one of the most original and talented artists in Nova Scotia. When I featured excerpts from the travel blog of her solo walk across the continental US on Contrarian.ca (here and here), I wrote:

What Nova Scotia journalist writes this well? Harry Thurston, maybe? Silver Donald Cameron on his best days? Harry Bruce? None of these have Jane’s knack for quirky insights combined with raw self-exposure.

Tonight’s opening, 7-9 pm, features a rare public appearance by artist, who is not fond of crowds or spotlights. The exhibit will stay up until September 14.

Kansas’s play, “My Funeral: the dry run,” featuring Jane along with mourners Jackie Torrens, Hugo Dann, Tara Thorne, Jane Wright, and Lis van Berkel, opens Aug. 29 at (((Parentheses))), and runs through Sept. 6.

Lost and Found (2008) from Andrea Dorfman on Vimeo. Dorfman may be best known for her viral video, How to be Alone, 6.8 million views.