Pnina Granirer: Portrait of an Artist

Born in Romania, Pnina Granirer later moved to Israel and studied at the Bezalel Academy of Art in Jerusalem, Israel. After some time spent in the United States, she and her husband came to Canada in 1965. Granirer has lived and worked in Vancouver since the 1960s.

Her travels to France, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, and Mexico inspired several series of works, including the Alhambra Series and the Kyoto Suite. Granirer has shown her work locally, nationally and internationally and it may be found in numerous private, corporate and public collections.

In 1989 she published the Trials of Eve, a book based on a series of works by the same name. A film, The Trials of Eve by Gretchen Jordan-Bastow, was launched in 1990 at the Pacific Cinemateque in Vancouver and later shown at the UNESCO International Art Film Festival, Paris.

In 1998 the artist had a 40-year retrospective at the Richmond Art Gallery. For the occasion, Pnina Granirer: Portrait of an Artist, a lavishly illustrated book written by former Vancouver Art Gallery curator Ted Lindberg, was published by Ronsdale Press. More information can be found below.

The Dancers Suite is one of Granirer's most important bodies of work. The mixed-media works capture dancers from Ballet BC in charcoal and pastels. The work was shown in three separate exhibitions that included installations using mylar transparencies and featured live dance performances.

In 1993, together with artist friend Anne Adams, Granirer initiated Artists in our Midst which allowed members of the public to visit several West Side artists in their homes and studios. Artists in our Midst has become a successful annual community-oriented open studios event in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event now involves more than 70 artists living and working on the West Side of Vancouver.

Since 2003 Granirer has showed extensively in International Group exhibitions in Europe, South America and Israel.