| Go undercover this month to explore the scattering of art spaces hiding in and around the city. These independent artist projects and renegade gallery spaces may be small or hard to find, but this is their particular charm. Read on for tips about where to look.
Walking down the 17th Avenue S.W. stroll near Seventh Street, you may have come across a discreet window that seems out of sorts with the surrounding standard displays of product. More than a simple window display, it houses Office, a working space for the United Congress collective. The space allows the group to create, display and send information that they feel the public needs to know. It also allows the opportunity to witness artistic activity in progress.
For a mini-gallery tour in an unexpected spot, try the plus-15 windows of the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts. Calgary’s three artist-run centres – Stride, Truck and The New Gallery – show emerging and local artists’ projects in the windows, opening on Thursday, March 18 at 8 p.m. with Sarah Adams, Adrienne Jenkins, Jason DeHaan and others.
The revitalized Untitled Art Society is holding a reception for Portraits, by local artist and studio member Isabel Hlede, on Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. The night’s festivities include special performances by Ordinary John and the president of indie rock himself, Wax Mannequin. Definitely off the beaten path, the Untitled Art Society is accessed through an entrance in the alley behind Cannery Row on Fourth Street and 11th Avenue S.W.
Similarly, head down the back lane on First Street between 10th and 11th Avenues S.W., where the Sugar Estate emerges from its winter hibernation on March 20 for the presentation of Old Man, a group exhibition featuring work by local art stars such as Mikolas Ales, Josef Strahovski, John Will, John Freebury, Olim Yhuold, Don Mabie, Brian Batista, Chris Cran, Ivan Bender, Colin Kennedy, Ryan Statz, Friedrich Hunter, Keith Dalgleish, Vladimir Holik, Kelley Hughes, Jan Paulus Maly and more. |
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