Review
MIGRATIONS IN THE THIRD DIMENSION:
Tradition and Innovation in Canada and the Cyclades
Curated by Dr. Caterina Pizanias
Runs until January 25
Triangle Gallery
(104, 800 Macleod Trail S.E.)
There’s a ghost hanging around Triangle Gallery right now and its most recent exhibition, Migrations in the Third Dimension: Tradition and Innovation in Canada and the Cyclades.
What was originally an exhibition designed to dovetail with the hoopla surrounding the Summer Olympics in Greece has evolved into a tribute to an Alberta artist and educator.
The idea for the exhibition was to showcase the works of Canadian and Tiniot sculptors. In October 2004, the pieces were exhibited on the island of Tinos (off the shores of Greece) and now are on display in Calgary, where the exhibition runs at Triangle until January 25, 2005.
The Alberta contingent of artists who contributed pieces of sculpture includes Isla Burns, Honsun Chu, Katie Ohe and Reinhard Skoracki, as well as Ray Arnatt, who died on July 3, 2004 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The Tinos portion of the exhibition went ahead as planned and, from most reports, the event was a great success with a commingling of artists and ideas on the Greek island famous for its marble.
And now in Calgary the exhibition continues as scheduled. Yet, no matter how hard you try to leave the idea behind that this is a tribute to the late Arnatt, it sticks.
Arnatt’s work, words and presence fill the gallery. One piece on display, The Unswept Floor, is part of a larger installation that I first viewed when it was included in a faculty exhibition in January 2004 at the Nickle Museum on the University of Calgary campus. (Arnatt was a professor of art at the U of C beginning in 1981.)
In that show, Arnatt included his Rhyparography Awards. Rhyparography (painting or writing about sordid or depressing things) was his way of commenting about the sad state of support given visual arts at the U of C. Arnatt commented in text accompanying his installation on how the administration had not included the words "visual arts" in their 2003 master plan for the institution.
It seems the university is always ready to share in the glory when one of its professors snags an important award or garners some positive media attention, but forgets that artists in development require steadfast commitment at the beginning of their careers – something that Arnatt knew and fought for throughout his career.
I only met Arnatt once, at the gallery that is today the host of his (unofficial) tribute. He was speaking to a group of high school students about spatial relationships and specifically his interest in binaries. The group was engaged by Arnatt’s enthusiasm about the topic and intrigued by his work, which included an expensive piece of sculpture situated together with something that was worthless.
It was a moment when I realized that some of the most relevant arts education in our city doesn’t take place in the classroom but in our galleries, when the public has the opportunity to meet and talk to artists such as Arnatt. He was an individual who lived a life of art and who, even in death, continues to have something important to say. |
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.