| This time of year is often referred to as the "season of colour." And in Calgary that isn’t strictly in reference to the leaves on the trees. The galleries, streets and even theatres are full of visual art and discussion about the creative process.
The first solo exhibition by Calgary-based artist Carl White is at Artfirm (lower level, 1435 - 9 Ave. S.E.) until October 8. "Working in a wide variety of media, White's pursuit of truth through the surrender of expectations or prescribed channels results in a refreshing and ever changing artistic expression," says Artfirm’s Donna Chyz in an e-mail statement.
At The Banff Centre, the winning entries in the 10th Banff Mountain Photography Competition are now on display. The winner of the grand prize is Mead Norton of New Zealand for his photo "Prayer Offerings on the Shore of Namtso Lake, Tibet." "Each year, thousands of pilgrims from Tibet, China and other countries make the long journey to (Namtso Lake) in order to pray to Buddha and leave offerings of katas – white silk scarves – and strings of prayer flags along its shore," says Norton. "They believe that as the wind unravels their offerings their prayers are released into the heavens. I spent four days camped on the shore of the lake and captured this image one day as the sun was setting."
Robert Semeniuk is another award-winning photographer who has travelled the world in search of compelling images. His latest body of work is called The San: AIDS and Dislocation – a Moving Visual Journey of the San People of the Kalahari Desert. It’s on display until October 22 at PhotoSpace Gallery, which now has a new location (1403A- 9 Ave. S.E.) in Inglewood.
On display until October 7 at the University of Calgary’s Little Gallery is Derek Beaulieu’s The Newspaper. This work is comprised of 124 full-sized painted reproductions of every page of the July 18, 2002 issue of the Calgary Herald. Beaulieu’s series explores how the presentation of information affects how we read "the news."
This year marks the third Mountain Standard Time Performative Art Festival (M:ST 3) and it just keeps getting bigger and better. This time the biennial event stretches out to include Banff and Lethbridge – a smart move by the organizers, considering that some of Alberta’s most innovative art (and ideas about art) is emanating from those two centres.
According to festival co-ordinator Renato Vitic, one of the highlights promises to be performances by the Nihilist Spasm Band. These progenitors of the No Music Festival are currently touring Western Canada and will be playing both at the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers and at Lethbridge’s Tongue and Groove. Also of note, Brazilian-based artist Cinthia Marcelle will be presenting her chaotic outdoor concert work, UNUS MUNDUS. Other festival works include the outdoor audio installation by local artists Ian Birse and Laura Kavanaugh, and the world tour of musical improvisers Scum de terre.
M:ST 3 runs from October 7 to 31. For a full schedule of events, go to www.mstfestival.org.
Poetry and Perception, a show featuring work by Tom Thomson and James Wilson Morrice, runs now through December 10 at the Nickle Arts Museum. Tied into a fall series to mark Alberta’s centennial, called Sense of Place, this exhibition features more than 40 oil sketches by Thomson and Morrice.
For another perspective on the former artist – in particular, his mysterious death – watch Dark Pines: A Documentary Investigation Into the Death of Tom Thomson. The film about the Canadian art icon airs on the Bravo! cable channel on October 23.
If you want to catch some work from icons in the making, check out the Burnt Toast Studio. This "crusty" collective of former Alberta College of Art and Design printmaking students is showing what they can do at Artspace (next to the Crossroads Farmers’ Market) throughout the month of October.
And yes, it’s only painting but he likes it, likes it, yes he does. To coincide with the Rolling Stones’ appearance at the Saddledome this month, Vertigo Theatre in the Tower Centre is hosting a selection of Ronnie Wood’s paintings and silkscreens until October 27. |
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