| December for many is a time of traditions, but Calgary’s galleries are putting a kink into the festivities by shrugging off conventions in favour of some new ways of looking at things.
To start off, there’s Siren(s) by P. Roch Smith, showing at Truck Gallery in the Grain Exchange Building until December 10. A deeply personal work, this installation by the Toronto-based artist recounts his experiences of family members who have died.
Nelson Henricks is known for throwing conventional approaches to creative expression out the window. In Nelson Henricks: Satellite, at The New Gallery until December 23, the artist presents a double-screen video installation that was first shown at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. With two tracks playing, one in French and one in English, Henricks explores how our senses interpret information. A graduate of Alberta College of Art and Design, Henricks was recently presented with the college’s 2005 Board of Governors’ Alumni Award of Excellence.
At Art Central, Gallery 113 is hosting Centrifuge, new works from artists Linda Red Hawk (paintings), Brian Pawlak (bronze sculpture) and Sandra Neill (mixed-media works) until December 10, while Quab Gallery showcases Yvon Goulet: Tribulations of an Obsolete T-room Queen. A visual historian, painter Goulet works in Montreal, searching for artifacts from that city’s gay village. The result is work that, according to a Quab release, "enables him to document and record the daily (and shared) experiences of gay men, featuring the male body as an active participant within the gay community." Both Centrifuge and the Goulet show open on Thursday, December 1.
Cape Dorset artist Napachie Pootoogook has a reputation for challenging her community’s views. Her exhibition of 69 drawings, on display in the Nickle Arts Museum at the University of Calgary until January 28, focuses on the artist’s early life growing up in camps on South Baffin Island. Spousal abuse, forced marriage and spiritual awakenings are among the controversial topics that Pootoogook explores through the eyes of an Inuit woman.
Graffiti is another topic that always causes a minor ruckus when it’s discussed. Is it art or a crime? You decide by visiting the Art Gallery of Calgary on Stephen Avenue, where the exhibition Painting Under Pressure: A Look at Graffiti runs from December 10 until May 21, 2006. According to an AGC release, the show "explores graffiti's origins and history, examines graffiti and its place in contemporary popular culture (particularly hip hop), and investigates stereotypes and misconceptions around graffiti. It introduces visitors to graffiti language and culture, and discusses graffiti styles, genres and schools." Crum, Kido and Bugs are among the graffiti artists who have come off the streets to present work inside the gallery’s safe confines.
Dale Kirschenman also uses a spray can – in his work as a hairstylist. Now trading in his hairspray for a paintbrush, this skilled colourist shows off his landscapes in an exhibition entitled New Works at Harrison Galleries until December 15.
Herringer Kiss Gallery presents White Noise, an exhibition of paintings by Ken Webb until December 23. The show is inspired by the sound used to mask other sounds. Starting off with digital files, Webb creates paintings that demand to be heard.
Newzones Gallery, meanwhile, features Missives, the photo-realist paintings of Don Pollack, and the Blue River Series from Don Maynard. An installation comprised of 90 works on paper, Maynard’s work is described by Newzones as "an exploration of the relationship between human consciousness and the movement of water."
Trépanier Baer Gallery has new works by Ryan Sluggett in an exhibition called Monsters and Their Niches. A graduate of ACAD, the 24-year-old Sluggett casts out his wit in pictures with titles such as Argument in a Sociopolitical Manner.
Skew Gallery shows us another use for carpet underlay with an exhibition of new works from Brian Flynn until January 7. Guided by his connections with Ireland, Flynn creates pieces from underlay that are linked to the Emerald Isle’s past "Troubles." Flynn has created heartfelt, often personal art from a material that we usually only pay attention to when we have to replace our carpets.
Local artist-photographer George Webber was most recently in the public eye for his black-and-white photographs of the Little Bow Hutterite Colony. Now Webber shows off his colour photography in an exhibition of 36 works entitled Alberta/Colour – The Photography of George Webber 1978- 2001. It’s at the McDougall Centre until September 2006. Not only a talented photographer but also a serious student of the medium, Webber pays homage to legendary American photographers Stephen Shore and William Eggleston in these fragments of Alberta. |
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