>>PREVIEW
ANNEMARIE SCHMID-ESLER: THE ARTIST’S ODYSSEY
Runs until December 28
The Triangle Gallery
Walking into The Triangle Gallery to view The Artist’s Odyssey, an exhibition of ceramic works by Annmarie Schmid-Esler, is like taking a trip through the expressive potential of clay.
Where so often ceramic artists have confined themselves to the potter’s wheel shaping vessels, the Winnipeg-born, Calgary-based Schmid-Esler knew long ago that the medium of clay could be used for so much more.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Manitoba, Schmid-Esler then travelled throughout Europe studying for a time at the University of Munich before returning to Canada. She graduated from the Alberta College of Art in the 1960s, riding a wave of creative freedom that was overtaking the collective culture of the day.
Interestingly though, this maven of clay began her artistic experimentations rather timidly, beginning with plates. Of course, in keeping with the artist’s need to shrug off conventions, these are not plates that you would find on grandma’s supper table but rather plates with vibrant imagery and vivid metaphors attached.
Rose Plate #2 incorporates labelling from a package of clay in what is presumably Schmid-Esler’s homage to the material that she’s used for decades to unleash her creative impulses.
Another series is of tiny porcelain beds, which when they were made in the early 1970’s, caught the public’s fancy because of their whimsical construction. However, through the prism of time, the beds seem too precious for this bold experimenter.
Conventional wisdom on the work of Schmid-Esler often refers to the piece Odyssey, created in 1988, as her crowning achievement. Comprised of 14 separate pieces mounted on metal stands, there is undoubtedly a monumental quality to it.
It was in the early 1980s when Schmid-Esler unleashed her most potent realizations. This former social worker, whose artistic sensibilities seem to simmer with articulations about society’s shortcomings, is most at home when exploring her sombre side.
Her well-regarded Crow Series began after the artist purchased a crow decoy during a trip to a Seattle hardware store. The bird, later cast in clay, set Schmid-Esler off on a six-year exploration of this subject matter. Whether it is a single crow bound and sitting atop a teakettle or a murder of them, they are all sculptural sentinels silently watching over the passing scenes – black spirits that demonstrate the artist’s range of skills in bringing together porcelain work, hand-built clay and mixed media.
Unfortunately absent from this exhibition are representative pieces from Schmid-Esler’s Temple Series. These are brilliant examples of how cast clay sticks combined with tree branches can conjure something significant and timeless. Val Greenfield, curator of Schmid-Esler’s 1987 exhibition at the Alberta College of Art Gallery aptly compared the pieces to funeral pyres or conversely "primitive shelters."
Making up for the Temple omission is the inclusion of Tsusiat and Clutus, large clay cast geometric pieces that skip across the walls of the gallery emitting a coruscating energy inspired by a hiking trip to the West Coast.
For longtime Calgarians this exhibition will bring back fond memories of this artist’s varied career. For others it will be the first time experiencing these works. For all, The Artist’s Odyssey is a compelling argument for why artists should first master the traditions of their chosen media and then eschew those same traditions to create something fresh, unique and alive.
Schmid-Esler did not achieve this goal on every count, but when she succeeded, the clay in her hands was transformed into something magical. |
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