From the exhibition Louise, on display at Stride Gallery until October 6

If there was talk of an exhibition in Calgary featuring paintings of an aging yellow labrador retriever out for walks in Mount Royal, there — admittedly — might not be much of a buzz. However, that these works could be found at the Stride Gallery, known for showing art that sidesteps the mainstream, might come as a bit of a surprise. Enter Louise, an exhibition of paintings by Anne McKenzie. The initial feel of the show is simple and sentimental but, because it has been mounted at Stride, one expects more and, with patience, can find it.
    McKenzie has been a figure on the art scene in Calgary for many years. As a graduate of the Alberta College of Art Design (ACAD) in both painting and sculpture, and an active volunteer with many organizations and events, such as Artcity, the first surprising element of this show has to be that it is McKenzie’s first solo exhibition. Her dedication to painting and to art in general is evident upon entering the gallery, as is her devotion to her beloved dog, Louise, the star of the show.
    Interestingly, this could be the most difficult show Stride has presented in a while. No, there will be no protests, and you will not find any type of human bodily fluids on the walls. Instead, upon an initial walk around the room, one is struck with sentimentality, which can be a 14-letter, four-letter word in the art community. The majority of the paintings feature Louise the dog out for a peaceful walk in her neighbourhood. She sniffs, meanders and gets sidetracked, as dogs do. She has no leash but never strays far from the viewer, or the painter (the dog’s only chaperone), with the one-time exception of Frank the cat. Most of the paintings are set at dusk while the light is a mixture of the faded sun and determined streetlamps. Light, in all the works, is carefully rendered, especially in the smallest painting that features the dog wrapped in white Christmas lights. Overall, not too edgy, not too challenging.
    Now walk around again. On their second time through the places Louise is familiar with, the viewer has become familiar with them as well. Suddenly, what is most evident is the solitariness of the dog. She needs no restraint and seems content to make her own way, with the occasional glance back to ensure she is not entirely alone. Clearly, this is not a puppy, and even in the dim light, these are well-worn paths for Louise. In the moodier evening paintings, one gets the sense that she is saying her farewells to these little spots, her favourite tree, the car they would always pass. As a whole, this body of work speaks to the passage of time and how change is inevitable. Louise would not walk down these sidewalks forever, nor would this quiet neighbourhood remain so for long. Two paintings, dated 2007, are set in full sunlight and have less of the solitary, almost ominous, quality that the others have. As Louise walks down the sun-dappled sidewalks, she almost appears as if smiling.
    Noting this, a sequence appears in the exhibition if the room is traversed in a clockwise direction. There are eight beautifully lit evening paintings that cast a sombre note — any dog-lover’s heart begins to melt for this elderly creature (no doubt a cat person’s heart-strings could be pulled as well!). Then the series is broken by a relatively strange composition featuring our hero in the centre of the canvas on a flat beige background, entitled Lost. This work breaks the flow and makes way for the final two works that cast Louise with a perkier disposition in the sunshine, leaving behind the melancholy of the rest of the exhibition. In spite of this disjuncture, a tranquility and thoughtfulness pervades the room.
    Herein lies the aforementioned challenge. Will viewers be willing to invest their time in looking, really looking, at these paintings? Louise the dog has not walked the streets of Calgary for more than two years, but Louise the exhibition is far from a simple memorial for its namesake. The challenge in this exhibition is patience and persistence, to see that artwork does not need to look radical to be worth considering.