Valerie Cooper, the longtime president and CEO of the Art Gallery of Calgary is no longer with the organization despite having another year left on her five-year contract.

A brief note on the front of the Herald entertainment section this weekend didn't offer any additional information, nor did Brian Hearst, managing director of the gallery, this afternoon.

All Hearst would say about Cooper's departure is that there is no further information on the reason, there likely won't be additional information on the reason and that the gallery will begin searching for a replacement soon.

Judging from the last statement, the only clear thing is that the departure, whether it was the board's decision to remove Cooper or whether she … Read More

The Calgary Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), formerly known as the Triangle Gallery, is getting a double dose of artistic excellence from its two latest exhibitions.

The first is Calgary Modern, curated by Jeffery Spalding, artistic director of MOCA. The exhibition brings together a collective of works from the post-Second World War era from private and corporate collections.

Sound like a familiar concept? It should. Spalding also guest curated … Read More

Stoneworx Gallery is bringing artist Nina Ziggy Hazdic for its first Artist Residency. Hazdic was born in Banja Luka and is now a resident of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Hazdic experiments with caricature, at first producing portraits for friends but soon her hobby became an art as she became soemwhat famous online for her style. Her digital drawing and twist on the portrait sets her apart.

Calgarians can meet the artist on the first Thursday of November and December at the gallery.

As an unmistakable optimist who takes pleasure in the little things, Fela Dales’ “colourful” personality certainly shows through in her work as a professional photographer. With that, it’s no surprise that the name of her first solo exhibition is Vida en Color, which translates to “Life in Colour.”

Until October 29, Dales’ unique observations of the world that surrounds us will be on display at Café Koi. Alongside intricate photos of nature and landscapes is a … Read More

The Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts will now be known as the Museum of Contemporary Art Calgary (MOCA), according to the recently appointed artistic director Jeffrey Spalding.

Spalding believes the new name, already in effect, will bring with it a new focus of collecting contemporary art and will create a new culture around the museum, which was known as Triangle Gallery for almost 25 years.

The name change is part of a bigger initiative for the gallery, which is seeking to build a partnership with the city. The gallery plans to expand their space and are trying to open a satellite space open by January.

Met Eno yesterday. That was a pretty big deal for me.

A great speaker, even to the small dozen-or-so media folks our group was. Well-spoken, humble and almost a bit shy. And no, he didn't talk about U2 or Coldplay. He's here for his visual art piece, 77 Million Paintings.

The piece is one of a kind, an ever-shifting palette of colours, patterns, and images. It's a thing of quiet beauty, something my cell phone camera can't nearly do justice.

He's giving a public talk tonight, and, amazingly, tickets are still available. What are you waiting for?

Look for more in next week's FFWD...

PS The backside of that head, to the left of the first picture, belongs to none other than former FFWD editor, Drew Anderson. Happy Swerve-ing, good sir.

I love my job as the arts and lifestyle editor of Fast Forward Weekly. I get to interact with interesting people, go out to view interesting work and be in the middle of an exciting time in Calgary's cultural history (OK, you could argue that point, but I'd win).

One thing that drives me crazy, though, is the description of many art exhibitions, with titles that don't really help. I get a press release and I'm left wondering what will be in the show. What medium does the artist work in? Is this a performance, a sculptural installation or what? And just what is Post-Colonial Reverberation? (I made that one up, but you can use it if you want).

As for the titles of exhibitions, I found this service for curators and gallery directors to save time in this era … Read More

On Saturday, Calgary lost an important part of its cultural fabric. Over the weekend, Jasmine Herron was killed by a bus while riding her bike in Brooklyn. It's a sad and far-too-early end for a woman who was just getting started at the age of 23.

Jasmine, who wrote for this paper under the name Jasmine Valentina, was living in Brooklyn after attending the Alberta College of Art and Design. She was an energetic, funny and creative force during her time in Calgary and worked briefly as an intern at Fast Forward Weekly.

On her Facebook page, she described her occasional writing: "Whenever I feel so inclined, I criticize people and the things they make (and get paid to do it!)"

But Jasmine was more than that. Equal parts awkward, engaging … Read More

Last Saturday "The Baroque World of Fernando Botero" went on display at the Glenbow Museum. Though there are an infinite amount of reasons to put forth the effort to see this exhibit, here are three:

-This is the first retrospective exhibition of Botero's work since 1974.

-The Glenbow is the only Western Canadian venue to display it, and only two other venues in Canada will have it.

-His work is, straight up, fucking fantastic.

The exhibit consists of 100 pieces of Botero's work, broken down into 87 paintings, drawings and watercolours, 10 small sculptures and three large sculptures. On top of all that, you're still able to view the permanent displays at the Glenbow.

Though you have until November 14 to take all this in I suggest you see it … Read More

Hundreds of people came out on August 21 to see London England's Creatmosphere lighting studio float 500 luminescent ballons down the Bow River as part of Celebration of the Bow, an ongoing Calgary public art program.

If you missed it, here's a sample.