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Current Exhibit: September 15 to October 29, 2005

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Beyond Emma Lake examines various aspects and directions of the visual arts in Alberta and Saskatchewan from the 1950's to our contemporary era, often referred to as the postmodern period. Aspects of a regionalism, gender, and a cultural identity along with aboriginal, social, political and ecological issues are also examined in the context of exhibiting works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The art scene in Alberta and Saskatchewan has never been as varied and exciting as it is today. Painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, film, photography, performance, video, laser and computer art - the contemporary artists of both provinces are exploring and exhibiting the possibilities of all these media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exhibition pays homage to the forceful, penetrating voices that have shaped the conception and practice of visual culture in Alberta and Saskatchewan, elevating their creative output to national and international prominence.

Beyond Emma Lake:
Contemporary Art of Alberta and Saskatchewan

Special Art Exhibition Program Celebrating the Centennials of Alberta and Saskatchewan

Organized for 2005 ArtCity Calgary International Festival of Visual Arts Architecture & Design

Works from the art collections of the Saskatchewan Arts Board, Nickle Arts Museum, Red Deer College, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, The New Gallery, EM Media Gallery, Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, Skew Gallery, Virginia Christopher Fine Art Gallery, Wallace Galleries Ltd. and private collections

Beyond Emma Lake:
Contemporary Art of Alberta and Saskatchewan
Emergence of the Contemporary Era in the Art of Alberta and Saskatchewan

Alberta and Saskatchewan have always attracted a number of visual artists and provided them with plenty of stimuli. Compared to other Canadian regions, these provinces have relatively young artistic communities, however, over the past eight decades they have grown significantly with the development of various academic art institutions, public art galleries, artists-run-centers, artists collectives, musea, and other arts organizations. The artists from these two provinces have carved a well-deserved niche in the history of contemporary Canadian art and many of them were instrumental in bringing the contemporary art of Alberta and Saskatchewan to the forefront of international scene.

Beyond Emma Lake examines various aspects and directions of the visual arts in Alberta and Saskatchewan from the 1950's to our contemporary era, often referred to as the postmodern period. Aspects of a regionalism, gender, and a cultural identity along with aboriginal, social, political and ecological issues are also examined in the context of exhibiting works.

The exhibition also discusses the impact the seminal Emma Lake Workshops (50th Anniversary) in Murray Point, Saskatchewan, have had on the development of contemporary art of both provinces. Linda Milrod, the Director of the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon in the 1980's, correctly observes in her foreword featured in the exhibition catalogue, "The Flat Side of the Landscape: The Emma Lake Artists' Workshops" (1989): "…. In the history of art of both provinces, perhaps no single influence has been greater than that emanating from the Emma Lake Artists' Workshops. Over the years, the workshops have attracted key artists and art critics from Canada, the United States and Europe. Over the period of time, the Emma Lake Artists' Workshops have shaped and altered artistic positions, provided a natural retreat for intensive interaction, generated productive controversy, established lifelong friendships, and been an important link between this community of artists and contemporary artistic practice in major art centers in Canada, the United States and in Europe …". Eventually, the workshops have acted as a model in the formation of the Triangle Workshop in upper New York State, an enterprise which in its own turn has spawned artists' workshops in South Africa, Spain and in England.

The art scene in Alberta and Saskatchewan has never been as varied and exciting as it is today. Painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, film, photography, performance, video, laser and computer art - the contemporary artists of both provinces are exploring and exhibiting the possibilities of all these media.

Works from the Saskatchewan Arts Board in Regina, the University of Calgary's Nickle Arts Museum, Red Deer College, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, EMMEDIA Gallery, The New Gallery, Canadian Art Gallery, Newzones Gallery, Skew Gallery, Virginia Christopher Fine Art Gallery, Wallace Galleries Ltd and private collections highlight the contributions of the major voices in the art of both provinces:

  1. from Alberta - Modern Art Section: Marion Nicoll, Luke Lindoe, Douglas Haynes, Les Graff, Harry Kiyooka, R. Gyo-Zo Spickett, Ron Kostyniuk, Richard Halliday, Seka Owen, George Mihalcheon, Don Kottmann, and Alan Reynolds.
  2. from Saskatchewan - Modern Art Section: Ronald Bloore, Kenneth Lochhead, Art McKay, Roy Kiyooka, Douglas Morton, Ted Godwin, William Perehudoff, Otto Rogers, Douglas Bentham, Eli Bornstein, and David Alexander.
  3. from Alberta - Post Modern Art Section: Don Mabie, Sylvain Voyer, Harry Savage, John Will, ManWoman, Ron Moppett, Carol Taylor-Lindoe, Mary Shannon Will, Anne Marie Schmid-Esler, Peter Deacon, Derek Besant, Chris Cran, Lylian Klimek, Janet Cardiff, Peter von Tiesenhausen, Bart Habermiller, Shelley Ouellet, Arthur Nishimura, Alex Janvier, Helen Sebelius, Ihor Dmytruk, and Brian Flynn;
  4. from Saskatchewan - Post Modern Art Section: Bob Boyer, Edward Poitras, David Gilhooly, Joe Fafard, Victor Cicansky, David Thauberger, Ruth Cuthand, Lorne Beug, Sandra Semchuk, Brenda Pelkey, Frances Robson, Ann Newdigate, Marie Lannoo, Marylin Levine, W.C. McCargar, Taras Polataiko, Grant McConnell, and Leesa Streifler.

Today, there is no one dominant medium and within the different media no dominant "school" that characterizes contemporary art of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The selection of artists for this exhibition neither reaffirms a direct progression of development nor presents a chronological pattern of senior artists followed by the younger avant-garde, even if such a pattern becomes apparent in some cases. Rather it adopts a pluralistic vision that reflects various approaches to the aspect of modernism/postmodernism and individual interpretation of this aspect in the work of each exhibiting artist.

The exhibition pays homage to the forceful, penetrating voices that have shaped the conception and practice of visual culture in Alberta and Saskatchewan, elevating their creative output to national and international prominence.

Andrew Oko and Jacek Malec
Exhibition Curators

Beyond Emma Lake: The Images

 

List of Images (left to right, top to bottom):

  1. Carol Taylor-Lindoe, RCA - The Moon (Carmen), 1984; drawing on paper. Collection of the Red Deer College. Image courtesy of the artist.
  2. Helen Sebelius - Untitled, 1986; mixed media. Collection of the Red Deer College. Image courtesy of the artist.
  3. Arthur Nishimura - Sunni ("Sunni Trap"), 1975; black & white photography on paper (4 units). Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  4. Chris Cran, RCA - Arm With Dynamite, 1988; charcoal on paper. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  5. David Gilhooly, RCA - Pipe (Honky Frog Series), 1971; ceramic. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  6. Don Kottmann - Self Portrait, 1976; charcoal on paper. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  7. Joe Fafard - Dead Cow, 1970; clay, earthenware. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  8. Brian Flynn - Preparatory Drawing for Wake Series, 2005; digital print on paper. Collection of Corrine Cowell. Image courtesy of the Skew Gallery.
  9. Richard Halliday, RCA - 2005 Constellation Series, 2005; white titanium oil stick on bone; black acrylic ground. Courtesy of the Trepanier Baer Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist.
  10. Vic Cicansky, RCA - Bag, 1968; ceramic. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  11. Alex Janvier, RCA - Good Soil Road, 1980; print on paper. Collection of the Re Deer College. Image courtesy of the artist.
  12. John Will - Lips, 1970; etching & engraving on paper. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  13. Roy Kiyooka, RCA (1926-1994) - Emma Lake, 1958; watercolour on paper. Collection of Roxanne McCaig. Image courtesy of the Canadian Art Gallery.
  14. Lylian Klimek - Coldflower I, 1998; resin, fiberglass, shredded paper. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  15. Marie Lannoo - Tremolo, 2004; acrylic on panel. Image courtesy of the Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art.
  16. Marylin Levine (1935 - 2005) - Red Deer Case, 1982; ceramic sculpture. Collection of the Red Deer College. Image courtesy of the Red Deer College.
  17. Marion Nicoll, RCA (1909 - 1985) - Sicilia 5, The House of the Padrone, 1959; oil on canvas. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the Marion Nicoll Estate, c/o Glenbow Museum.
  18. Don Mabie (a.k.a. Chuck Stake) - Bring Back The 60's, 2004; digital print on paper, 1/10. Collection of the Skew Gallery. Image courtesy of the Skew Gallery.
  19. Mary Shannon Will - Pouch Form Trim-Braid & Feathers, 1975; clay, feathers and beads. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  20. Shelley Ouellet - 9 Marilyns, 2001; nine recycled light bright boxes with nine 15 V lights; 6 mm plastic and crystal beads. Collection of the artist. Image courtesy of the artist.
  21. Peter von Tiesenhausen - Ship, 1995; burned wood and gesso on wood. Collection of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff. Gift of the artist, 1995. Image courtesy of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies.
  22. Ronald Bloore - Untitled, 1961; acrylic on wood. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  23. R. Gyo-Zo Spickett, RCA - Prairie Mound, 1977; ink on paper. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  24. Ronald Moppett, RCA - Painting/Window/Flag (study), 1986; mixed media on paper. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  25. Alan Reynolds - Bridal Fair, 1982; bronze. Collection of the Red Deer College. Image courtesy of the artist.
  26. Harry Savage - Farming Series B, 1977; print on paper. Collection of the Red Deer College. Image courtesy of the artist.
  27. Sylvain Voyer - Triangle #1, 1970; acrylic on canvas. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
  28. Bart Habermiller - Painted Brush, 1991; mixed media. Courtesy of the Skew Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist.
  29. Ted Godwin, RCA - Vernal Equinox, 1958; oil on masonite. Collection of the Terra Capital Corp. Image courtesy of the Wallace Galleries. Ltd.
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