Operated by the Calgary Contemporary Arts Society

March 17 - May 7, 2005

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Special Art Program Celebrating the Centennial of Alberta

FORM & FIRE:
Aspects of Modernism in Alberta Ceramics
Works from the Art Collections of the Nickle Arts Museum, University of Lethbridge

Beyond Form & Function:
Contemporary Alberta Ceramics

Since early 1950's, artists in North America have been re-evaluating the aesthetic criteria, which traditionally bound the medium of clay. This exhibition presents varied dimensions this evaluation has assumed in Western Canada and particularly in Alberta. Various issues examined in this expressive corpus of work refer to the artistic concerns raised by each artist with the emphasis on individual expression. Many of the exhibiting artists concern themselves with formal/abstract principles, while others have chosen to explore their own personal experiences, resulting in the development of very private artistic vocabularies.

Form & Fire: Aspects of Modernism in Alberta Ceramics highlights the artistic achievements of those Alberta ceramists, who established new foundations and directions in this medium at the beginning of 1950's and were eager to challenge traditional boundaries of art. The special segment of the show focuses on Alberta ceramists from early 1970's to the 1990's, who have explored fresh conceptual and formalistic parameters in their works, and established new aesthetic foundations.

Works from the Nickle Arts Museum, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery and private collections provide historic background to the exhibition Groundswell (Lower Gallery) and highlight the contributions of the major voices in this artistic discipline: Luke Lindoe, Walter Dexter, Walter Drohan, Ed Drahanchuk, John Chalke, Santo Mignosa, Neil Liske, Jean LaPointe Mihalcheon, Annemarie Schmid Esler, Sally Barbier, Mary Shannon Will, Albert Borch, Julia Oko, Franklyn Heisler, Trudy Golley, Greg Payce, and others.

Jacek Malec
Curator

List of Images:

1. Luke Lindoe - Untitled (flat form vase), n.d.; ceramic. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of Pritchard & Co.
2. Walter Drohan - Untitled (vase), 1970; white earthenware. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
3. Ed Drahanchuk - Bottle, n.d.; glazed stoneware. Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Image courtesy of the artist.
4. Albert Borch - Untitled, 1975; ceramic. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
5. Gregory Arnold (1916 - 1968) - Vase, 1951; stoneware. Collection of Jean and George Mihalcheon. Image courtesy of Jean LaPointe Mihalcheon.
6. Walter Dexter - Untitled, n.d.; ceramic. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
7. John Chalke - Untitled, n.d.; ceramic. Collection of the Nickle Arts Museum. Image courtesy of the artist.
8. Neil Liske - Plate, 2003; glazed stoneware. Collection of the artist. Image courtesy of the artist.