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Operated by the Calgary Contemporary Arts Society November 16 to December 28, 2006 |
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Annemarie Schmid-Esler: The Artist's Odyssey Works from the collections of The Nickle Arts Museum, Glenbow Museum,
Ceramics since the 50s had occupied a special position regarding the developing Alberta art scene and ceramic artists of the province had It was the clay artists of the 70s and 80s who muscled their way into the contemporary Alberta art scene, expanding on the concept of ceramics, challenging other media as to the potential and range of possible artistic expression. Color had been the painter’s tool. Suddenly color became the legitimate tool of the clay artist. Texture has been but an integral dimension of the medium. With the 70s and 80s texture became a means to an end to be applied at will, even attached – borrowing Changes to the Alberta ceramic scene did not happen over night. It was started by merely a few artists working against the grain in their
Her path, after graduating from the Alberta College of Art (1968) to ‘Odyssey’ (1990) spanned a mere 20 some years, but in that time she excelled as a creative artist and opened doors for other ceramic artists to discover the conceptual potential of the medium. Les Graff
List of Images (left to right, top to bottom):
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Annemarie Schmid-Esler is one of the Alberta artists who have made a difference regarding the visual arts. Primarily a clay artist, pushing the boundaries, she was one of the important innovators of the 70s and 80s helping to expand Alberta ceramics beyond the stoneware/vessel concept to compete with contemporary visual art concepts of art making.
given the medium a clear and united voice provincially and nationally. However, in spite of national honors, and perhaps because of traditional limitations associated with the medium, clay artists were but poor second cousins along side the painters, sculptors and print-makers.
concepts associated with other media, incorporating methods and means utilized by mixed media artists. Expanded concepts of color and texture, innovative methods of handling clay forms, new methods of transferring images and modern adhesives, all helped clay artists to extend beyond traditional boundaries.
chosen medium. They could see beyond accepted limitations and were willing to take chances. They ‘skirted’ the conventional doing an ‘end-run’ around local tradition, pushing ‘head first’ into the contemporary. Annemarie Schmid-Esler was one of these few who side stepped accepted means and started a movement that would bring Alberta ceramics into the arena of contemporary art making.
A review of her achievements brings to light her versatility of thinking and means, the development of her ideas and the path she chose, from the making of objects through to working with metaphors. Annemarie Schmid-Esler: The Artist’s Odyssey includes her decorative plates, her whimsical beds, the haunting crow sculptures, her disturbing Armageddon-like constructions and her major conceptual piece, ‘Odyssey’. Because of the scale and the sense of metaphor concerning this piece, Odyssey viewed within the context of Annemarie’s overall development is an important experience for anyone concerned with the visual arts.
