Work of the Week

This week’s Work of the Week spotlights the exhibition HARRY MITSUO KIYOOKA – Artist. Educator. Activist., on now at the Nickle Galleries in Calgary. 

A 70-year retrospective of abstract art, portraiture and early abstract landscapes!
 

The AFA has loaned eight artworks to the gallery for inclusion in the exhibition. The exhibition is curated by Mary-Beth Laviolette and runs until April 27, 2024.

Learn more about the exhibition: nickle.ucalgary.ca/exhibition/harry-mitsuo-kiyooka/

About the artwork

The AFA acquired this painting through its Art Acquisition by Application program. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist. The next deadline to apply is April 2, 2024. Read the guidelines and apply.

The AFA acquired this artwork through its Art Acquisition by Application program in 2023. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist.

Artist statement:

The following is an excerpt of Simone Elizabeth Saunders' artist statement. Read the full artist statement. 

My work uplifts Black womanhood, and the resilience, joy and the strength of being a Black woman. Textiles engage upon a search for belonging, a connection to a community, to personal identity and a connection to Black history. I create narratives through cultural mythology, current iconography, and personal landscapes. A big source of inspiration within my work is Art Nouveau, an era in which female portraiture was highlighted and exuded tremendous grace and femininity. This is reflected within The Messenger, capturing a sensuality, mystery, vigor and charm amongst the vibrancy of colour. It is a style that I capture within my textiles which I have called, Black Nouveau.

Artist profile

Simone Elizabeth Saunders (she/her) is a textile artist based in Mohkinstsis - Calgary, Canada. She holds a B.F.A. with Distinction from the Alberta University of Arts in 2020. Her textiles are hand tufted in the medium of rug-making using a punch-needle and tufting machine.

Saunders explores themes of the diaspora, ancestorship and Black womanhood. Her colourful textiles highlight motifs and iconography from her Jamaican heritage and engage with socio-cultural factors reclaiming power from oppressive ideologies.

Simone has a career in the theatre arts, a previous B.F.A. from the University of Alberta’s Acting Conservatory. Weaving her theatre experiences and integrating dramatism and story-telling within her creations - Simone uplifts narratives of Black joy and resilience. 

​Simone was the recipient from Calgary Black Chambers 2023 Achievement Award for Arts, Media and Entertainment. Simone was named one of 20 "top Compelling Calgarians for 2022" and "Top 40 Under 40" of Calgarian Professionals, by Avenue Magazine. Simone was awarded the National Winner for the Bank of Montreal's 1st Art Competition in 2020. 

February 28, 2024 is Pink Shirt Day. It was first started in Canada in 2007 and is a significant day that raises awareness about bullying.

In recognition of this day, we would like to share the late Violet Owen’s Pretty in Pink.

You can access resources to help you or someone you know who is being bullied, and learn how to prevent bullying.
 

www.alberta.ca/bullying

Violet Owen
Pretty in Pink, 1995
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts

About the artist

Violet Owen passed away on January 21, 2024, at the age of 93.

Owen was a professional artist for over six decades and played an important role in molding the foundation of Edmonton's art scene. The AFA is proud to hold a number of Owen's artworks within its Art Collection.

We extend our condolences to her family and friends.

Violet Owen’s oeuvre features paintings, drawings, and sculptural work, all deeply rooted in explorations of the female form. Inspired by modernist art movements including post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen wrestles with ideas of form and mood in her work, articulated through pose, placement, and the strongly accentuated forms of the models she paints.

Owen graduated from the Department of Drawing and Painting at the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1953, and has continuously developed her strong aptitude for drawing and colour. There is a spontaneity and restless energy in Owen’s work, as if the artist clearly follows her own path rather than following a group esthetic. She attributes this attitude and her ability to work without fear to the longevity of her practice. During an interview in the early 1970’s, she explained more: "As you get older, you get more aggressive. Sometimes you're afraid to do certain things but the older I get, the less afraid I am … what the hell!"

Owen worked solely with artist and model Mimi Mah for fifteen years, capturing the many facets of this single personality with utter clarity. She once declared the figure to be the most challenging subject to paint, and after building up a lifetime of body art captured in chalk, pencil and paint on paper, canvas, and Plexiglass, she has grown comfortable in her own skin, and with exploring the essence of female sexuality.

In celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD), we are proud to share artwork from Alberta based artist Karrie Arthurs

About the Artist

Karrie Arthurs received her B.F.A. with distinction from the Alberta University of the Arts in 2000. She had her first solo show entitled “Paper Weight” at the Christine Klassen Gallery in 2012. She continues to exhibit locally and internationally participating in solo and group shows. Her work is found in numerous private collections such as that of Paul Hardy Design, in Calgary.  
 

Karrie currently resides in Airdrie with her two children. She is a practicing tattooer since 2001, and has a shop in Calgary, Karrie is currently represented by the Christine Klassen Gallery. 

Watch Karrie talk about her artistic practice and her work in the AFA video "Diversifying the Collection":

About IWD

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8 around the globe. IWD has been celebrated globally since 1911 and is an important day that highlights the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

This year’s IWD theme focuses on inspiring inclusion. We encourage you to take part in an IWD event within your community and continue supporting women in the arts throughout the year.

The AFA will be closed today for Family Day. 
 

We are pleased to feature Gordon Harper’s, Resting in Awareness for the Work of the Week.
 

About the artist

Gordon Harper was born and raised in Medicine Hat, and began his formal studies in the Art and Design Program at Medicine Hat College. He received a B.F.A. from the University of Calgary and a M.F.A. from the University of Alberta.

He has lived and painted in Edmonton since then. His work has been displayed at commercial and public galleries, including the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre and the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies.

Gordon is represented by the Peter Robertson Gallery in Edmonton, Alberta.

Prairie Interlace: Weaving, Modernisms and the Expanded Frame examines the explosion of textile art from the Canadian Prairies during the last century.
 

This touring exhibition featured sixty artworks by forty-eight artists. The AFA was pleased to loan nine artworks through our exhibition loans program, four of which can be viewed above. 

• this exhibition was hosted by Nickle Galleries in Calgary, from September 9 to December 17, 2022.

The exhibition toured across the prairies until February 2024.

• Mann Art Gallery, Prince Albert: April 14 – June 8, 2023
• Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon: July 6 – September 10, 2023
• MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina: November 4, 2023 – February 18, 2024

For more information about the artists and artworks included in this exhibition, visit prairieinterlace.ca

This year's featured holiday artwork is The Last Canadian, An Era Ends by RFM McInnis. 

Watch AFA Board Chair, Paul Baay, introduce the artwork in a video holiday message.

AFA offices will be closed from Monday, December 25, 2023 until Tuesday, January 2, 2024.
 

See you in the new year, happy holidays!

While non-urgent government operations will be closed, services that affect the health, safety and security of Albertans will continue to be available over the holidays. 

This week’s Work of the Week is the appropriately named Heat by Eva Fuller, as it’s been a hot hot week in Alberta with heat warnings in place for large swaths of the province.

About the Artist: Eva Heller (from the artist’s website)

Back in Poland, Eva Heller received extensive formal education in fine arts first, through a five-year Fine Arts High School, and then six years in an Academy of Fine Arts. She graduated with Masters of Fine Arts with diplomas in both painting and artistic weaving. The variety of her artworks predominantly represent the artist’s deep concern about Nature and her strong interest in animals.
 

Heller has worked with many different painting techniques, painting on paper, board and canvas with ink, pastels and acrylics. Initially, she was committed to artistic weaving, but then switched to painting and drawing. In recent years, Heller has almost exclusively painted in acrylics.

Her art has been shown in a number of galleries and can be found in both public and private collections in Canada and abroad.

In October 2017, Heller moved from Alberta to Hope, BC, where she now lives and works in her studio in the Lake Kawkawa area.

On Monday, October 30, the AFA installed Peter Hide's Squashed Freemason sculpture in its new location outside the Misericordia Hospital's revamped emergency department in Edmonton. Artist Peter Hide was on-site to assist with the installation and made some time for the AFA to ask him few questions about the artwork and his career.
 

The AFA has acquired several of Peter Hide's artworks for its Art Collection, some of which are displayed publicly. View all of Peter Hide's artworks in the AFA Art Collection.

A Q&A with Peter Hide

Q: As an artist you want as many people as possible to engage with your work. How would you describe what it's like to have your artwork available to so many people?

A: You like it because lots of people can see it. Maybe it will stay there for ages and ages. These days things don't always last but the AFA has quite a few of my sculptures all over the place and I'm very grateful for that.

Q: The artwork that was just reinstalled at the Misericordia Hospital was started in 1983. Would you say your artwork has been able to stand the test of time?

A: Yes. That artwork has been in several different places. I think at one point it was in a private collection back in 1986.

Q: How much does the artwork weigh?

A: One ton. Roughly one ton.

Q: Is it difficult for you to part with an artwork after spending so much time working on it?

A: Not really. Do I treat them like children and I don't want to let them go? No, not really. I like it if it goes to someone. So, no I like when they go. I mean, I quite like having them and if they are around I tend to keep working on them, refining them. So, in a way, I'm a bit of a slow worker but I have made quite a few sculptures.

Q: How many would you say you've made?

A: Four or five hundered. My teacher and mentor Anthony Caro was much more famous than I. I think he's made about 8,000. He works in a different way. He works with quite a lot of technicians but he's quite a great sculptor.

Q: Can you describe what it was like the first time one of your sculptures was selected for public display?

A: The first one that was on public display was when I was student at St. Martins in London. It was in an art gallery but it was also a chemist shop I think. It was in Chelsea though and it sold for 33 pounds that was in 1966. It was great. I thought maybe just maybe I might make it.

Q: Are you currently working on anything?

A: I'm working on tons. I have two warehouses and they're both full. You know, art is difficult: it's open to fashion. When I was 25, I was very well known in England and I sold quite a lot of sculptures there but it passed. That's why I came over the pond. Then it all happened all over again.

Q: Your artwork is part of the AFA Art Collection. Can you describe what that means to you as an artist?

A: I'm very pleased about that. They've really looked after the work. I think they've been very good for me.

Q: Do you have any advice for artists when it comes to large scale sculptures?

A: I think people have to find their own way. When I was an art student, I followed Anthony Caro and he made large spreading sculptures, so I tried to make that as a student. My problem was trying to find out how small I could go. Making sculptures as large as a room didn't suit me very well. Caro would stretch things out. He would stretch sculptures and I wanted to compress the sculpture. I was more traditional in a sense, more like I was a wood carver to start. I had a carver's idea about sculpture.

Q: You've been working as an artist for a long time, can you describe one of your favorite moments as an artist living in Alberta?

A: Oh, that's hard. That's a difficult one you know. I think the first public thing I had was in the Edmonton Art Gallery (now the Art Gallery of Alberta) as it was in those days. I had an exhibition there after I had been here for nine months. That was very pleasing and I thought that I might want to stay here. Everything was new. In New York and London things had moved on and in Edmonton it was fresh. There were many good artists and there was quite a range of people creating. Painting and making sculptures.

Q: You did a bit of maintanence on Squashed Freemason before the re-installation, what was it like to work on it again?

A: It was quite interesting. It's changed. It's been outside for many years and I liked that it got more and more rust on it and it looked like a big monument that was made out of stone or granite. It feels like a monolith.

Q: The artwork has been installed at the Misericordia for a number of years. Now it has been moved in front of the new emergency room. So, something old will be part of something new. What are your thoughts on this?

A: It will get a lot of traffic where it is now. Before it was a bit tucked away. A lot of people will get to see it and I like the idea of that.

Q: What was it like to be part of the installation?

A: It was cold!