Work of the Week

To acknowledge both Indigenous Veterans Day (November 8) and Remembrance Day (November 11), the AFA has selected Thomas Wong’s Poppy #1 for the Work of the Week.

Please note that our offices are closed on November 13.

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Women's History Month
 

October is Women's History Month: a time to celebrate the achievements of the women and girls from our past and present. We encourage Albertans to celebrate women in the arts by engaging with local organizations and artists.

To celebrate this month, we are pleased to highlight three current Alberta-based exhibitions curated by women, and featuring a few artworks from the AFA's very own collection. 

Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery - Shirley Rimer: A Chronicle in Clay 
Curated by Mary-Beth Laviolette
On now until December 2, 2023

^{Installation view of Shirley Rimer: A Chronicle in Clay.
Images provided by Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery.}

About the exhibition

A longtime Red Deer resident, Rimer is one reason why the city shines as a centre for ceramic art. A Red Deer College (Polytechnic) graduate, as an instructor, curator and cultural community builder, Rimer’s own artistic accomplishments are the highlight of this special exhibition of ceramic sculpture.

Featuring over 30 artworks made in the past 40 years, a chronicle about their making and Rimer’s personal discovery of clay traditions in other countries: Greece, Turkey, Mexico, India, France, Italy, China and America. They are about handbuilding in clay, reinterpreting the vessel, communicating with colour and reflecting on subjects like family, culture and heritage here in Alberta and abroad.

This exhibition features four Shirley Rimer artworks from the AFA Art Collection:

• Body Language
• Village Life
• Red Fish
• Purple Flowers

Calgary - Nickle Galleries - The Art of Faye HeavyShield
Curated by Felicia Gay
On now until December 9, 2023

^{Photo credit: Andy Nichols, LCR PhotoServices., courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.}

^{Red Dress, 2008, nylon, cotton, metal and paper tags, glass beads.
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
The Art of Faye HeavyShield, organized and circulated by the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
Financed by the Government of Canada. Curated by Felicia Gay.}

About the exhibition

The Art of Faye HeavyShield will present work that spans forty years of her practice. The exhibition situates HeavyShield as a major contributor to contemporary Indigenous art through her creation of a new aesthetic vocabulary. While bearing a resemblance to conceptual installation, her work is rooted in the deep art history of the Canadian prairies and in personal/communal experience.

This exhibition features Faye HeavyShield's artwork Red Dress, which is from the AFA Art Collection. 

Edmonton - Art Gallery of Alberta - Second Skin 
Curated by Lindsey Sharman and Danielle Siemens
On now until December 31, 2023 

^{Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta}

^{Left: Caitlin Thompson, Rhizome (Hot Gossip), 2017, Fabric, thread, fake nails, decoy eyes, rhinestones, tassels, cording, buttons, plastic, paint, Velcro. Collection of Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Installation view of Second Skin, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2023.
Right: Pamela Norrish, Outfit for the Afterlife, 2015. Glass beads, nylon thread. Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Installation view of Second Skin, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2023}

About the exhibition

The works in this exhibition trace the boundaries of the body and reference garments and adornment in many forms. These literal and symbolic objects of attire allow their ‘wearer’ to explore a myriad of issues including identity and representation, objectification and empowerment, mythology and history, imagined futures and the afterlife. 

This exhibition features two artworks from the AFA Art Collection: 

• Outfit for the Afterlife - Pamela Noorish
• Rhizome (Hot Gossip) - Caitlin Thompson

Pendulum intends to show a personal story about healing by using intuitive and symbolic language, which can be interpreted in many different ways by different viewers, depending on how they relate to it.

Oksana Movchan's goal is to create an environment that resonates with viewers in ways that help them to open up and look deeper inside. Her aim for the artwork is to be a guide and facilitator for the process of healing. Art has a way of inspiring people to explore their real but perhaps unknown ability to build or change their own future. 

Did you know? Alberta is home to more than 345,000 people of Ukrainian descent. Ukrainian Albertans have contributed immensely to our province’s communities and culture.
 

Hundreds of thousands of Albertans of Ukrainian origin help build and enrich our province. Ukrainian art can be one thing to help bring us together and lift our spirits during this challenging time.
 

About the artist

Oksana Movchan studied in Kyiv, Ukraine and obtained a bachelors, masters and doctorate. Throughout her career, she has been working in various fields and medias including printmaking, painting, public art and as a glass artist.

Her artwork investigates personal memory, metaphor, cultural iconography and history through poetic narrative and abstract storytelling. Her artwork has exhibited nationally and internationally in various public and private collections, including the AFA Art Collection.

Art Acquisitions by Application

Pendulum was acquired by the AFA through the Art Acquisitions by Application program.

The next deadline is April 1! Check out the guidelines if you’re interested in submitting your artwork to have it be considered for acquisition to the AFA Art Collection.

Image description

The abstract artwork displays numerous hair-like coils woven in different geometric shapes around a black and grey pendulum in the centre of the image with a grey ball swinging side to side. The coils are twisted together on either side of the pendulum in different shades of grey, silver, brown and gold.

Today is International Beer Day, and so this week's Work of the Week is Beer Parlour by Marion Nicoll!

Beer is one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverages in the world and the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea! 
 

About the Artist: Marion Nicoll (1909-1985)

Marion Nicoll was born in Calgary, Alberta, on April 11, 1909.

Nicoll initially studied at the Ontario College of Art; however, she returned to Calgary after two years of studies and graduated from the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (now the Alberta University of the Arts). At the Institute, Nicoll flourished under the tutelage of A. C. Leighton, who taught her to trust her intuition about tone and colour. In 1931, A. C. Leighton insisted Nicoll should become an instructor at the Alberta College of Art. Nicoll taught at the College, from 1931 to 1965, with occasional sabbaticals. Nicoll was also involved in teaching summer classes in Seebe, Alberta, which was the catalyst for the Banff School of Fine Arts (today The Banff Centre).

Nicoll married engineer and artist, Jim Nicoll in 1940. During WWII, as an engineer for the Royal Canadian Air Force, Jim travelled around Western Canada to supervise the building of air bases, and Marion moved around with him. From the 1930’s through the 1950’s, she produced a plethora of watercolour and oil paintings.

In 1946, Jock MacDonald encouraged her to start producing automatic drawings, which ultimately lead her to start creating abstract work. Later in her career, Nicoll also experimented with many different printmaking techniques, such as woodblock and clay prints. A Canadian Council grant allowed Marion, and her husband, to study at the Art Students Leaque, in New York, under the coaching of Will Barnet.

Nicoll was highly influential in the creation of the art scene in Alberta, and the Alberta College of Art named a gallery, the Marion Nicoll Gallery, in her honour. Nicoll was a member of the Alberta Society of Artists, the Canadian Society of Drawing and Printmaking, and the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts.

See more of Marion Nicoll's artwork in the AFA collection. 

This week's Work of the Week is Crowsnest Mountain and the Seven Sisters by Joane Cardinal-Schubert.
 

Crowsnest Mountain and the Seven Sisters are iconic peaks in the southern Rocky Mountains. Crowsnest Mountain can be seen from Highway 3 west of the town of Coleman, with the Seven Sisters to its north. Together they form an isolated klippe, a geological feature that is formed through erosion. Other examples of klippes are Chief Mountain in Montana (which can be easily seen from southern Alberta); Mount Yamnuska in Kananaskis Country; and the Rock of Gibraltor, located off the coast of Spain.  

About the Artist: Joane Cardinal-Schubert (1942-2009)

Through her art and life, Joane Cardinal-Schubert honoured her identity as Kainai (Blackfoot), demonstrating her values of representing the Indigenous experience and history. She was a multi-media, visual, and installation artist, a writer, lecturer, free-lance curator and director of film and theatre. Her writing has been published nationally and internationally in art magazines, catalogues and books and she has also served as an editor of Fuse magazine.

Cardinal-Schubert completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a double major in painting and printmaking in 1977 at the University of Calgary. She also earned a certificate from the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, and in 1983, received her certificate in Management Development for Arts Administration from the Banff Centre. Cardinal-Schubert served as Assistant Curator at the Nickle Arts Museum at the University of Calgary for six years.

Joane Cardinal-Schubert received many awards, scholarships, and Canada Council grants for her work. In 1985, she became the fourth Albertan woman to be inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy. She was also awarded the Commemorative Medal of Canada in 1993 for her contribution to the Arts, and in 2007 was awarded a National Aboriginal Achievement Award. She was an advocate for Native artists and inspired and enabled Native artists to challenge and reclaim their creative identities. Her work explores themes of identity and spirituality, and critically examines Euro-American religious and governmental systems.

In 2018, the AFA established the Dr. Joane Cardinal-Schubert Fellowship for Indigenous Curators. This one-time fellowship was designed to support the growth and development of curatorial talent and enhance representation of Indigenous artists in the AFA collection by providing up to $30,000 to contract an individual or an ensemble of individuals to develop a curatorial research project. Becca Taylor was the recipient of the fellowship.  She provided recommendations for acquisitions, which supported the acquisition of 23 artworks in 2019-20 by four Indigenous emerging artists: Kablusiak, Jessie Ray Short, Jewel Shaw and Lauren Crazybull. 

See all Indigenous artworks in the AFA Collection. 

Today is International Dance Day! Established in 1982 by UNESCO International Theatre Institute, International Dance Day falls on April 29 of every year, commemorating the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre, a distinguished choreographer that brought about significant reforms in ballet production.
 

Stages across Alberta have been empty for the past year as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has continued to shutter performance venues here and around the world. But dance is still taking place in our province! Resourceful dance companies have turned to performances broadcast online, and if you haven’t tuned in to one of these online performances, we highly encourage you to do so.  Alberta Dance Alliance has a calendar of dance-related events – check it out: abdancealliance.ab.ca/dancelink-calendar/.

Read inspiring messages from International Dance Day Ambassadors here: cda-acd.ca/en/programs-services/international-dance-day/2021.

We'd like to share an image from our art collection that depicts a dance style that seems almost synonymous with Alberta - Ukrainian dance! – as seen here in Carole Bondaroff’s Performance Suite – Shumka Dance.

Happy International Dance Day!

Bow Lake
 

Colin Smith's Bow Lake is this week's Work of the Week. Smith turns his 1976 Boler trailer into a homemade camera obscura. Smith builds on location camera obscuras and creates projections that produce highly saturated, breathtaking imagery.

This work was acquired as part of the AFA’s Art Acquisition by Application program.

About World Photography Day

World Photography Day is the global celebration of all types of photography. Each year features an optional theme to focus on. The World Photography Day 2023 theme is Landscapes.

World Photo Day is founded by Korske Ara to commemorate the patent of the daguerreotype process and to inspire others to take meaningful photos.

About the artist

Quietly embedded in Alberta’s film community for over 20 years. As a Film technician and stills photographer Colin has worked on numerous projects for local and international productions.

Congruently working as a self taught photographer. Recognized with awards for travel and fine art photography, including multiple project grants from Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Colin has proudly exhibited his photography in several galleries including:

• Whyte Museum
• Art Gallery of Alberta
• Esplanade Art Gallery
• Illingworth Kerr Gallery
• Peter Robertson Gallery
• Christine Klassen Gallery.

Today is International Dance Day! Established in 1982 by UNESCO International Theatre Institute, International Dance Day falls on April 29 of every year, commemorating the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre, a distinguished French choreographer that brought about significant changes in ballet production.
 

Check out what's happening from Alberta Dance Alliance calendar of dance-related events.

About the artwork:

The drawing was acquired by donation to the AFA art collection from the estate of Steven Mack. The AFA was approached by the estate in 2009 to review the holdings and offered first selection. The AFA purchased five artworks at the time including a painting of a dancer posed by the artist’s favourite model, named Kathryn.

In 2016 the AFA continued to work with the estate and reviewed artworks from a commercial gallery that had closed. The artworks were from the same Dancer Series, including two paintings and two drawings that were preliminary studies for the paintings. 

The painting that is featured in the slide was an AFA purchase. The painting was part of the interdisciplinary performance piece he executed with the model and musician Amir Amiri at The Grand Theatre in Calgary.

Check out 13 artworks by the artist showcasing the mediums of painting and drawing, ranging in date from 1993 – 2007 on the AFA's Virtual Museum (click button below).

About the artist:

Steven Mack studied at University of Alberta, Universitty of Calgary, Sorbonne University in Paris, and completed graduate work at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts. Mack occasionally taught at Mount Royal College, and the Alberta College of Art & Design. Mack passed away on August 26, 2009 at the age of 46.

The AFA's collected works by Steven Mack collection reference the moments when objects become brushstrokes, and brushstrokes become identifiable objects. 

Image description

The first image shows a black and white sketch drawing of a dancer. The dancer is wearing a short sleeve shirt and pants where she has one arm raised up as she is posing.

The second image is a colour painting of the same dancer. She has short, tied-up black hair, and is wearing a green tank top and dark greyish-blue pants. She is in a dance studio and has one hand holding onto the wooden ballet barre (handrail). The background is a mirror showing her reflection and a black rope hanging from the ceiling.