TREX Exhibition: Speculative Fictions

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AFA NewsCommunity News Visual arts & new media Southern Alberta

Speculative Fictions 

Location: Banff Public Library (April 19 - May 14)

Featured artwork

Jacques Rioux
Witness, Red Rock Coulee, Alberta, 1993
silver gelatin, selenium toned on paper
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts

About the exhibition

In today's society, where divisions can overshadow community connections, imaginative storytelling offers a beacon of hope. The Speculative Fictions exhibition draws inspiration from the literary genre of the same name, presenting artworks that encourage viewers to contemplate the transformative potential of wonder, awe, and mystery as we envision our collective futures.  

This exhibition invites audiences to journey into the realm of imagination, where the boundaries of possibility fade, and multiple paths open into the speculative edges of our shared consciousness. Approaching each visual composition with curiosity can offer glimpses into alternate realities, technological abstractions, and primordial possibilities, prompting reflection on our origins and where we are headed.  

Speculative Fictions features a curated selection of nineteen artworks from the Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, each encouraging the kind of regenerative curiosity needed in today's uncertain times. Viewers are invited to imagine each artist's vision and the potential stories behind mysterious landscapes, abstract forms, and playful compositions, many of which share aesthetic qualities with popular science fiction and fantasy worlds. 

Artists included in this exhibition are:

  • Ernesto Bonato
  • Janet Cardiff
  • Wendy Ehlers
  • Nathan Grimson
  • Liz Ingram
  • David Janzen
  • Rodney Konopaki
  • Calvin Kruk
  • Amy Loewan
  • James McDougall
  • Leanne Olson
  • Jacques Rioux
  • Leonard Simpson
  • Jim Westergard

About the artist

Calgary-based photographer Jacques Rioux has cultivated a distinguished career since graduating with a Diploma in Applied Photography in 1979. With experience spanning technical, commercial, and fine art photography, Rioux is best known for his thoughtful and extensive photographic series.

One of his most notable projects is The Calgary Picture Project (late 1980s-1990s), a black and white exploration of Calgary's urban and natural environments. This series blends documentary observation with a subjective perspective, often subtly including Rioux's own presence through shadows and reflections, adding a layer of self-awareness to his portrait of the city. He has also created the Western Badlands series, capturing the mystical qualities of Alberta's unique landscapes in striking black and white. Rioux's work has earned him recognition in permanent collections across Canada and Europe, including at institutions like the Glenbow Museum in Calgary and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

About TREX

The AFA's Travelling Exhibition (TREX) program strives to ensure every Albertan is provided with an opportunity to enjoy fully developed exhibitions in schools, libraries, health care centres and smaller rural institutions and galleries throughout the province.

The TREX program assists in making both the AFA's extensive art collection and the work of contemporary Alberta artists available to Albertans.

Four regional organizations now coordinate the program for the Foundation:

These partners offer a wide range of exhibitions to communities from High Level in the north, to Milk River in the south, and virtually everywhere in between.

Learn more