Western Canada’s art magazine since 2002
23 July 2024 Vol 9 No 15 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2024
Shelley Boettcher
From the Editor
I write this in front of a fan because Calgary, like much of Canada, is under a heat wave. Summer is here in a big way, in every corner of the country.
And so are the summer art exhibitions. If you're travelling this month or next, be sure to check out some of the incredible work being shown across the country. We've been talking with friends heading to Saskatoon to visit the Remai; still others are planning trips to the Okanagan, Montreal, Ottawa, Victoria and Toronto. I'm staying home, at least until September, but I am always making plans for my next trip. And yes, it involves art.
Speaking of Toronto, Galleries West contributor Shazia Hafiz Ramji had a chance to visit June Clark’s Witness, at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery through Aug. 11. Clark's work is powerful, and this exhibition is the first Canadian survey of this Toronto artist's work. Don't miss it if you're in town or visiting.
Paul Gessell checked out Saints, Sinners, Lovers and Fools: Three Hundred Years of Flemish Masterworks, on view through Oct. 20 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. “These paintings are about you and me and what it takes to be human,” says Katharina Van Cauteren, curator of this travelling exhibition and chief of staff of the Phoebus Foundation Chancellery in Antwerp, Belgium.
And Lissa Robinson reviews the often-controversial Deanna Bowen and her show, Black Drones in the Hive, at the Esker Foundation in Calgary until Aug. 25.
Mark your calendars for the Vancouver Art Book Fair, coming up at the end of the month. Admission is free and there's a symposium, too. We share the details early in our new Quick Pick, so you can start planning.
Light: Visionary Perspectives opened last week at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto and features installations by renowned artists including the legendary British sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor, plus Olafur Eliasson, Anila Quayyum Agha, Tannis Nielsen, Kimsooja and more.
And Calgary artist Erik Olson has a new solo exhibition, Hēmikrāníā, at Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain in Montreal, on until Aug. 24. It is intense, colourful and personal — and it's Olson's first solo exhibition in Montreal.
As always, thank you for reading — and stay cool out there this week.
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Shazia Hafiz Ramji, Lissa Robinson, Paul Gessell
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Periodical Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
