tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668441427994879792008-10-09T18:47:27.369-06:00Writing, reviewing, and documenting art on the prairiesAmy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-28723985781107473712008-10-05T09:55:00.001-06:002008-10-05T09:58:21.590-06:00

David Hoffos is a wizard. After walking through the darkened corridors containing the completed Scenes from the House Dream (a series spanning five years of dreams and construction), after becoming implicit in the master illusionist’s reflective theatrics, I can only surmise that Hoffos is nothing short of a man in touch with a wholly other realm of being and consciousness. In the perpetual

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-200118757615360322008-10-02T18:08:00.001-06:002008-10-02T18:09:26.229-06:00

Public art in its most effective (and affective) incarnations reach the very ordinary. As a permanent piece, a fleeting transitory work, or an art piece created with a community’s vision in mind, the art of public art reveals itself through the long-term impact of its presence to the general assembly of passerbyers. For a working-class city locked in a perpetual greyscale where art and

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-67333842703549430162008-09-28T09:48:00.002-06:002008-09-28T09:51:16.582-06:00

More than 80 artists from close to 30 countries will have work in the first-ever Edmonton Print International September 26 to October 17 in the city’s Capital Art Gallery and at satellite locations such as SNAP Gallery and the University of Alberta. Selected through a combined curatorial process and open juried competition — the jury included Tetsuya Noda from Japan, Belgium’s Maurice Pasternak,

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-21013544547151364842008-09-25T18:06:00.002-06:002008-09-25T18:11:42.254-06:00

As either the third in a series of ongoing curatorial experiments by Andrea E Lefebvre (with the addition of Amelia Aspen) or viewed entirely as its own formation separate from the two previous Catfight group shows, Cockfight has raised the bar for local exhibitions. Image credit: "ohdear" S.C. Max and William Eastly, 2008 Considering each of the exhibiting artists are in many ways trying to

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-68277686648825844722008-09-23T15:08:00.002-06:002008-09-23T15:13:43.302-06:00

There is no easy way to think of, or discuss an exhibition like The Swimmers. The subject matter, that which address’s the complicated and often under-represented individuals whose lives are connected with physical disabilities and limitations, can be hard to view objectively. I can actually almost hear the unspoken immediate negative reactions to a work that uses such subject matter as its

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-80230841253886420582008-09-17T20:59:00.003-06:002008-09-20T16:14:54.679-06:00

During the most recent installment of Pecha Kucha Edmonton, Kristy Trinier, Edmonton Art Council’s Director of Public Art, presented her quick and dirty version of public art from around the world. From inverted pyramids in Munster, Germany, to sidewalks outside of churches in Philadelphia, the works ranged not only in geography and scope, but in their ability to engage in site specific

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-74640912390375831722008-09-14T10:31:00.002-06:002008-09-14T10:32:46.503-06:00

It’s kind of weird walking into an art gallery based out of the University of Alberta Hospital. Before I arrived I was anticipating feel good art, something healing and or beneficial to all those who call the hospital a home for a short or long term period and their visitors. Hospitals scare me, but when I walked in to the McMullen Gallery located on the main floor, I was surprised at how

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-42855723390728094072008-09-14T00:45:00.000-06:002008-09-15T00:59:10.441-06:00

With the tenacity of obsession and a narrative detailing of murals, CAP (aka Kirk Switzer) creates an exhibition on the many faces of greed that can only be summarized as intense. With both image and text speculating on the negative downfall of humankind through greed, growth, and wealth, the obsession over the compulsion of greed is captured through fantastical renderings through painting,

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-1005192849733356602008-09-08T21:27:00.008-06:002008-09-11T16:51:28.740-06:00

Edmonton: EXPLORED pulls together five artists and collaborative teams who contributed to Edmonton’s 2007 designation as a Cultural Capital of Canada. From street art, non commercialized billboards, discreet beautification plans, to the visible and invisible interactions we experience everyday in our city streets, the contemporary artists gathered explore the underbelly of our Edmonton.

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-15163451940144515542008-09-04T16:01:00.005-06:002008-09-04T17:40:17.085-06:00

This week, my first curated exhibition, Edmonton: EXPLORED, opens at the Art Gallery of Alberta for a two-month run. Besides shameless self-promotion, I’m torn as to how I feel about this show and my ongoing role within Edmonton’s arts community. I’m not really angling for either positive or negative reactions: more so I feel I’m finally putting my money where my mouth is and that I continue to

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-10019965201785119702008-08-30T10:19:00.002-06:002008-08-30T10:22:40.283-06:00

The balance between losing and finding is so fine that I have hard time tallying up such situations. I remember always losing my Barbies' shoes, jewelery from my mother, one lone sock, favourite shirts, and music--sometimes just from forgetfulness, but more often times from break-ups. Missing the object more than the person was easier to deal with than those person’s feelings. As I think about

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-85863874212022690022008-08-28T18:18:00.001-06:002008-08-28T18:28:02.782-06:00

As a major centre of artistic research, practice and exchange in Southern Alberta and beyond, The Banff Centre looks back with this immense exhibition featuring highlights from past visiting artists spanning every form of discipline and tradition. Image credit: Helen Chadwick Piss Flower (9), 1992 (2006) Bronze, cellulose lacquer + 3 APs. Collection of the New Art Centre, Wiltshire, U.K From

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-11631642810709655042008-08-21T22:17:00.002-06:002008-08-21T22:20:31.671-06:00

Catching up with Erin Schwab this past week, the former U of A MFA graduate and current Assistant Professor at Fort McMurray Keyano College had lots to share about the current state of culture up in the Mac. Keyano Art Gallery, the only gallery and exhibition space in town, has shut its doors for the summer and will not be reopening this fall. Studios remain out of the question in a city where

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-5369887224518637622008-08-19T16:29:00.005-06:002008-08-21T22:12:32.382-06:00

Austere and still, the new exhibition by Lyndal Osborne and Sherri Chaba permeate a meticulousness unparalleled in sublime elegance. As mixed media artists with a close affinity to the land and its rhythms, their collaborative effort, Experimental Distinction, combines their distinction aesthetics together into a playful gesture with apocalyptic undertones. Five cocoon-like sacks from Chaba are

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-67344194519861522132008-08-18T00:24:00.004-06:002008-08-18T00:33:32.731-06:00

Two figurative shows, Richard Tosczak's Drawing into Sculpture and Jacque Clement's Luciole, grace the Harcourt House Gallery this month. The artists are well paired: above and beyond the obvious connection of gestural studies of the human form, both are committed to an exploration of the process behind their work. Image credit: Richard Tosczak, 2008 Tosczak's exhibition pairs recent clay

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-55372546872378789702008-08-18T00:19:00.001-06:002008-08-18T00:23:40.176-06:00

Caitlin Wells’ MFA exhibition from the University of Alberta’s printmaking department is a collection of seven mixed media wall mounted images, and three video pieces; two of which are projections, the other a horizontal series of four small screens. In the first seven works, Wells builds up images using a combination of grids, intersecting lines and fluctuating ink stains. The videos are time

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-15027920178689343162008-08-10T18:22:00.002-06:002008-08-10T18:47:30.117-06:00

Curated by Megan Bertagnolli and based on the collection of Francis Brown and the gorgeous findings within the U of A Bruce Peel Special Collection, Artists' Books gathers some of the finest specimens of artist books made in the last fifty years in their original fragility. As a far more transient and adaptable mode of creation and expression, the artist book is at best a raw snapshot of the

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-53115975015321968902008-08-07T15:21:00.002-06:002008-08-07T15:22:08.555-06:00

Edmonton to Winnipeg. The horror of last week’s Greyhound incident came days after I met Shawna Dempsey, Winnipeg-based artist, curator and performer. Over the course of a week, we shared extended discussions about our respective cities, especially in reference to our “murder city” reputations. Having traded the number one ranking for homicide in Canada back and forth for the last number of years

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-63615472795881691272008-08-02T10:42:00.006-06:002008-08-02T11:07:09.864-06:00

The show currently up in SNAP’s main gallery space is a combined exhibition which features the images of printmakers David Poolman and Slawomir Grabowy. The artists work with a similar aesthetic, but the bodies of work were created and remain completely separate. Poolman is exhibiting a series of prints based on themes of youthful rebellion and violence in the form of arson. Grabowy’s work is

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-86291622310233128222008-07-27T15:31:00.002-06:002008-07-27T15:38:23.378-06:00

Visualeyez continues to persist as an endurance performance in and of itself. Running for a week long with performances and schedules stretched with little momentum, I am left wondering if it would fare better if staggered into a compact three or four days of performances and discussions. A strong ensemble of artists gathered once again, and as a collective they supported each other’s works and

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-71371099674535797002008-07-24T10:03:00.001-06:002008-07-24T10:04:53.588-06:00

This past week marks the one year anniversary of this column, and there’s no better time to reevaluate what all has been said and done. Sprouting from the infancy of Prairie Artsters online, I was invited to this print column in order to explore and share Edmonton’s visual arts community beyond gallery exhibitions. Although neither editor David Berry nor I were quite sure what to expect every

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-22483914258153972182008-07-24T10:00:00.002-06:002008-07-24T10:03:29.553-06:00

Featuring a stronger collective of artists with every passing issue, Notebook Magazine, now in its sixth issue, has certainly come a long way. Beginning as a side project for Steven Teeuwsen, who charged ahead a year and a half ago with camera in tow and magazine publishing at bay, Notebook is now printing more than 1500 copies per issue and beginning to distribute nationally through Magazines

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-24204067013460123612008-07-23T16:45:00.004-06:002008-07-23T16:51:06.243-06:00

As you walk through Peter von Tiesenhausen’s land, artwork emerges as if summoned from the ground up. Ships and nests made of willow branches appear along well-worn paths. Statues carved from logs stand watch from between the trees. In Tiesenhausen’s studio, small canvases that resemble the cracked earth of recent droughts are propped across the window sill and sketches of aspen trees (drawn with

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-7153427428705332008-07-19T10:40:00.002-06:002008-07-19T10:43:53.427-06:00

Each year a local artist is selected to showcase three or four sculpture works in front of the Shaw Conference Dream.big centre. This year’s local artist is Royden Mills and he is showcasing four pieces on the North wall of the Shaw Conference Centre on the Plaza walkway. Mills received his Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Alberta, a diploma in Architecture from NAIT, lived in Japan

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366844142799487979.post-63516863556010532442008-07-17T10:34:00.002-06:002008-07-17T10:37:36.874-06:00

As the Vancouver Art Gallery kicks off a major retrospective of internationally renowned Canadian performance artist Rebecca Belmore and Mountain Standard Time revs up for their annual performance art festival this fall throughout Calgary and Banff, Edmonton’s own performance art festival kicks offs for a week of performances, discussions, interactions and interventions. Part festival and part

Amy Funghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03894191960738260611noreply@blogger.com