Lethbridge welcomes back several artists who studied together at the University of Lethbridge in the  early ’90s.

Bridge: A Group Exhibition features the work of Izmer Ahmad, George Ho, Yoko Takashima and Robert Bechtel. The opening reception is  7 p.m., Jan. 9. It runs until Feb. 26.
went their separate ways, until Hong Kong born, Victoria based artist George Ho contacted Lethbridge based painter Robert Bechtel about reuniting the old gang for an exhibit. The only artist unable to be here for the opening is Malaysia based Izmer Ahmad who is teaching at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

 It’s something we’ve been working on for a while,” said Bechtel, crediting George Ho for  getting the  ball rolling.
“ They all  went to school together in at the U of L in the ealy ’90s, some moved to other locations and some stayed. This brings them back to where they started,” said Casa curator Darcy Logan.

“It brings people from diverse cultural backgrounds back to to our community,” he continued.

Japan born, Victoria based artist Yoko Takashima’s multi-media piece features mashups of  38 different people singing Simon and Garfunkel’s hit “ Bridge over Troubled Water,” in front of a background film of various images ranging from  serene oceanic scenes to atomic bomb explosions.

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery features new exhibits over the holiday season.

The main gallery features Sarah Anne Johnson’s exhibit “Dancing With The Doctor”— which was inspired by her grandmother’s experiences in a CIA program called MK Ultra which operated from the 50s-70s which studies altered mental states and brain function.

 Johnson build a  circular white room featuring  video footage of the artist, wearing a mask of her grandmother's face, in a variety of frantic situations.
“ MK Ultra was about mind control,” said SAAG communications coordinator Nicole Hembroff.

“There were unethical. They were subjected to hallucinogenic drugs and sleep deprivation. And there was verbal and sexual abuse,” she continued, noting the centrepiece of the exhibit is deliberately disorientating. patrons can wander around the exhibit, or climb a set of stairs and look down at it.

“It’s a representation of part of that experiment. She’s created a life sized reproduction of the halls of the hospital which  has a feeling of purgatory,” Hembroff said.
Johnson has done  few other exhibits including “House  on Fire”,  which featured a dollhouse with a variety of different disturbing rooms including a model of the big room featured  featured in “Dancing With the Doctor”

The University of Lethbridge’s Coutts centre outside of Nanton is a pretty inspirational place for Lethbridge artists.

 So The University of Lethbridge  shows the fruits of some of this inspiration with the second annual En Plein Air exhibition at the Dr. Penny Foster building  downtown, Dec. 5-23.
 While artists are welcome to visit the Coutts Centre any time, many of the 84 pieces in the exhibit from  34 different artists were created during four special weekends in October. The Coutts Centre is staffed seven days a week from May through October.

“We might get some artists during the winter as well,” said university of Lethbridge Art Gallery general manager Jon Oxley.
“A lot of the artists like to go together,” Oxley continued.