Lethbridge was in the midst of art madness with five new exhibits opening this weekend.
All of the local galleries tend to open new exhibits on the same night, which makes it a bit of an experience for art aficionados. A reason to go out and tour downtown to see what’s going on as all of them are within a few blocks of each other.
But the fun began on Friday at the University of Lethbridge. In the Helen Christou Gallery next to the library, an exhibition called Semiotica — the Persuasion of Text opened with six large works featuring text, including a large ‘Swoooooooosh’ backlit by neon lights, as well as a paper with lines “I Will Not Create Boring Art” written on it.
Downstairs in the main gallery, the new annual curated student exhibition “The Objects of My Attention” featured some unusual works including a “Totem Pole” which was a large pole with a Totem receipt tacked to it leaning against a wall featuring some works by Arianna Richardson who covered dollar store plates and assorted bric a brac with sugar and sparkles, some large multi-coloured bread bag tags. there was also an oversized box camera which you could look inside of, some interesting textile works. All the while a giant video of a freaky looking, cackling clown getting his make-up done to a soundtrack of assorted dissonance, white noise and weird sounds from Jarrett Duncan which was guaranteed to either trigger long repressed fears of clowns or start one, wax casts of hand sanitizers and some unusual photos which looked like they were taken from inside someone’s mouth from Monique Bedard. There was also interesting abstract watercolour works and multi-coloured textiles.
This exhibit runs until April 9.
Baggage
at the Paramount
The big event was Saturday, with a special exhibit from the Potemkin Collective, which dominated three rooms in the old Paramount Theatre building.
Numerous local artists let their imaginations run wild to figure out unique uses for baggage, in particular examining how artists get their art to exhibits.
Some, like Will Osler interpreted the theme literally, putting a painting in his luggage.
Others filled their suitcases with old clothing and family heirlooms that might be found in any attic. Others like Sarah Christensen filled her suitcase with a complete divorce kit.
Others were weird. One suitcase was filled with red licorice and another in a darkened basement room lead to a heart-stopping zombie.
You can see for yourself as the exhibit continues this Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 1-4 p.m.
In the entrance foyer, Kamloops potter Brendan Tang combined his love with science fiction with his love for traditional pottery designs to create some beautifully wrought vases including elements of children‘s toys and, robot arms and interstellar spacecraft designs.
The main exhibit, by Danish born, N
ew York based artist Nanna Debois Buhl examines Danish colonialism in an exhibit featuring photographs, text, film, sound and interviews along with her new book “Journey in Two Directions” Both exhibits run until April 25.Trianon
The Trianon gallery featured the works of Gordon Payne. His exhibition “Walk in the Woods,” is unusual abstract art. Some of it includes unusual, almost fantastical shapes in ink on paper. Others are ink on paper. He also uses charcoal on paper. This exhibition runs until April 30.
Mueller Gallery features Julie Duschenes
Last but not least the Mueller Gallery has some really impressive oil on canvas paintings from local artist Julie Duschenes. As Murray nelson and Jolene Draper played some mellow background music, a lot of familiar faces from the other openings trickled in and enjoyed snacks as well as some of Duschenes’ pretty paintings. They feature vibrant colours and some really cool silhouettes of Southern Alberta images such as windmills as well as gorgeous landscapes.
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