Seven art new exhibitions open at Casa this weekend, all featuring southern Alberta and Lethbridge based artists.
While there will be an opening reception at Casa from 7-9 p.m. for the new exhibits, due to covid, there won’t be food and drinks served.
“ Lethbridge has such a strong art community, I’m just proud to be part of it,” said Jason Trotter, taking a break from setting up his exhibition “The Existencilist,” in the Casa main Gallery.
“ Lethbridge has got to be the biggest art community per capita in the province if not the country, he said, adding, he, like many Lethbridge artists spent the pandemic creating.
He has been part of the local art community since 2011 when he was part of the Potemkin collective.
Trotter is a popular local stencil artist, inspired by street artists like Banksy, who works in stencils on metal.
His work is usually on display at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, often of local musicians Shaela Miller, Ryland Moranz and Owl Acoustic lounge owner Steven Foord.
Graffiti on rail cars inspired “The Existencilist,” which features an array of Alberta historical themes and images stencilled on images of grain cars.
Subjects include everything from the Fort Macleod buffalo, an owl, which has a personal connection for Trotter, a hobo coin, Edmonton rapper Cadence Weapon and Rocky and Bullwinkle villain Boris Badenov.
“ He was always tying damsels to train tracks,” Trotter observed.
Local folk musician John Wort Hannam adorns another piece.
“Maybe he’ll be inspired to write a song,” Trotter said.
A couple of the pieces are a little meta as they feature images of spray painters, including one exploring a western theme with two spray painters dressed as cowboys in the midst of a pitched gunfight.
“Kudos to places like Casa and The Trianon and the Owl for supporting local artists,” he said adding he hopes local artists will inspire younger artists.
Casa curator Darcy Logan is excited to open a new set of local exhibits.
