Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art explores themes of Spectacle, Big, Sky and Story
by Jane Bateman
If you find yourself on the snow-covered amphitheatre behind Donald Cameron Hall at The Banff Centre, don't be alarmed when you see a parked Airstream trailer with a tent-like structure inviting you inside. It is not the parking job of an erring tourist. Instead, it is a piece of installation artwork by artists Janice Rahn and Michael Campbell that is part of the 2005 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art.
This year the province of Alberta celebrates its centennial year. And in this same year, the Walter Phillips Gallery at The Banff Centre and The Edmonton Art Gallery are happily celebrating a biennial. On Feb. 26, The Walter Phillips Gallery hosted the opening of the fifth incarnation of the Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art, which will run in Banff until April 17. After this date, the show will travel to The Edmonton Art Gallery, where it will run from May 21 to September 4.
Beginning as a partnership in 1996 between the Edmonton Art Gallery and the Glenbow Museum, The Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art was intended to explore and showcase the diversity of contemporary artwork in Alberta. Since its incarnation in 1996, the Biennial has found its home in several art galleries but this year will be its first foray out of the Calgary and Edmonton areas.
Paul Jackson's "Forest" 2005, is a colour photograph on aluminium, 39.5" x 39.5", on exhibit at the 2005 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art.
Curated by the Edmonton Art Gallery's chief curator Catherine Crowston, and The Banff Centre's Anthony Kiendl, director of visual arts and The Walter Phillips Gallery, the Biennial gathers together the work of Alberta artists in all media. With over 245 submissions, Crowston and Kiendl narrowed it down to 50. After travelling the province to meet with and visit the studios of the established and emerging artists, they narrowed it down to the 24 artists whose work is displayed.
This year, a number of the artists in the Biennial have spent the seven weeks prior to the exhibition in a Creative Residency program at The Banff Centre. Faye HeavyShield, Mark Clintberg, Paul Jackson, Andrew King, Lyndal Osborne and Chris Millar have been preparing new works specifically for the Biennial.
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Janice Rahn and Michael Campbell's "Thirty degree portside list - The Elephant's Graveyard 2005", including this 1965 Safari Land Yacht Airstream, is a digital and video installation at the 2005 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art.
Thus, not only will the Walter Phillips showcase their work, but also several of the artist studios will become exhibition spaces, allowing the public a peek into the working spaces of several artists. Through a series of four themes: Spectacle, Big, Sky and Story, viewers will be able to consider the relationships between art and society - art that poses questions or even tells us something about life in Alberta, Canada and the world in 2005. The collection boasts a wide range of media, including installation, painting, audio, sculpture and photography. And while each artist is associated with one of the themes, it becomes apparent when viewing the work that these headings are somewhat interconnected, allowing the artists to cross over and visit the other themes.
Falling under the theme Spectacle, Calgary-based visual artist Dianne Bos displays three photographs taken at the Calgary Stampede. The photographs capture the carousel, carnival and fantasy feel to the Stampede, reflecting on spectacle in today's culture.
Artist Cherie F. Moses, who currently resides in Edmonton, presents an audio piece in surround sound. Under the theme Story, her piece, titled "Songs of the Mothers" examines dialogue between three Spanish-speaking women: a grandmother, her daughter and granddaughter. Giving the women the topic of speaking to their child as if it were the last talk of wisdom you could give them, Moses provides 13 minutes of warm and intimate dialogue in both English and Spanish.
From Marc Siegner's hanging installation constructed partly from sausage casings to David Hoffos's use of his own reflective technique which allows the viewer to become part of the work, all the artists provide unique and enthralling pieces of work.
Exploring numerous media, The Biennial showcases a wide range of work that provides an exciting opportunity to see the art that is being produced by some of today's Alberta artists. The show provides a taste of how dynamic the Alberta art community is along with its diversity and vitality. How fortunate the Bow Valley is to have access to such a first rate show of contemporary art. It is one not to be missed.
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