Nov 2011 –Jan 2012 - Preview

www.saag.caGroup Exhibition/Emotional BlackmailSOUTHERN ALBERTA ART GALLERY, LETHBRIDGE AB – Sep 24-Nov 13, 2011 Artwork expressing emotionshas been rather suspect for the past two or three decades so it’s refreshing to see an exhibit promotingtheir reappearance. EmotionalBlackmail is a curated show “tracing atendency over the last decade awayfrom irony and towards an attempt atsincere expression”.Curators Markús Andrésson andChen Tamir have been looking at thedifficulty of generating and analyzingemotion in contemporary art, and theways in which artists are currentlyusing emotions. The resulting exhibitoffers a sample of complex works in aneffort to examine what they call a “newstream of sincerity” or “neo-sincerity”.The selected artists are KristleifurBjörnsson, Kerry Downey, Hadley+Maxwell, Haraldur Jónsson, RagnarKjartansson and Magnus Sigurdarson,Meiro Koizumi, Tova Mozard, BennyNemerofsky, Ramsay and AleesaCohene, Christodoulos Panayiotou,Bert Rodriguez, Ariel Schlesinger,Sigga Björg Sigurardóttir, Untitled (2010) [Southern Alberta Art Gallery,Lethbridge AB, Sep 24-Nov 13]Amie Siegel and Sigga Björg Sigurardóttir. One of the most interesting aspects of the exhibit is thedegree to which emotions – or their equivalent – are expressed through cultural lenses: language, theatre,film and music ranging from pop music, YouTube, and teen culture to Ingmar Bergman and selfhelp.Mia JohnsonCOURTESY OF THE ARTISTapproach to nature and the naturallandscape; David Robinson, “NewWork”, sculptures juxtapose themselvesin urban architectural settings,demonstrate a modernistic approachto a very classical domain in art – thenude.Paul Kuhn Gallery724 11th Ave SW ✆403-263-1162www.paulkuhngallery.comtues-sat 10am-5:30pm and by appt.Thru Nov 12 Otto Rogers, “Painting/Sculpture”,new work; Nov 19-Dec 14 Takao Tanabe, “A Selectionof Works 1956-2009”, paintingsselected by the artist.Stride Art Gallery Association1004 MacLeod Trail SE ✆403-262-8507www.stride.ab.catues-sat 11am-5pm. Admission isfree. +15 Window, The Epcor Centrefor the Performing Arts, 205 8th AveSE. MAIN SPACE Thru Nov 25 PeterHorvath, “Memoir”, web-based andmulti-channel video works concentrateon issues of identity and psychicand emotional relations; Jan 6-Feb10 Robert Turriff, “Fictive Forests”,transformative installations take theviewer to another world, movingthem beyond any sense of a formalgallery space; PROJECT ROOM ThruNov 10 Amy Malbeuf, “Beyond…”,Malbeuf examines dreamcatchers toexplore their pertinence to our relationsof the past by examining theircontemporary cultural position andprophesying their future significance;Jan 6-Feb 3 Richard Brown, “ToSense The World”, Brown exploreslayers of paradox with 3-D stereophotographs, which are in themselvesparadoxical; +15 WINDOW NovMegan Dyck, “Perimeter;Vessel”,investigates a visual delineation ofphysical positive and negative spacesas happenstance by-products of linearplain breakdowns; Dec-JanJuliana Rempel, “Rearranged”,Rempel explores the relationshipbetween objects and the space theyinhabit, questioning how it is we findmeaning in the distance betweenfamiliarity and ambiguity.★ Swirl Fine Art & DesignUnit 104-100 7th Ave SW✆403-266-5337www.swirlfineart.comtues-fri 10am-5pm & sat 11am-4pmfirst thurs 10am-9pm. Nov 3-26Chester Lees, "Prairie Skies", newpaintings are set on the stage of theAlberta prairies, depicting ambiguouslocales and moments pausedbetween sunny and stormy; Dec 1-27 T’is the Season, Christmas artshow, featuring unique paintings,sculpture and pottery, all locallyhandcrafted and original; Jan 5-2818 PREVIEW ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER/JANUARY 2011/12 ★ OPEN LATE ON FIRST THURSDAYS