Fall 2012 Artists Brochure

PUBLIC PROGRAMS SEPTEMBER

FIRST THURSDAY - TALKS - Meet the Artists Soiree Keith Walker Clusters

Gord Ferguson, Strung II, 2007

Voyager Art & Tile, Dawn Detarando and Brian McArthur, Kaleidoscope Menagerie

THINKING BIG: Unveiling Public Art Projects

a group exhibition co-presented by the Alberta Craft Council and The City of Calgary Public Art Program Thinking Big: Unveiling Public Art Projects explores the creative energy, technical expertise and complex work required to fulfill the obligations for a successful public art project.

This exhibition features original sketches, technical drawings, models, journals, videos and maquettes created for 22 juried projects; representing public art installations throughout the province of Alberta.

Developing a public art project from concept to final unveiling is a complicated, sometimes frustrating, and potentially rewarding process. For an artist this can be a delicate balance.

Successful projects are expected to be brilliant, feasible, buildable, durable, safe, on budget, on schedule and acceptable to jury members. Each project also needs to reflect, inform or engage its audience, satisfy its supporters and funders and appease its detractors.

Artist’s who choose to compete for projects must prove to be astute and adaptable as they are expected to professionally maneuver all of the necessary requirements to move their artwork from creative vision through to reality. Successfully managing budget constraints, timelines, site conditions, cost controls, structural concerns and potential delays takes an organized, dedicated and creative individual.

This exhibition is coordinated and co-presented by the Alberta Craft Council and The City of Calgary Public Art Program, in partnership with The Art Gallery of Calgary.

THE ART GALLERY OF CALGARY

September 6, 6 - 8pm Join Senior Interim Art Curator Anne Ewen in conversation with our Fall 2012 exhibiting artists: Jennifer Akkermans, Jeremy Fokkens, Gregory Hardy, and Diana Un-Jin Cho.

CALGARY ARTWALK - Button Making

September 15, 11am -4pm Free @ The AGC The AGC is proud to participate in the 27th annual Calgary Artwalk. Visitors are welcome to express their creativity through Button Making and explore all 5 exhibitions on display throughout the gallery.

Educators will be on hand to facilitate the workshop, guide tours and answer questions.

ENMAX FAMILY FUN DAY - Button Making

September 29, 1-3pm *$2 per child Explore creativity through the arts. All ages welcome. An adult must accompany children under twelve.

NOVEMBER

FIRST THURSDAY - TALKS - An Exploration of Drawing By Gregory Hardy

November 1, 6 - 8pm Nationally renowned Canadian landscape artist Gregory Hardy shares his personal insights into the function of drawing and the art of the view: contemplating and rendering intangibles, nuances, tiny gestures and movements.

TALKS - Public Art 101: Thinking Big

November 13, 6:30pm - 8:30pm As part of The City of Calgary’s Public Art 101 series, sculptor Gord Ferguson and painter Chris Cran will discuss issues of ‘site’ and ‘context’ in public art. These two artists have recently collaborated to create a public sculpture in the new Atlantic Arts Block in Inglewood.

ENMAX FAMILY FUN DAY - Alternative Energy & the Arts

OCTOBER

November 30, 1-3pm *$2 per child Explore creativity through the arts. All ages welcome. An adult must accompany children under twelve.

October 4, 6 - 8pm Meet photographer Jeremy Fokkens and learn about the inspiration and process behind his most recent series of documentary portraiture: original and highly detailed black and white photographs of contemporary Calgarians.

DECEMBER

FIRST THURSDAY - TALKS - I am Calgary by Jeremy Fokkens

FILM - Twelve Steps To A Compassionate Life

October 6, 1-4pm, Drop in screenings Free in the Media Gallery @ The AGC Join us for the video presentation of Karen Armstrong’s worldwide Charter for Compassion. The Charter is based on a belief that the principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. All ages welcome.Take a tour of the exhibitions to follow the screening. And join our educators for a button making workshop inspired by the principles of Harvest Festival and the Charter for Compassion.

FALL BANNER EXHIBITION Sept 7 - Dec 23, 2012

An Exploration of Landscape Drawing

Inspired by Jogakbo

I am Calgary

Institute of Morphoid Research

Gregory Hardy

Diana Un-Jin Cho

Jeremy Fokkens

Jennifer Akkermans

FIRST THURSDAY - TALKS - Institute of Morphoid Research by Jennifer Akkermans

December 6, 6 - 8pm Discover more about Morphoids! Artist Jennifer Akkermans will explain the creative origins of the Institute of Morphoid Research (IMR), a foundation she established which is devoted to the study and preservation of curious, colourful organisms called Morphoids.

WORDFEST - Cures for Hunger

October 10, 12pm $8 @ The AGC Prizewinning author, Deni Béchard opens up about his tumultuous childhood and outlaw father in this retrospective interview about how family history can influence personal identity.

Thinking Big: Unveiling Public Art Projects

Presenting Sponsor:

WORDFEST - War, What is it Good For?

VISION The Art Gallery of Calgary is recognized and valued locally, nationally and internationally for the exceptional quality of its leading-edge contemporary art exhibitions and art education programs.

MISSION The Art Gallery of Calgary exposes a broad audience to a diverse range of contemporary art through the presentation of leading-edge exhibitions and art education programs.

MANDATE The Art Gallery of Calgary is a public contemporary art gallery and a registered charitable organization. The AGC is dedicated to presenting leading-edge contemporary art exhibtions and providing quality art education porgrams and experiences for people of all ages. The AGC does not seek to acquire a

October 11, 5pm $8 @ The AGC Felicia Mihali and Noah Richler explore the depiction of war in culture, how it enters the popular imagination and influences national identity; followed by an audience Q&A. This event is sponsored by Alberta Views.

Alberta Craft Council

WORDFEST - Marie Darrieussecq et Felicia Mihali

October 12, 7pm $12 @ The AGC Deux auteures francophones acclamées par la critique nous font découvrir leurs derniers romans, les aventures de femmes évoluant dans des univers très différents.

Cet évènement est sponsorisé par Radio-Canada.

ENMAX FAMILY FUN DAY - Halloween Arts

TODAY’S BEST MUSIC

a group exhibition co-presented by the Alberta Craft Council and The City of Calgary

October 27, 1-3pm *$2 per child Explore creativity through the arts. All ages welcome. An adult must accompany children under twelve.

permanent art collection.

TASTINGS - Wine, Art & Cheese Tasting - Anne Ewen Interim Senior Art Curator

Cover images (clockwise from the left): Gregory Hardy, ‘Bison in March’; Diana Un-Jin Cho, ‘Chogak Colour 30’; Jeremy Fokkens, ‘Andy‘; Jennifer Akkermans, ‘Terranium‘; Thinking Big, ‘Wishing Well’ Living Lenses 2012.

October 30, 7-10pm $60 per person The AGC invites the public to participate in a rare evening of Wine, Art & Cheese appreciation. This unique tasting event brings together experts in each field: Sommelier Richard Harvey of Metrovino Fine Wines, The AGC’s Senior Interim Curator, Anne Ewen and Fromager Janice Beaton of Janice Beaton Fine Cheese, and inspires guests to forge new connections across the visual and culinary arts. For more information and to purchase tickets, please contact 403.770.1358 or email programming@artgallerycalgary.org.

1 1 7 - 8 A V E N U E S . W . C A L G A R Y, A L B E R TA , C A N A D A T 2 P 1 B 4 MAIN:403.770.1350 FA X : 4 0 3 . 2 6 4 . 8 0 7 7 W W W . A R T G A L L E R Y C A L G A R Y. O R G

FALL 2012

DIANA UN-JIN CHO Inspired by Jogakbo

Diana Un-Jin Cho is a Calgary based visual artist who explores her Korean heritage and Canadian cultural identities by studying and applying the traditional techniques of the Korean jogakbo designs. Colourful hand-made mulberry paper is geometrically collaged and precisely interlocked with machine printed pieces displaying Hangul, the native alphabet of the Korean language.

JENNIFER AKKERMANS Institute of Morphoid Research

Bison in March

GREGORY HARDY

An Exploration of Landscape Drawing Featured in the Main Gallery are the large and powerfully expressive drawings by nationally respected Canadian landscape artist Gregory Hardy.Through his drawings Hardy’s selectivity, observation and composition articulate an exciting personal vocabulary. For him, drawing provides an immersion into the subject and immediacy to the surroundings on a conscious and intuitive level. A view is contemplated and rendered capturing intangibles, nuances, minimal or detailed gestures and movements. Absorbed in the moment, information is gathered and embedded in memory for future exploration and study in the studio environment. Often accompanied by classical music, Hardy allows its rhythms, forms and textures to orchestrate his compositions. The result is spontaneous and fluid evoking a harmonic response to the land he knows and adores.

Since emigrating from Korea to Canada in 1993, drawing and coloring have always played an important part in her life. While attending the Alberta College of Art + Design where she received a BFA with distinction in 2007, Un-Jin began to blend the influence of the rich textile traditions of fourteenth century Chogakbo quilting in Korea with her own patterns and designs. Resisting the traditional usage of colour, the artist applies a contemporary aesthetic.

The exploration of each individual piece of paper is balanced and complemented against one another resulting in a comprehensive schematic design exuding optimism and energy.

Jennifer Akkermans has combined her dry humor and vivid imagination with knowledge gained from high school science and an intrinsic artistic flair to tell the curious visual story of ambiguous creatures named Morphoids.

Coinciding with her graduation from the Alberta College of Art + Design, Akkermans founded the Institute of Morphoid Research (IMR) in 2011 with the aim to study and preserve the organisms falling within the phylum of Morphopodia.

The artist has transformed the Media Gallery into an informational display where she will share her studies of the habitat and living conditions of these vibrantly coloured and diversely sized creatures. To date, the Institute has observed numerous inherent qualities, in particular, a defense mechanism to freeze when being watched.

Diana Un-Jin’s work is displayed in public and private collections throughout Alberta including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the City of Calgary Civic Art Collection.

Andy

Sojourn Rodger-Duncan

JEREMY FOKKENS

Hardy’s drawings on paper and canvas are works complete unto themselves. The images are eloquently depicted in graphite, charcoal and pastel revealing the subtle, rich fragility of the complex Saskatchewan ecosystem. The extending plains thrive with resilient shrubbery, diverse grasses, wildlife, flourishing lakes, wetlands, and theatrical atmospheric conditions combine to provide an irresistible domain for artistic creativity. Hardy’s artworks express years of first hand observation and meditative presence with rare skill and confidence.

Also on view is the film, Morphopodia: A Strange New World in Our Own Back Yard which includes short segments on each of the Morphoids, including interviews with Akkermans, footage acquired by hidden cameras, action shots, and eye witness accounts. The film offers a comprehensive overview of the IMR and the creatures it studies.

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Akkermans now lives and works in Calgary.

I am Calgary

Documenting the unguarded moments of humanity, Jeremy Fokkens’ highly detailed black and white photographs encompass both subject and environment, creating visually stimulating and thoughtprovoking photos of contemporary society. His approach to portraiture incorporates the sitter’s resilience, spontaneous moments and textural imperfections. I am Calgary provides an intimate view of a city whose socio-economics has evolved from frontier culture to urban metropolis enriched by humanity from all quadrants of the globe. Cultural diversity, eclectic and heterogeneous neighborhoods, as well as various bourgeoning industries have situated Calgary beyond the perception of cowboys and oil barons.

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1950 and now a resident there, Hardy also maintains a studio to the east in the town of Meacham. Primarily self-taught, he was encouraged by many renowned Saskatchewan artists whose influence propelled his development. As a result, Hardy’s work is now housed in numerous corporate, public and private collections.

Chogak Colour 30

Chogak Colour 43

Fokkens grew up in Chestermere, Alberta where as a young teenager he focused his energy and immersed himself in all forms of dance, practicing as much as 4-5 hours a day, six days a week. After high school he was hired by a cruise ship company to perform with dance troupes and by age 23 had travelled to 40 countries. Intrigued by the different cultures and interesting individuals he encountered, he purchased a camera, stopped dancing professionally and became a full-time photographer.To Fokkens it was an intuitive transition and a form of expression that evolved naturally for him. His curiosity and love of photography has since prompted extensive treks to Rwanda, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Vietnam. Inspired by each of his subjects, Fokkens’ spends much time forming genuine relationships and earning trust. Through familiarity, he becomes an unconscious or forgotten being thus empowering him with immediate access to digitally explore the essence of his subject and expose the viewer to an intimate view of their existence.

Sepal in Nature

Frenchman River and Willow

Chogak 11

Chogak Colour 28 Pteropod

From the Top

Armand Cohen

Foraminifera in Nature