trap\door news + events
Trap\door currently has two calls for submission open. Learn about all the details here - we look forward to receiving your submissions!
member news
Recent works: Dr. L. Anne McClelland
The Curious Bird Studio and Gallery
March 3-26th, 2009
Medicine Hat Cultural Centre Gallery
Opening reception Sunday, March 8th - 2-4pm
Click on image to enlarge.
Naomi Sato and Brenna Kanski
le petit trianon
May 2 - June 27, 2009
Opening reception May 2, 8 pm.
Brought to you by Savill Group Architecture
Click on image to enlarge.
contemporary art in lethbridge
local exhibitions + events
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery
Culture Vulture Saturdays
March 14 – portrait/self-portrait
Try some alternative options for creating an image of a friend or of yourself. No Charge!
Annual Juried Student Exhibition
U of L Main Gallery
March 13 – April 9, 2009
Reception: March 13, 8 - 10 pm
Juror: Jen Budney
First Faculty: works by early members of the University of Lethbridge Art Department
Helen Christou Gallery
March 20 – May 29, 2009
Reception: closing reception with BFA
Curator: Jane Edmundson
Raphaëlle de Groot
The Burden of Objects
JANUARY – APRIL
From January through April the Southern Alberta Art Gallery will host Montréal artist Raphaëlle de Groot for an open-ended project investigating objects, the instability of any meanings they embody and the burden endured in their accumulation.
IN COLLABORATION
Join Montreal artist Raphaëlle de Groot in a series of collaborative and unrehearsed games designed to offer new ways to see and engage with everyday objects. Think about what it means to retain, discard and salvage items that have become a burden in our lives and discover our community through the objects we have let go.
In Collaboration is free of charge and will be offered from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at 324 - 5 Street South. Join us for In Collaboration on the following dates:
MARCH 18
APRIL 1
APRIL 2 en français
Nous sommes heureux d’offrir cette activité à la communauté française de Lethbridge le 2 AVRIL au 324 5 Street S de 5hr à 7hr pm.
SOUTHERN ALBERTA ART GALLERY
324 – 5 Street South
Lethbridge, Alberta
(403) 327-8770 ext. 4
Samuel Roy-Bois Polarizer
MARCH 14 – APRIL 26
324 - 5 Street South
The work of Samuel Roy-Bois resists easy categorization, freely mixing drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, music, architecture and literature to create large-scale installations at once cool, complex and mysteriously affective.
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 14, 8PM
at 324 - 5 Street South.
Reception sponsored by Young Parkyn McNab.
DIRECTIONS BY AARON HAGAN
The ‘drip-drive’ series by Aaron Hagan isn’t just an exuberant celebration of colour, but a rigorous examination of the process of painting itself.
The exhibition “Directions”, at the Bowman Arts Centre, presents 18 works from Hagan’s ‘drip-drive’ series. The pieces in the exhibition have been executed within the past 14 months, although Hagan has been working on the series for a number of years.
The visitor to the gallery is immediately struck by the almost overwhelming power of the colors in the pictures, bordering on overload. In the initial seconds, with the paintings encompassing your entire field of vision, a sensitive person may feel they are succumbing to the initial paroxysms of Stendhals Syndrome, but the moment quickly passes. The viewer is left with the opportunity to reflect on the individual works, and interact personally with the pieces.
The drip-drive paintings are constructed by dripping paint from the four edges to create a grid. This grid is then obsessively filled with small swatches of colour. It is an arbitrary process for Hagan, as he responds organically to the slowly coalescing field of color on the canvas. Sometimes he explores the tensions between complementary colors, the unity of monochromatics or the push and pull of warm and cool colours. Decisions about the direction of the paintings are made as the work progresses. The end result is always a sparkling jewel-like surface.
The exhibition “Directions” is accessible and interesting to everyone, from the seasoned art veteran to the individual with no previous exposure to art. They are interesting as an investigation of seriality, where the grid motif becomes a matrix to explore an endless possibility of colour relationships, they are interesting as questions about the compulsive, labour intensive process of art-making itself, and they are interesting as a celebration of the seductive and sensory power of colour.
The exhibition runs until March 7. The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Traveling Exhibition Program has optioned to take the show on the road, and it will be touring the province in the coming year. If you haven’t seen the exhibition, find the time, it is worth it.
Darcy Logan
Installation Review - Naomi Sato: I Held My Breath
Written By: Brenna Kanski
A soft glow radiates from a window as light illuminates the paper in Naomi Sato’s installation, I Held My Breath, at Parlour window downtown Lethbridge.
Sato’s process based work explores the body’s relationship to the past, present, and future and examines exchanges that take place between the self and the other. In this quiet work, a video documenting the artist breathing into paper forms, while gently cupping them in her hands, plays continuously on a loop. The residue from this performance, numerous white paper shapes, blankets the second window space.
As Sato “speaks” into the forms with her breath, it is up to the viewer to interpret and give meaning to the invisible words. The title of this work also defies static meaning. If taken literally, it may refer to the act of holding one’s breath in the present or past tense. It could also refer to the future, as one holds his or her breath in anticipation. Furthermore, it could represent withholding information through not speaking. The paper shapes that hold Sato’s breath form a barrier between the artist and the world. They act as a skin where an exchange of matter in and out of the body takes place. Paper is also a means of non-verbal communication through writing. But there are no words inscribed on the paper. The act of withholding communication is emphasized, or perhaps it is important is what we say when we don’t speak.
The act of breathing, with its repetitive, meditative nature becomes a means of communicating and heightening awareness of the self and the other. Sato’s installation provides the opportunity to stop and contemplate such things in the midst of the city.
regional exhibitions + events
calls for submission
Trap\door Artist Run Centre
Call for Submissions
Gushul Studio & Collaboration Project 2009
One goal of Trap\door artist run centre is to help visual artists develop their practice by providing opportunities for creative research and exploration. We see the promotion of emerging artists as a vital role for our organization and an important contribution to the cultural richness of our community.
With this goal in mind, Trap\door is offering the fourth annual Gushul Studio Residency & Collaboration Project. This project will combine the skills, knowledge, histories and varied approaches of two emerging visual artists. At least one artist will be picked from within Alberta and both artists will be chosen based on the strength and merit of their ongoing production as well as their collaborative abilities. Artists can apply individually and be paired with another artist or apply as a team. The two will do a residency together at the University of Lethbridge's Gushul Studio.
The Gushul is located in the scenic Crowsnest Pass in the town of Blairmore, Alberta. Trap\door chose the Gushul as the location for this residency because it is designed to accommodate two working artists and has been successfully utilized for 2 decades by professional artists and writers from across Canada, the United States, and Europe. It is an exceptional space which meets the requirements of the project and has the added extra incentive of allowing artists in residence to interact with, and contribute to, the vitality of the Crowsnest Pass community. Trap\door has booked the Gushul Studio for the month of September, 2009.
Trap\door will arrange and advertise an open house during which members of the community can visit the artists in residence. In addition, we will publish a full-colour brochure featuring written and visual documentation of the project.
Trap\door believes strongly in providing adequate funding for participants. Thus we will provide rental of the Gushul studio and writer's cottage as well as a living stipend and a $500 artist's fee for each artist.
To apply, please submit the following:
cv
Artist Statement
Statement of Intent
15 images (slides or digital images, and or VHS or DVD documentation)
Image list ( artist's name, title, date, medium, size)
Please mail applications to:
Trap\door
c/o 811 5 Avenue South,
Lethbridge, AB, T1J 0V2
Application Deadline: May 15th, 2009 (Applications must be received, not postmarked by this date.)
Trap\door Artist Run Centre
Call for Submissions
Trap\door is dedicated to the promotion of contemporary visual art which is challenging and critical. The purpose of Trap\door is to encourage experimentation by artists whose work explores the peripheries of their discipline. We differ from most artist run centres in that we have chosen to have no permanent exhibition space. This allows us to match the artists we exhibit with locations in Lethbridge that best suit their projects. Working with a limited budget, Trap\door deliberately dedicates the majority of our funds to artist's fees, exhibition expenses, and the direct costs of providing public access to contemporary art. We collaborate with other venues and institutions, sharing resources and developing symbiotic relationships.
Trap\door invites visual artists working in any discipline to submit proposals for the 2009/2010 programming year. Trap\door pays $1500 for solo exhibitions, and $300 for window space exhibitions. We chose a space depending on the needs of the project/exhibition proposed by the artist(s).
Please submit the following:
A cv
An Artist Statement
A proposal
15 images (slides or digital images, and or VHS or DVD documentation)
An image list ( artist's name, title, date, medium, size)
Mail to:
Trap\door
c/o 811 5 Avenue South,
Lethbridge, AB, T1J 0V2
Application Deadline: May 15th, 2009 (Applications must be received, not postmarked by this date.)
The Bowman Arts Centre Gallery Program is excited to extend a number of great opportunities to the artists in our community during the coming year.
The Bowman has a new website located at www.communityartscentre.org. If you are an artist with a website, we will be happy to post the link on our “Community Artists” page. Email me with a small jpeg image of your work, a sentence or two that describes your art, and the web address of your site. Send the information to darcy@artslethbridge.org with the words ‘information for Bowman website’ in the subject line.
The Bowman is also excited to present a new film series focusing on recent and contemporary painters titled “Brush Marks”. These films include award winners, independently produced features and rare European releases. The films examine the motivations of the subjects, provide contexts for their work, and will be of interest to both artists and the general public. As well, the films highlight the possibilities of paint, and provide an exhaustive exploration through the landscape of recent painting practices. Full of interesting anecdotes and practical information, these films will benefit individuals looking to expand their understanding of this field. All films are listed on the Bowman website.
The Bowman Gallery Program would like to announce a juried exhibition open to all members of the community. “Drawing on the Imagination” is a show that will be held in Waterfield Gallery at the Yates Theatre between June 20 and August 1, 2009. The theme of this exhibition is work that explores the processes of intuition and the imagination, rather than the process of working from life or photos. Works don’t have to be limited to ‘traditional’ drawing approaches, but can be exploratory, and executed on/with any media, provided it is grounded in the language of drawing. Individuals will be able to submit up to three works completed within the last 2 years for jurying. Individuals from outside the Gallery Program will be invited to act as jurors. All individuals selected to exhibit will be paid a fair honorarium for their participation. If you are interested in participating, and receiving further updates regarding jurying times, please make sure to telephone or email the Bowman Arts Centre, and leave both your name and contact information.
The Bowman Gallery Program would like to announce another juried exhibition, again open to all members of the community. The working title is “Bridging Divides”, and will run from August 8 - September 19, 2009. This exhibition is a part of the City’s commemoration of the High Level Bridge centennial. The railway was important to the development of our community; it bridged the gap between the West and the East and bridged the space between resources and industry. In our current cultural mosaic, the bridge is a strong symbol of how numerous and varied individuals and communities make up the vibrant tapestry of Lethbridge. This exhibition asks artists to respond to the theme of ‘bridges’ as a metaphor. These bridges could be between ethnicities, between the young and old, between the artist and the audience or perhaps between subcultures. These are just possible ideas, as the theme is open and artists are encouraged to interpret it personally. All media may be submitted. Individuals selected to exhibit will be paid a fair honorarium for their participation. If you are interested in participating, and receiving further updates regarding jurying times, please make sure to telephone or email the Bowman Arts Centre, and leave both your name and contact information.
The Potemkin Collective, a group of community artists, is planning a show in May in a disused building downtown. The show will be open to all individuals that would like to participate. The theme will be on reclamation, and they will be inviting artists to respond directly to the space through site-specific work, or use existing work. For more information contact them directly at: gallerypotemkin@hotmail.com.
employment opportunities
Executive Director: Harcourt House Arts Centre
Harcourt House Arts Centre (Edmonton) is looking for an exceptional individual to assume the position of Executive Director.
All information here (PDF)
workshops + courses
classifieds + miscellanea
Resturant Review
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the new hotspot in Lethbridge called Henotic. This restaurant definitely lived up to all of my expectations. I was pleased to see that the dishes were quite reasonably priced. The atmosphere is laid back and it had an open, spacious layout. Reservations need not be made, as there are many open tables, allowing you to walk right in. The service was pleasant, and we were givens plenty of time to enjoy the décor while we waited for our food. The paintings were artistically hung, which gave us fodder for conversation. Our food arrived, cooled down for us so we would not burn our tongues (very thoughtful). The salad was like a fine wine, aged for flavour. We also learned language lessons through our orders. Did you know that Focaccia means Kaiser Roll, and that Panini is a fancy word for a jumbo hotdog bun? I asked my party to give me their thoughts. Some of their descriptions: misleading, tepid, inferior, unsavory, bland, no flavour; over cooked; greasy; something labeled as roast veggies should be roasted; irredeemable. They were being facetious of course…Henotic is a wonderful and amazing place and so much better than Taj could ever be. I suggest that everyone who eats at Taj goes to visit Henotic, and make it your new favourite restaurant, and leave the Taj free for the rest of us.
Sincerely,
The Palatable Tongue in Cheek,
Lethbridge’s Premier Food Critic.
HO SO GOOD
A tribute to Dr. Ho, sung to John Mellancamp's Hurt So Good
When I herniated my L5-S1
Doctor said put away those snow shoveling ways
Now you’re getting’ older so much older
You’ll be enjoying many Dr. Ho days
With a TENS like you
With a TENS like you
Lord knows there are things we can do, baby
Just setting #3 and me
Come on and make it a
Hurt so good
Ho you know you make it hurt so good
Sometimes pain don’t feel like it should
You make it hurt so good
No-Time Bread Recipe - click to download PDF
CONTACT US!
We remain an active organization without a permanent space,
but you can always reach us at:
Trap\door Artist Run Centre
c/o 811 5 Ave S
Lethbridge, AB, Canada
T1J 0V2
info@trapdoorarc.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16285190999
