Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
12 March 2019 Vol 4 No 6 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2019
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
A friend invited me recently to a fascinating talk about wildlife conservation by Florian Schulz, a superb German nature photographer and Arctic adventurer who works with National Geographic.
His remarkable images of polar bears take obsession to a new level. But, more than anything, I was captured by his passion for his life's work.
It’s always a joy to meet people who love what they do.
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield had that same enthusiasm when I interviewed him early in his career, long before he courted the international stage in 2013 by playing David Bowie’s Space Oddity in the International Space Station.
Closer to home, I recall the excitement of curator Barry Till as he showed off the amazing Asian treasures in the basement storage vault at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria several years ago.
Artists, too, often revel in their work. One such is Chris Attrell, who has carved out a niche with his gothic portraits of abandoned heritage buildings on the Prairies.
The last time I looked, this issue’s story about Chris had more than 950 likes – our second-highest online viewership. (Sarah Swan’s story about bead artist Margaret Nazon, which topped that with some 1,200 likes, is a finalist at next month’s Alberta Magazine Awards.)
Another story in this issue is about Cindy Baker’s take on fat activism. I was the director of the Alternator in Kelowna, B.C., when she exhibited pair upon pair of panties in every conceivable size, design and pattern – all pinned salon-style to the gallery walls. It was such fun to watch passersby do a double take and start laughing, although the show also had a more serious message about the fluidity of desire.
We also have a story about Edmonton artist Robin Smith-Peck. I’m looking forward to seeing her latest collages when I tour Alberta galleries next month with Galleries West publisher Tom Tait.
Other stories look at an international photography exhibition themed around dust; Edmonton artist Riisa Gundesen’s visceral self-portraits about depression; and abstract paintings by North Vancouver’s Steve Baylis.
I’ll soon begin to post stories for the next issue. One highlight will be a story by Murray Whyte about Vancouver-based artist Liz Magor, who is exhibiting this year in Boston and Chicago. Murray, also nominated for an Alberta Magazine Award, recently became the art critic at the Boston Globe, moving from the Toronto Star, where he wrote occasionally about Western Canadian artists for Galleries West.
We are also working on two stories with a darker aspect. One is about Lethbridge, Alta., artist Mary Kavanagh, whose show, Daughters of Uranium, explores the atomic age from the perspective of the sentient body and intergenerational trauma. The other looks at Designing Death, an exhibition about contemporary funerary objects and architecture.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Beverly Cramp, Paul Gessell, Agnieszka Matejko