A Prairie Vernacular (Folk & Contemporary Art Narratives of Life on the Canadian Prairies.)

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AGSM, "A Prairie Vernacular," 2021

images L-R: Janet Mitchell, "And On This Farm," acrylic on canvas, 1988, Kenneth HouseGo, "Casual Distress, Harvester," mixed media, wooden toy cutouts, 1985, Victor Cicansky, "Heritage Seeds," clay, glaze 1985, Sherry Farrell Racette, "Riel’s Vision of Death:1885," gouache, watercolour, ink, acrylic, coloured pencil and graphite on paper, 1992, David Thauberger, "Power Line," acrylic and sparkles, 2001

On Thursday, January 14, 7:00 pm the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba will virtually debut the 2021 winter season with the regionally touring exhibition, A Prairie Vernacular (Folk & Contemporary Art Narratives of Life on the Canadian Prairies.) 

An extensive survey of over 100 art works assembled from public and private collections about life on the Prairies examines historical and contemporary representations of the vernacular in artistic practice on the Canadian prairies. Adopting the materials, methods and motivations of a folk aesthetic, these works reflect on memories and histories of life on the prairies and present visual narratives rife with humour, fantasy, myth, politics, religion, and the prairie gothic.

A relationship between folk & contemporary art produced in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, reveals a shared interest in Prairie experience, culture, environment and sensibilities as compelling sources for artistic practice.

There are 75 Prairie-based artists and over 100 works in the exhibition. Participating Manitoba artists include Ivan Eyre, Bill Lobchuk, Don Proch, Chris Reid and Diana Thorneycroft.

Organized and Circulated by the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery (SK) with the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre (AB).

UPCOMING EVENTS

January 14 | 7:00 PM CT | VIRTUAL OPENING

- Introduction to the AGSM’s new curator, Lucie Lederhendler

January 15 | 12 NOON CT | LUNCH & LOOK – In Partnership with The Dock

- Curator Talks with Jennifer McRorie and Joanne Marion

January 28 | 7:00 PM CT | A VERNACULAR SPOTLIGHT

February 4 | 2:00 PM CT | ARTIST TALK – Diana Thorneycroft

February 11 | 7:00 PM CT | A VERNACULAR SPOTLIGHT

February 18 | 7:00 PM CT | A VERNACULAR SPOTLIGHT

February 25 | 2:00 PM CT | ARTIST TALK – Adrian Stimson

March 4 | 7:00 PM CT | A VERNACULAR SPOTLIGHT

March 11 | 6:30 PM CT | FAMILY WORKSHOP

 Vernacular art is largely defined as a genre of art made by individuals untrained in the visual arts or who may not identify as artists. Included in this exhibition are both historic and contemporary untrained or self-taught artists, as well as academically trained artists whose works are affected by the locality and history of the Prairie. Shared contexts and subject matter reflect on memories and histories of life on the prairies and present visual narratives rife with humour, fantasy, myth, politics, religion, and the prairie gothic. The relationship between Prairie folk art and contemporary art is complex and, perhaps symbiotic stemming from a shared interest in Prairie experience, culture, environment and sensibilities as compelling sources for artistic practice.

Dr. Carmen Robertson observes that Indigenous vernacular art envisions the Prairies through a lens that fixes spiritual kinship with the land. The buffalo, an iconic symbol of the inter-relational connections to land manifested in an early work by Kainai artist Percy Plain Woman and in recent works by Siksika artist Adrian Stimson, serves here as a unifying force for diverse individual and collective narratives. Considering these works as visual stories, much like oral or textual ones held by Indigenous peoples of this territory, resituates the rendered narratives that span almost eighty years within a cultural milieu.