Mirror with No Reflection
Art Gallery of St Albert 19 Perron St, St. Albert, Alberta T8N 1E5
The Art Gallery of St. Albert (part of the Arts and Heritage Foundation) is launching its newest exhibition in the beautiful main gallery space on July 24. A Mirror with No Reflection offers visitors a unique, interactive experience.
Visitors can feel like they have been allowed behind the camera to witness this story that St. Albert born artist Nicholas Hertz has created. As they move through the space, their reflection keeps popping up, caught on screens and paper surfaces. Everywhere, there are references to places that they know and experiences that seem so familiar. But nothing seems quite real.
Hertz has laid a path for visitors to wander through this archive–their archive, as the exhibition gathers their life and experience. For Nicholas, each moment is a small fragment of a vivid memory, a documentation of Nicholas’ presence. In these stilled images of rooms, buildings and streets, Nicholas remembers who they were in that time and place.
“It is a way for Nicholas to reflect on growing up queer in St. Albert, and think of community, connection and acts of care,” says Art Gallery of St. Albert Curator, Emily Baker. “Through it, Nicholas examines the relationship between a place and body - which isn’t always clear when it comes to memories. Here, place often exists as an active character, while body becomes the location of an experience or memory.”
Visitors find that their own narratives overlap with Nicholas’s, sharing that space. Together in self-reflection, everyone stares into the same mirror, working to understand.
A Mirror with No Reflection runs until August 30.
Events:
Reception: July 31 from 6 – 8 pm
Virtual tour: August 1 at noon on Facebook Live)
In-person tours: August 7 at 6:30 pm & Aug 29 at 3 pm (along with Musée Héritage Museum's Raising St. Albert exhibition)
Artist led workshop: August 21 from 6:30 - 8 pm
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