A Prairie Vernacular

×

Expand

Images provided by MJM&AG, Saskatchewan Arts Board and Amalie Atkins.

left: Molly Lenhardt, “Canadian Ukrainian Girl,” n.d., oil on canvas board, 93.5 x 62.5 cm,

centre: Victor Cicansky, “Harvest Seeds,” 1985, clay, glaze, 50.0 x 43.5 x 30.0 cm, Saskatchewan Arts Board Permanent Collection; (right) Amalie Atkins, still image from Scenes From a Secret World, 2010, 16 mm film, Total Running Time: 8 mins, 4 secs, Saskatchewan Arts Board Permanent Collection.

A PRAIRIE VERNACULAR:

Folk & Contemporary Art Narratives of Life on the Canadian Prairies

The exhibition, A Prairie Vernacular, examines historic and contemporary representations of the vernacular in artistic practice on the Canadian prairies, considering the relationship of folk art to contemporary art produced in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. These representations of the vernacular not only adopt the materials, methods and/or motivations of a folk aesthetic, but speak to shared contexts and subject matter, either reflecting on memories and histories of life on the prairies or presenting visual narratives rife with humour, fantasy, myth, politics, religion, and the prairie gothic. The relationship between folk or vernacular art and contemporary art on the Prairies has been complex and, perhaps, somewhat symbiotic, stemming from a shared interest in Prairie experience, culture, environment and sensibilities as compelling sources for artistic practice.

Curated by Jennifer McRorie & Joanne Marion; organized by the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery and the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre (Medicine Hat, AB); Funded by the Government of Canada through a Canadian Heritage Museums Assistance Program grant.