Shaping Calgary
to
Herringer Kiss Gallery 101-1615 10 Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T3C 0J7
Artists of "Shaping Calgary," 2021
Shaping Calgary
Opening Reception Saturday, September 11th from 12 to 5 pm.
Artists in Attendance.
Herringer Kiss Gallery presents Shaping Calgary, an exhibition of 8 influential Calgary sculptors with ties to the Alberta College of Art, now the Alberta University of the Arts. Some of these artists were students at ACA, some were instructors and some were both, but all have a legacy with the institution. The 8 featured artists include Katie Ohe, Walter May, Rita McKeough, Gord Ferguson, Blake Senini, Laura Vickerson, Ron Kanashiro and Alex Caldwell.
Katie Ohe (Dip.1960, Instructor: 1960-62, 1970 – 2016) has been an incredibly influential sculptor, instructor and mentor in Alberta for 6 decades, her kinetic sculptures have been celebrated in western Canada for many years, capped by a recent retrospective at the Esker Foundation.
Walter May, former head of the sculpture dept. at the Alberta University of the Arts (Instructor: 1982 – 2013), is a multi-disciplinary artist primarily working with salvaged components which are then combined into elegant constructions.
Rita McKeough is a multi-disciplinary artist and musician with an acclaimed history in performance and installation. She currently is an instructor at the AUArts and has been teaching there since 2007.
Gord Ferguson (Dip. 1976, Instructor: 1981 – 2017) is a professor emeritus at the AUArts. His sculptures re-examine manufactured commercial components relating to their value in contemporary culture.
Blake Senini is another professor emeritus from the AUArts. His sculptural forms explore the interplay of light and architectural structure through negative space.
Laura Vickerson is a professor emeritus at AUArts (Instructor: 1989 -2020). Her work comments on changing trends and consumerism imagined through everyday objects.
Ron Kanashiro is a sculptor and graduate of the AUArts (Dip. 1979). His totemic sculptures are both modern and primitive and are realized with meticulous detail and sensitivity.
Alex Caldwell is also a graduate of the AUArts sculpture department (BFA. 1985). His works reflect a clean minimalist approach to sculpture often with glass-like surfaces of steel and bright colour.
Exhibition curated by Deborah Herringer and Kevin Kanashiro.