Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
11 January 2022 Vol 7 No 01 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2022
Portia Priegert
From the Editor
It’s starting again. Just as we were building up confidence to venture out to openings, another wave of COVID-19 has hit, this one turbo-charged by the super-contagious Omicron variant.
Right now, Central Canada is bearing the brunt of the infection, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordering temporary gallery and museum closures until Jan. 26. That has put on hold our hopes of reviewing Red is Beautiful, a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario by Robert Houle, an influential Anishinaabe Saulteaux artist, curator and educator from Manitoba.
With infection rates climbing quickly in the West, we may yet face closures. At least one gallery has already closed – Winnipeg’s Urban Shaman, the artist-run Indigenous centre, which shuttered the day before our reviewer could get to Pathfinder, Buffy Sainte-Marie’s retrospective exhibition of digital art. I’m hoping we can pick up coverage of that show before its scheduled closing on March 5.
This is not just a Canadian phenomenon, of course. Internationally, several major art fairs have delayed their launch. The situation prompted New York gallerist Nicola Vassell to tell The Art Newspaper last month that she thinks the pandemic will continue to shape the market. “We will abide by a new seasonal tempo, that of COVID’s ebb and flow,” she said. “Activity will accelerate when viral transmission is low and decrease when the opposite is true.”
In December, I spoke with directors at three Western Canadian public galleries to learn more about their coping strategies. The ongoing crisis is also putting immense pressure on artists and cultural workers, many of whom are re-evaluating their future in the arts. For a thorough discussion on that topic – and how governments can support the arts community through public policy – I encourage you to check out Zainub Verjee’s excellent year-end analysis. We also had year-end stories about how galleries are using digital tools and alternative approaches to in-person viewing as we approach the pandemic’s two-year mark.
Moving on to this issue, we look at three Western exhibitions that opened last year and continue into 2022. In Calgary, writer Richard White looks at the work of Jason Frizzell. In Edmonton, we introduce a new writer, Ashlynn Chand, who considers the soil between plants, a group show by emerging BIPOC artists. And in Lethbridge, another new writer, Kevyn Sander, reviews a show at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery by Britta Marakatt-Labba, a Sámi artist from Sweden.
We also feature Doug Maclean’s in-depth look at the fall auction season. Despite everything happening in our world, auction markets are succeeding by moving online. Finally, I write about As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic, a book that highlights works from a fascinating collection amassed by Toronto collector Kenneth Montague. It was published in New York in late November, but somehow we missed it in our roundup of 2021 art books. I thought it was worthy of its own article as it helps increase awareness of the many excellent Black photographers in Canada.
Looking ahead, we are working on stories about shows by George Littlechild in Edmonton, Nic Wilson in Saskatoon and Connie Sabo and Jonah Samson, both in Vancouver. We also look at two group shows, one in Calgary about mental health and the other in Regina about the death of parents, one of life’s major turning points.
Sadly, the Galleries West team is mourning its own loss, longtime graphic arts collaborator Richart Bocxe. He worked with publisher Tom Tait at different times in the 40 years since his move to Calgary from the Netherlands. He was the art director of the print version of Galleries West through its first five years. Since then, he has continued to support the magazine with ad production and other graphic services, even as he courageously faced a long illness unrelated to COVID-19. We will miss his calm manner and cheerful friendship.
Keep safe until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Ashlynn Chand, Douglas Maclean, Kevyn Sander, Richard White
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Special Measures for Journalism Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
