Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
1 June 2021 Vol 6 No 11 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2021
Portia Priegert
From the Editor
I had a phone call the other day from a woman angry about a controversy related to SFU Galleries curator Cheyanne Turions, who announced in February that she had stopped identifying as Indigenous.
Galleries West published a brief news item in April, based on a statement from the gallery and a Vancouver Sun story about the criticism Turion was facing for having accepted grants in the past intended for Indigenous curators.
The call reminded me that we’d heard nothing further, so I reached out to the university gallery for an update.
Although Turion remains on staff, I was told she is not involved in exhibitions and programming while the gallery works towards a resolution.
“SFU Galleries continues to move through a process of consultation and careful listening to members of the Indigenous art community, Indigenous university faculty and staff and our broader community,” the university said in a statement. “This is a complex process, and one that takes time and commitment, but we are dedicated to seeing it through.”
Turion, meanwhile, has posted an apology on her personal blog, where she has also outlined her plans to make amends.
I’m not sure what my caller thought Galleries West could accomplish – clearly, this is something the university needs to resolve – and my comments did nothing to mollify her. In any event, we are watching the situation and will keep readers posted on developments.
Meanwhile, in this issue, Vancouver arts writer Mark Mushet visits Vancouver’s other major university gallery, the Belkin at UBC to look at Holly Schmidt’s fascinating project – she's planting a field of fireweed outside the gallery amidst otherwise manicured lawns and gardens. The project's goal is to encourage people to ponder the human relationship to nature. A similar impulse can be found in a show in the B.C. Interior by Fern Helfand, a retired UBC Okanagan professor whose photo-based work documents the province’s forestry industry.
Also from Vancouver, is Yani Kong's review of an exhibition of vibrant abstract paintings at the Contemporary Art Gallery by the late American artist Leon Polk Smith.
Two stories in this issue take a turn into the fantastical. From Edmonton, Agnieszka Matjeko reviews Tammy Salzl’s eerily magical exhibition, Emerald Queendom, which explores myths and fables related to paradoxes in the human psyche, and, from Regina, Paul Gessell writes about an exhibition of macabre pandemic-influenced art by Winnipeg artist Diana Thorneycroft.
Finally, in Calgary, Richard White looks at Andrew James McKay’s intriguing paintings of public notices posted on telephone poles.
Also worth noting is an item on our news feed about a writing contest organized by the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge, in partnership with Galleries West, which is offering a publication opportunity for the Alberta winner. The contest also includes a national category for BIPOC writers.
Looking ahead to our next issue, we are working on a review of an exhibition about public monuments by Ericka Walker at the Kelowna Art Gallery. We'll also have a review of a show of drawings and ceramics by the late Charmian Johnson at Vancouver’s Catriona Jeffries gallery.
There will be more, of course, but the precise lineup will depend how quickly we pull out of the pandemic’s third wave. I'm sure we can all agree that can't come soon enough!
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Yani Kong, Agnieszka Matejko, Mark Mushet, 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.
