Western Canada’s art magazine since 2002
4 March 2025 Vol 10 No 5 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2025
Shelley Boettcher
From the Editor
True North Strong and Free. If you are in Montreal this year, don't miss the Joyce Wieland retrospective, Heart On, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Former Galleries West editor and frequent contributor Paul Gessell takes a look at the show, noting that “Wieland wore her fierce Canadian patriotism on her sleeve — and on her artworks, which include paintings, wall hangings, films, photographs and assemblages.” A must-see — and it'll be at the AGO down the road, too.
Caroline Loewen returns to Galleries West with a look at Erika DeFreitas’ exhibition, and that break is the one that shows (to shift, a curve, to quiver). The show is at the Esker Foundation in Calgary until April 27 and, in fact, is DeFreitas' second show in Alberta right now. She has a second exhibition, it’s because of the shimmer, the verge, and the yet, at the University of Lethbridge's Hess Gallery until March 29.
And just after the success of his January auction round-up for us, Douglas Maclean returns with his Auction Report Supplement: 2025 Maxwell Bates and Illingworth Kerr, two February auctions which saw excellent results, he notes.
Then head to the East Coast, where Séamus Gallagher's latest exhibition, OH BABY, is on view now through May 11 at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Powerful stuff from this award-winning artist.
Love classic Canadian art? Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape, is at the Vancouver Art Gallery now through Jan. 4, 2026.
I'm still buzzing after a great party at Studio 122 in Calgary, part of Alberta's Exposure Photography Festival. (And I can't wait to hang the new art we bought, too.) While many of the Exposure events wrapped up at the end of February, some excellent shows continue through March. Find out more at Exposure: Alberta's Photography Festival.
Last but not least: A shout-out to a new gallery! Medias Res Gallery opens this month in Vancouver. Launched by that city's Iranian Visual Arts Alliance (VIVA), it aims to be a place for intercultural exchange. The first exhibition is by Afghan-Canadian artist Hangama Amiri, whose work is also on view at the Esker in Calgary.
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Caroline Loewen, Douglas Maclean
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Periodical Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
