Western Canada’s art magazine since 2002
12 September 2023 Vol 8 No 17 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2023
Portia Priegert
From the Editor
As my overflowing inbox can attest, the fall season arrived with a bang after the Labour Day weekend with myriad emails announcing upcoming exhibitions and other events.
We snagged some of these offerings for our new feature, Shorts, which regularly highlights interesting shows across the country. This latest version includes five senior artists based in Western Canada – John Hall, Ron Moppett and Carole Itter, as well as Harry and Linda Stanbridge – and, sadly, one artist, Britain’s Phyllida Barlow, who died earlier this year as she was working towards her current show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto. The final piece in Shorts crosses to the other side by looking at The Undead Archive: 100 Years of Photographing Ghosts, a fascinating exhibition rooted in historical paranormal research on the Prairies.
Big news came out of Ontario last week with the announcement that Sarah Milroy, currently chief curator of the Toronto-area McMichael Canadian Art Collection, will take over as executive director when British import Ian Dejardin retires at the end of October and returns to London. In McMichael on the Map, Ottawa writer Paul Gessell looks at the McMichael’s astonishing growth and explains why it should matter to art lovers across Canada.
Finally, love is in the air with two reviews. In Rumi Beyond Rumi, Shazia Hafiz Ramji considers how the Aga Khan Museum’s Rumi exhibition in Toronto uses historical and contemporary visual art to place the famed 13th-century Sufi mystic back into his own cultural context, while Kayleigh Hall checks out I ❤️ You, an exploration of the perils of online dating by emerging Calgary artist Kenzie Housego.
Do remember to check our news feed. I was saddened to learn of the death of B.C. artist Ann Kipling. Years ago, I visited her studio near Falkland, a small community in the North Okanagan. Kipling was inspiring – then in her 70s, I believe, she was still hiking daily up into the rugged hills behind her home to sketch the area’s amazing vistas in her singular style.
Looking ahead, we are working on reviews of an important international show by Islamic women at the Royal Ontario Museum, as well as shows by Calgary artist Tia Halliday and Victoria's Sonja Ahlers.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Kayleigh Hall, Shazia Hafiz Ramji
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Periodical Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
