Monsoon

An exhibition by Calgary artist Katie Ohe and four of her former students demonstrates the power of a generous mentor.

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Monsoon, an exhibition of work by Katie Ohe and four of her former students at what’s now the Alberta University of the Arts, belies the old adage that “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” If anything, Ohe’s more than 50-year career indicates that doing is often the best form of teaching. 

On view at Griffin Art Projects in Vancouver through Dec. 15, this first survey of Ohe’s work outside Alberta introduces her sculptures alongside works by Isla Burns, Evan Penny, Christian Eckart and Robin Arseneault, artists with their own national and international reputations.

Much credit goes to the curator, Katherine Ylitalo, who recognized the degree to which Ohe’s creative vision and mentorship have shaped Canadian art. The works on view share little in terms of facture or appearance. Instead, Ylitalo points to underlying affinities such as craftsmanship, material sensibility, perceptual ambiguity and radiant energy. 

Born in 1937, Ohe studied at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, where she began teaching in the 1960s. She has produced numerous public commissions and private works and has received many important awards, including, most recently, the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award and the Alberta Order of Excellence. She retired from teaching in 2016, but continues to work in her studio and will be the subject of a major retrospective at Calgary’s Esker Foundation in early 2020.

In addition to their visual enticements, Ohe’s works are marvelously engineered. Many are interactive, and viewers are invited to set them into motion. Monsoon consists of 10 white spheroids, each of which rotates around a central bearing. When all 10 are sent spinning, they call to mind a bank of clouds seen from space, harbingering a deluge. 

Sliding on hidden bearings, the sinuous silvery layers of Venetian Puddle suggest water rippling as rain falls. The two chromed components of Horizontal Loop, 1973, glide smoothly in opposite directions, curling and doubling in the reflective base. 

The exhibition includes three of Ohe’s small wall-mounted works, which she calls “offerings.” Produced over 20 years, each begins as a cup small enough to be held in two hands. Some are miniature versions of larger sculptures, while others are playful experiments. The latest, Doodle Tower, arranges a tangled pile of steel loops atop the cup, a resolution that has led to new work on a larger scale.

Ohe documents many of her completed works in the form of small, brightly coloured screen prints, which serve as her annual year-end cards. Highly prized and collected by recipients, a number of these charming images are displayed at the gallery entrance. As a collection, they offer valuable insights into her thinking.

Isla Burns was born and raised in India, where spiritual monuments are part of public life. Coming to Canada after studies in Scotland, she recalls that Ohe took her seriously, encouraging her to pursue the physical challenge of large-scale metal sculpture. 

Puja Kadali pays homage to the Hindu spirituality Burns witnessed as a child. The columnar work is crowned with bananas, which are used in the festival to dress the goddess Lakshmi in preparation for her remarriage to Ganesh. Set on an antique wooden column, the gracefully arching bananas are like fingers reaching skyward in prayer.

Evan Penny’s high-real figures and heads explore subjectivity and perception. He points to the example set by Ohe, who would often work late into the night alongside her students. In addition to imparting a fierce work ethic, she gave him permission to entertain doubt and ambiguity. 

Male Torso Model hangs from the ceiling by a chain, suggesting extremes of both vulnerability and violence. The silicone form is rendered in high realism with paint and implanted hair, yet it is saved from gruesomeness by clear references to classical sculpture. Chilling and fascinating, the work resonates with pathos and gravitas.

Christian Eckart traces his interest in formal and spiritual aspects of the sublime in part to his early exposure to Ohe’s work, which he sees as invoking “implied or inferred infinities.” Now living in Houston, he investigates religious art traditions using contemporary materials and formats. 

Curved Monochrome Painting - 5th Variation #2005-1 is an elongated aluminum lozenge painted with layers of iridescent auto paint. Concave and altar-like in form, the painting reflects the viewer and surrounding gallery in reverse. Colours flash from plum to orange to green as the viewer shifts position, creating a meditative space of radiance and calm.

Robin Arseneault works across media and formats, addressing uncertainty, absurdity and abjection. In 2018, she attended a residency in Medicine Hat, Alta., where she photographed the nearby Red Rock Coulee. In Squeeze, Drip and Divide, a series of photo-based prints, she pairs details of Rodin sculptures, re-photographed from older art books, with close-up images of landforms.

Time-sculpted rocks meet the rough-cut stone of the unfinished sculptures, creating intriguing abstract shapes and patterns. More than a clever play, these uncanny works, which are beautiful in their production, invoke the body in the land and the potent energy of landscape in the figural works.

As Ohe has said: “The aesthetic experience is a spiritual experience of communion, of sharing. It is the essence of my work.” This sums up the experience of encountering her work and recognizing the generosity of spirit that motivates a true teacher. ■

Monsoon: Robin Arseneault, Isla Burns, Christian Eckart, Katie Ohe and Evan Penny is on view at Griffin Art Projects in Vancouver from Sept. 14 to Dec. 15, 2019.

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