This week’s Work of the Week is Song of the Wolf by Jeannette Northey.
 

The first full moon of 2021 was yesterday. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the first full moon of the year is known as the Wolf Moon because January was a time when wolves were heard howling more often.

This artwork is part of the online exhibition Unchartered. This virtual exhibition was curated by Ashley Slemming, through the support of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program (TREX) in partnership with the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie and the Alberta Society of Artists.

This week’s Work of the Week is Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, 1966 by celebrated photographer Yousuf Karsh in honour of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who passed away on April 9, 2021 at the age of 99.
 

The Duke was a great supporter of arts and was the royal patron of 35 arts and culture organizations around the world. Albertans are invited to sign an online book of condolence, available at www.alberta.ca/prince-philip-memorial.cfm.

This photographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip is by world-renowned, Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh. It belongs to the Provincial Art Collection, which has over 120 photographs by Karsh, known as the Karsh Collection. The Provincial Art Collection is not part of the AFA’s collection, but one of several provincial collections the Art Collections staff help manage and preserve.

About the Artist: Yousuf Karsh, 1908-2002

Yousuf Karsh was born to Armenian parents in the Ottoman Empire, present-day Turkey, in 1908. He was sent to Canada by his family in 1923 as a refugee of the Armenian genocide and went to live with his uncle in Sherbrooke, QC, who was a portrait photographer. Karsh opened his first studio in Ottawa in 1932.

During his storied career, he held 15,312 sittings, produced over 370,000 negatives, and left an indelible artistic and historic record of the men and women who shaped the 20th century, including Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Grace Kelly and Queen Elizabeth II.

This artwork combines horse hair and glass to create a form that suggests a pill and something flowing out from it.
 

The artist was inspired by the connection between the two materials: both fragile and fine, but also strong and functional. Echoing one another aesthetically, this partnership inspired her in new ways of looking at ancient materials.

Through its use of organic and traditional materials, this work hints at the human form, beauty, and the pharmaceutical industry .

About the artist

Carissa Baktay is a sculptor from Calgary, currently working between Canada and Iceland. Working with glass since 2008, Carissa earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Glass from the Alberta University of the Arts (formerly the Alberta College of Art & Design), studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and received her Master in Glass Art and Science from VICARTE Research Unit (Vidro e Cerâmica para as Artes - glass and ceramics for the arts) in Portugal.

She has participated in Snow and Ice sculpting residencies in Norway, was accepted to the 2011/2012 Living Arts Center Fellowship in Glass, and has attended multiple residencies in Iceland, Finland and Norway. Her work has been featured in exhibitions and publications in Canada and internationally.

Carissa was an AFA grant recipient in 2018-19 for the Visual Arts and New Media Individual Project Funding. Also, she was successful in having her artwork acquired through the Art Acquisitions by Application program in 2021 to be part of AFA Art Collection, which will help increase the visibility of her artwork throughout the province, including through Work of the Week.

Art Acquisitions by Application

Did you know that Albertan artists can apply to have their artwork acquired by the AFA through the Art Acquisitions by Application program?

The next deadline is April 1! Review the guidelines if you’re interested in submitting your artwork to have it be considered for acquisition.

Image description

The sculpture is a white rounded spherocylinder capsule shaped like a pill attached to a white wall. Long black hair flows approximately two-thirds down out of the capsule. In the background is the grey shadow of the hair and capsule on the wall. 

The Conquered Mountain print was acquired by purchase from the artist in 1973. There were six prints acquired from the artist at this time 1973.003.001 – 1973.003.006. These were very early acquisitions into the AFA collection as they were acquired in March 1973 and the art collection was formed in September 1972. We can't wait to celebrate AFA's Art Collection 50th anniversary.
 

The artist created a constructed painting with a similar title in 1991, Clearcut: Conquered Mountain – revisiting the theme of man’s intervention on nature and essentially creating a “manufactured landscape”. The AFA acquired the painting in 1995.

Travelling Exhibition 

Curated for the AFA's Travelling Exhibition Program (TREX) by The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie - Northwest Alberta, Conquered Mountain is currently on display in its "Fantastic Worlds" exhibit until March 27, 2022.

• TREX strives to ensure every Albertan is provided the opportunity to enjoy fully developed exhibitions in schools, libraries, health care centres and smaller rural institutions and galleries throughout the province

We welcome you to view it through the AFA's Virtual Museum or see it in person at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie.

About the artist

John K. Esler is well-known in the Calgary arts community and has helped to raise the profile of printmaking in the province.

He taught at the University of Calgary in 1968 until the 1980s. He encouraged his students to experiment, to make art with a mind open to unexpected possibilities.

His artwork is exhibited widely throughout Canada and abroad and he is represented in many public and private collections, including the AFA Art Collection.

Art Acquisitions by Application

Did you know that Albertan artists can apply to have their artwork acquired by the AFA through the Art Acquisitions by Application program?

The next deadline is April 1! Review the guidelines if you’re interested in submitting your artwork to have it be considered for acquisition.

Image description

The abstract etching printed on paper is split into two halves: on the bottom half, various squares and rectangles in tones of yellow, grey and black are squeezed into a forced perspective that creates a path towards the bluish green mountains on the top half. The grey mountain tops are sutured to the top of the image by criss-cross black strings.

This week's Work of the Week is After the Theatre by Raymond Theriault in honour of World Theatre Day, which is on March 27!
 

The depiction of theatregoers milling about after the show feels like a distant memory as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shutter theatres around the world. Filing out of the venue after the show, discussing the best (or worst) parts of the performance, and deciding where to go for a post-show cocktail or bite to eat, the rituals that take place after the theatre contribute to the experience one has when they take in a live theatre show, an experience we know is surely missed. 
 

For this year's World Theatre Day, now a full year into the pandemic, the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) asked Canadian theatre creators and audiences what they miss the most about live theatre. Watch the responses:

This video was produced in partnership with l’Association des théâtres francophones du Canada (ATFC) and the Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC).

About World Theatre Day

Created in 1961 by UNESCO, World Theatre Day is celebrated annually on March 27 by theatre communities around the globe. The impetus behind World Theatre Day is to honour and further the goal of UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute (ITI) to celebrate the power of theatre to serve as an indispensable bridge-builder for mutual international understanding and peace as well as to promote and protect cultural diversity and identity in communities throughout the world.

Tomorrow is the first day of spring! To celebrate the official end of winter, please enjoy this artwork by Kenneth Samuelson simply titled Spring.
 

The March equinox, which marks the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere, occurs when the sun crosses the equator line, heading north in the sky. The northern hemisphere is now beginning to tilt towards the sun, meaning more sunlight and warmer temperatures!
 

About the Artist: Kenneth Samuelson

Kenneth Samuelson is a painter and printmaker. His early printmaking work had a highly graphic style and concentrated on the derivative abstraction of the surrounding landscape. In his more recent work, Samuelson captures detailed scenes of the landscape using oils and watercolours. For Samuelson, painting is directly tied to memory, and he paints as a way to capture and remember the inspirational moments of light and colour in the landscape.

Samuelson majored in design at the Alberta College of Art and Design (now the Alberta University of the Arts), and studied printmaking at the University of Calgary. Samuelson was co-owner of a graphic design studio for a decade, and from 1968 to 1996, he was on faculty at the Alberta College of Art and Design, teaching drawing, design, rendering, letter form, and watercolour. Shortly after his retirement, he was awarded Lecturer Emeritus.

Samuelson has exhibited widely and was a member in the Alberta Society of Artists, the Manisphere Group of Artists, the Canadian Society of Graphic Art, and with Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers. His work is in the collection of the Canada Council Art Bank, the Calgary-Edmonton Jubilee Auditoriums, the A.C. Leighton Foundation, Shell Canada, Gulf Oil, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

Strange Jury #2 asks the viewer to challenge their perspectives by seeing nature through a different lens. The artwork is intended to depict a trial in the forest. The viewer is the defendant. The jury is Nature.

This artwork is part of a series of five works. When installed in a gallery, five giant prints are hung in a circle off the ground to depict five characters of the forest with animistic faces. The AFA acquired one of these prints through the Art Acquisitions by Application to be a part of the AFA Art Collection.
 

About the artist

Dwayne Martineau is an Edmonton based visual artist and musician. He is a treaty member of Frog Lake First Nation, descended from Plains Cree, Métis, and early French and Scottish settlers.

He enjoys seeing the world like a child full of discovery. Also, he approaches the world with a critical mind, seeking both truth and wonder. His visual arts practice began with experimental landscape photography, and has evolved to include videography and immersive large-scale art installations.

Art Acquisitions by Application

The next deadline for the AFA’s Art Acquisition by Application program is April 1! Read the guidelines if you’re interested in submitting your artwork to have it be considered for acquisition to the AFA Art Collection.

Image description

The artwork is an abstracted photograph on backlit film that suggests an animistic creature in a forest. A black, insect-like face with large antennae floats on a faded yellow background, with black trees and bushes in the background. 

Family Day is an opportunity to appreciate what makes family special and to spend quality time with your family and loved ones. Having positive personal connections can help with overall health and well-being.

Every family make up is different. The definition of family can be much broader than the traditional picture of a mother, father and their children. Our featured work, Family of Three by Stanford Perrot, takes this traditional concept of family and abstracts the image to express feeling through shape, line and color.
 

Let us recognize and honour the many different types of family units there can be: the best building blocks to happiness are healthy relationships.

Enjoy Family Day and we encourage you to take part in art and explore the province with your loved ones:

• AFA's virtual museum: check out our online collection of Albertans' artwork from the comfort of your home
• Alberta license free Family Fishing Weekend: see if there is an opportunity to photograph the moments or sketch your experience afterwards 
• Alberta historic sites and museums: selected museums and sites are offering free admission. Contact each heritage facility first prior to attending to check on the opening hours, advanced registration and COVID guidelines. See if there are any artwork there that sparks your inner creativity.

About the artist

Stanford Perrott was an influential art educator and watercolourist. His collection also includes mid-century abstract work.

He was born in Claresholm, Alberta and studied in New York. He also attended and taught at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art, where he eventually became the head of the college. He learnt from Hans Hoffman and was strongly influenced by abstract expressionism and cubism.

In the 1960s, Perrott convinced the government of Alberta to expand the arts section of the institute to have its own building. Perrott and his associates made his wish come true in creating the Alberta College of Art and Design (which has since further transformed into the Alberta University of the Arts). 

Although he did not raise a family of his own, he was an excellent educator and mentor to his students and colleagues – his extended family.

Image description

The image is an abstracted form of a family of three, represented by simple curvilinear forms. The adult and child figures are depicted through black and white shapes, accented with red and green tones. The artwork is lithograph on paper.

Did you know Lunar New Year is celebrated by various cultures including Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other East and Southeast Asian cultures? Every year, the date changes depending on the first new moon to mark the new year. 
 

While each culture and ethnicity celebrates with differing foods, duration and traditions, each culture shares the same goal of reunion and well wishes of prosperity for the coming year. We hope the Year of the Tiger brings you a year full of good health, success and happiness!
 

About the artist:

Peter Greendale started his residency at the Banff Centre in 1984/85. He is inspired by the common everyday object and the culture's origin.

This week's Work of the Week is Elephants Chiefly Series by Illingworth Kerr in honour of World Elephant Day, which was on Wednesday, August 12.
 

This conte crayon sketch of of an elephant is just one of 21 sketches of elephants by Kerr in the AFA's collection! You can see all the elephants sketches here.

Did you know: Elephants and humans share a long history throughout our civilization? The Asian elephant has lived alongside humans for over 4,000 years and is imbued with reverence, tradition and spirituality across many cultures. 
 

About the Artist: Illingworth Kerr (1905-1989)

llingworth Kerr studied at the Central Technical School, Toronto in 1924. From 1924 to 1927, Kerr studied under Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, Frederick Varley and J.W. Beatty at the Ontario College of Arts. Kerr also studied at the Westminster School of Art, London, in 1936, as well as with Hans Hoffman in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1954. In 1955 and 1957, he attended Emma Lake Workshops.

He taught at the Vancouver School of Art from 1945 to 1946 and was head of the Alberta College of Art (now the Alberta University of the Arts) from 1947 to 1967. There he was a great influence and friend to many artists of that era. From 1952 to 1953, he was president of the Alberta Society of Artists. Kerr was also a member of the Canadian Authors Association; he wrote many short stories and illustrated many publications, including his autobiography, Gay Dogs and Dark Horses, in 1946. He received a Canada Council Award in 1960.

He painted portraits, the life of Indigenous peoples, urban views, wildlife, and the prairie and Ontario landscape. He used the media of oil, acrylic, watercolour, charcoal, and ink, as well as woodblock, linoblock, monotype and silkscreen prints.