2007 Annual Report Mendel Art Gallery

In-House Exhibitions
January 19–April 2, 2007
Michael Hosaluk:
Containment
This was the first solo exhibition at
the Mendel by Michael Hosaluk, a
Saskatoon artist who is recognized
as one of the world’s most creative
woodturners. In the exhibition
Hosaluk explored new territory
through the idea of “containment,” by
breaking through such dichotomies
as art/craft and solo/collaborative
art practice. His installation of chair
and grid structures was used as the
basis for an investigation of form,
control, and restraint. Hosaluk
took collaboration to a new level,
producing work for Containment
in collaboration with theatrical artist Paul Crepeau,
photographer Jason Hosaluk, and sculptor Don Hefner,
as well as groups, students, friends, and fellow artists
locally and internationally.
Michael Hosaluk: Containment was part of the
Mendel’s ongoing Sask Solo series, which presents work
by prominent emerging and mid-career Saskatchewan
artists. Each exhibition is accompanied by a publication.
Curated by Alexandra Badzak, Former Head of Public
and Professional Programs.
Articulation: Conex-Us
The first of three exhibitions in the Articulation series,
Conex-Us explored the shape or manner in which things
come together for a connection to be made. In this
exhibit, Aboriginal-Curator-in-Residence Adrian Stimson
chose four local artists who each selected an artist, who
then chose another artist each until there were twelve
artists in total.
Organized by the Mendel Art Gallery. Curated by Adrian
Stimson, Aboriginal Curator-in-Residence
Rebecca Belmore: blood on the snow
blood on the snow, purchased by the Mendel Art
Gallery in 2003, was one of the first major works by
Rebecca Belmore to be purchased by a public art
gallery in Canada. This work has been included in
two major touring exhibitions. The Named and the
Unnamed—organized by the Morris and Helen Belkin
Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia in
2002—toured to the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Michael Hosaluk gives a talk/tour of his exhibition Containment on January 19, 2007.
and the Confederation Centre, Charlottetown. Au fil
De Mes Jours (In My Lifetime) was organized in 2005
by the Musée National Des Beaux Arts Du Québec,
Quebec. Following its exhibition at the Mendel, blood
on the snow was shown at the Museum of Civilization
in Ottawa, and will continue to be on exhibit there until
2008. The work references the horrific massacre of three
hundred unarmed Sioux people—mostly women and
children—by the United States Cavalry in December
1890 at Wounded Knee in South Dakota. As well, the
piece is an evocation of that which is still, faceless and
silent, a memorial of tragedy and a condemnation of
the official erasure of memory and voice.
Born in Upsala in Northern Ontario, Rebecca Belmore
is an Anishinabekwe artist currently living in Vancouver.
She attended the Ontario College of Art and Design
in Toronto and since 1987 has been internationally
recognized for her sculpture, installation, video, and
performance work addressing history, place, and
identity. She represented Canada in the 2005 Venice
Biennale of Visual Art and the 1998 Sydney Biennale.
Organized by the Mendel Art Gallery, Curated by
Associate Curator Dan Ring
Jane Ash Poitras: Consecrated Medicine
This exhibition presents paintings and installations
related to the Jane Ash Poitras’ exploration of the
healing and spiritual significance of plants; that “The
divine or sacred is recognized within them and endows
them with special purpose. This is a knowledge that
native people once shared and which Poitras now hopes
Mendel Art Gallery 2007 Annual Report