Sept–October 2007 - Preview

previewwww.artgalleryalberta.comKurt Schwitters: Collage Eye from the National GalleryART GALLERY OF ALBERTA, EDMONTON AB – Sep 8-Nov 4 Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948) isconsidered to be the greatest master of collage in the 20th century. As a result of his bold and widerangingexperiments, he has been positioned as the grandfather of Pop Art, Happenings, ConceptArt, Fluxus, multimedia art and post-modernism. His massive and influential output wasultimately curbed by the advent of World War II, during which Schwitters first escaped to Norwayand later was interned as an enemy alien in Britain.Schwitters began making assemblages from scraps of refusein 1919. He cut four letters spelling “merz” from a word foundin an advertisement, and these letters became the conceptualdrive behind his work Merz was a comforting notion involvingthe delicate positioning of fragments of the world into newcombinations. His Merz work took him to the forefront of theEuropean avant-garde and into an alliance with new Dada artists.Over the next ten years, he experimented with Merz drawingsand collages, large Merz reliefs, sculpture, abstract drama andpoetry, cabaret, typography, multimedia art, body painting,music, photography, a Merzmagazine, an enormous architecturalinstallation using eight rooms of his Hanover house, andeventually an advertising agency. Schwitters died in England’sLake District shortly after beginning construction of a Merzbarn.The Art Gallery of Alberta exhibit of works by Schwitters andhis contemporaries shows his influence on contemporary artistsbeyond the borders of Germany in both their adoption of foundmaterials and their collage and assemblage techniques. Itconsiders Schwitters’ artistic legacy across the 20th century withselections from both the Canadian and international collectionsof the National Gallery of Canada. Mia JohnsonKurt Schwitters, “Merz” magazine, Volume2 (1923), [Art Gallery of Alberta,Edmonton AB, Sep 8-Nov 4-]free, $68.50 family (2 adults and 2children); Admission after Oct 14:$14 adults, $9.50 seniors, studentsand youth aged 6-18, children 5 andyounger are free, $37.50 family (2adults and 2 children); Thru Oct 14Titanic, The Artifact Exhibition,opens 95 years to the day the greatship struck an iceberg; FIRST PEOPLESGALLERY Features Haida argillite carving,a traditional Big House, totempoles and masks.West End Gallery1203 Broad St ✆(250)388-0009www.westendgalleryltd.common-fri 10am-5:30pm sat 10am-5pmsun 11am-4pm Oct 13-26 RodCharlesworth, collection of majorworks; To Sep 30 Eleventh AnnualCanadian Glass Show, experience themost comprehensive presentation ofart glass in Canada – flamboyant andplayful to classic and chic, there areover sixty-five Canadian glass artists66 PREVIEWfeatured throughout the exhibitionwhich changes constantly as new glassart arrives.Winchester Galleries2260 Oak Bay Ave 2nd location:1010 Broad St ✆(250)595-2777www.winchestergalleriesltd.comtues-sat 10am-5:30pm AT 2260 OAKBAY AVE Sep 9-Oct 6 David Blackwood,“Recent Watercolours”, interiorsand landscapes; Oct 14-31 ManishOm Prakash, “New Paintings”, oilon canvas and oil on board; Avis Rasmussen,“Paintings from Provence”,oil on board and watercolours.Xchanges Gallery420 William St (off Esquimalt Rd)✆(250)382-0442www.xchangesgallery.orgfri 12-6pm sat, sun 12-5pm Sep 8-30 Xchanges 40th AnniversaryShow (sat sun 12-4pm), Xchangeshouses 16 individual and group studios.Studio Sundays will run in Septemberwith free demonstrations ofvarious artforms; Oct 11-28 RachelHellner, ”Road Stories” (sat sun 1-4pm), includes large graphite, acrylicand oil pastel drawings and a seriesof image transfers depicting all kindsof items she has observed on theroad.WEST VANCOUVERBellevue Gallery2475 Bellevue Ave ✆604-922-2304www.bellevuegallery.catues-fri 10am-5:30pm sat 11am-5pmAfter hours by appt Sep 6–29 HopeAbundant, second humanitarian exhibitionfeaturing the village of Bufukhulain Southeastern Uganda with proceedsgoing to Canadian Food for theHungry; Sep 27–Oct 27 Leszek Wyczolkowski,“Essence of Nature”aquatint, etching and embossing.★ OPEN LATE ON FIRST THURSDAYS