BeatRoute Magazine Alberta print e-edtion - June 2016

CITY
MADE IN CALGARY
an exploration of art from the 1960s to the 2000s now in print
Between 2013 and 2014, the Glenbow museum
presented Made in Calgary: An Exploration
of Art from the 1960s to the 2000s which featured
577 artworks by 219 artists spanning 50 years
of art-making in Calgary. Based on that exhibition,
the Glenbow has published an art-book, Made in
Calgary, which celebrates those artists, their work
during that time.
Melanie Kjorlien, the Glenbow’s VP of Access,
Collections and Exhibitions says the 1960s was chosen
as the starting point because “that’s when the
Art College (now ACAD) and the fine arts program
at the U of C started happening. There was a greater
influx of people, artists and instructors coming to
the city and a lot more development happening at
that time.”
While the educational institutions and the
ideas generated inside those walls certainly
played a vital role in developing Calgary’s artistic
community, Kjorlien notes that the economic
growth and decline that took place over the last
five decades also affected and shaped the city’s
artistic climate.
“The whole the boom and bust cycle, which is
unique to Calgary, had a huge impact on things like
arts funding which is hard sometimes to appreciate
but affects the ways in which people produce and
end up making in terms of their work. “
Five curators, that each oversee one particular
decade in the book, write expansive essays about
the artists, their personalities and mindset, along
with the social, political and economic landscapes
that existed during that 50 year span. In doing so,
they cover a broad cross-section of events which
not only tells the story of how Calgary’s artistic
community emerged and developed, but also
reflects the cultural growth of the city itself.
by B.Simm
1990s — Chris Cran
Large Laughing Orange
Woman, 1991
(left)
One of 10 large paintings from
Cran’s experimental series
called Heads.
1960s — Vivian Lindoe
Summer, 1970
(bottom)
A colleague of many in the
postwar Calgary art community,
Lindoe was a multidisciplinary
artist at heart, engaged
with painting, printmaking,
ceramics, batik and furniture.
1980s — John Hall
Flame, 1988
(bottom left)
In Flame, Hall assembled various
images and tourist kitsch
souvenirs that flooded Calgary
to commemorate the Calgary
1988 Winter Olympics.
CITY
BEATROUTE • JUNE 2016 | 9