Fall at Arts Commons

Exhibitions explore identity, gender, race, and sexuality

If you find yourself near Arts Commons, trust us when we say a seasonal exploration is worthwhile. And with a new lineup of visual and media arts to check out, you’re sure to find a few surprises.

Pathways

September 2, 2017 – January 5, 2018
+15 Soundscape, Arts Commons

A new media art sound installation that takes you on a journey through time and space, Pathways explores the theme of travel, to and from, choices and the journey. Created by Shawn Pinchbeck, the piece was developed through his nomadic lifestyle of living in several cities to teach, create music, perform, and be with family.
artscommons.ca

Super Impose

September 4 – October 27, 2017
Lightbox Studio, Arts Commons (beside Martha Cohen Theatre)

Repurposing the Lightbox Studio into a generator and launching point for projects and printed matter, May G N is working to expose the world as queer and unclear through layers of image, text, and material.
artscommons.ca

Invasion of the Body Dysmorphia

September 4 – November 24, 2017
The Ledge Gallery, Arts Commons (+15 level overlooking Centre Court)

Khrysta Lloren and Nine Kennedy’s evolving installation of accumulated corporal signifiers has been slowly overtaking the Ledge Gallery. A cross-disciplinary collaboration between the two Calgary-based visual artists, the piece is an experimental installation of queer identity, internal turmoil, and physical agitation.
artscommons.ca

Babygurl, Hila, and Breathing

September 4 – November 27, 2017
On the Arts Commons three video monitors

With three new short films, these unique visual stories chronicle journeys through time, dreams, and personal identity. Featuring work by BabyGurl$, Adam Bentley, and Bianca Hlywa, the films loop throughout the run.
artscommons.ca

The Event Pictured, Fallen, V, and Past

September 4 – November 27, 2017
Window Galleries, Arts Commons (beside Max Bell Theatre)

Featuring four artists, this group exhibition looks at how the feminine image manifests in nature. In these four new works, Chloe Kinsella, Haley Craw, Natalie Lauchlan, and Pamela Norrish explore how the act of removing or editing the human form gives images power.
artscommons.ca

+15 Window Galleries Closing Reception

September 28, 2017, 6:00 – 7:00pm
+15, Arts Commons

Celebrate each of the exhibits hosted in the +15 at this closing reception. Artists will be on hand to speak about their work and everyone is invited to head to the Palomino (109 7th Ave. SW) for drinks afterwards (save 15% off your bill by showing a card from one of the exhibitions). Admission is free and all are welcome.

Survival of the Fitness (Quenching Your Inner Fire)

October 5 – November 30, 2017
Untitled Art Society’s +15 Window

Matthew Palmer and Tim Messeiller present this series of survival tools that manipulate, enhance or improve upon minimalist sculptures and focus on the concept of survival through the creation of tools and understanding their ideal uses.
uascalgary.org

what the world does may not be worth doing, and yet it cannot be left undone

October 6 – November 30, 2017
TRUCK Contemporary Art’s +15 Window

Intersecting Daoist philosophies and Islamic art practices, asmaa al-issa’s work engages seemingly conflicting concepts to think through the transformative nature of the world as a creative process.
truck.ca

Chapter Three

October 8 – November 28, 2017
Stride Gallery’s +15 Window

Riley Thérèse explores facets of mental crisis in traditionally private spaces that have been transitioned into a public realm create a tableau of an episode.
stride.ab.ca

Recognition… Validation… Reassurance…Art + Mental Wellness

November 3, 2017 – January 3, 2018
Lightbox Studio, Arts Commons (beside Martha Cohen Theatre)

A collaboration between artist Dick Averns and the SPARK Disability Arts Festival to utilize spaces in and around Arts Commons, this installation seeks to engage audiences on the topic of mental wellness. Addressing feelings of invisibility and isolation that often accompany mental distress, it includes two workshops—one on November 16 and one on November 23—that encourage participants to self-express using collage, drawing, and text-based art.
artscommons.ca

Dick Averns' Recognition… Validation… Reassurance…Art + Mental Wellness
Dick Averns’ Recognition… Validation… Reassurance…Art + Mental Wellness | Photo: Courtesy of Arts Commons
+15 Window Galleries Closing Reception

November 16, 2017, 6:00 – 7:00pm
+15, Arts Commons

Celebrate each of the exhibits hosted in the +15 at this closing reception. Artists will be on hand to speak about their work and everyone is invited to head to the Palomino (109 7th Ave. SW) for drinks afterwards (save 15% off your bill by showing a card from one of the exhibitions). Admission is free and all are welcome.

Happenings #10

November 27, 2017, 6:00 – 9:00pm
Arts Commons, Mezzanine Level of Centre Court (above Ca’Puccini)

Celebrate all the great creations at the next Happenings—an art party that is free and open to all ages. Head to Arts Commons for a Monday night of hands-on activities, live performances, and so much more. Issues of identity, gender, race, and sexuality will be examined through interactive art, conversation, and music.
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Ongoing Exhibitions

song for the end of the world

Until September 29, 2017
The New Gallery’s +15 Window

Calgary-based artists Mat Lindenberg and Jadda Tsui both usually make art that is purely digital, so this exhibition is a weird new thing for them. Their collaborative work investigates the functions and places of systems through simulation and narrative.
thenewgallery.org

Bad Moments – Forever

Until September 29, 2017
Stride Gallery’s +15 Window

Catch the final instalment in a series of works under the moniker of bad moments created by Calgary-based artist Conrad Marion. Utilizing the same materials in different configurations, it looks at crumbling relationships, the loss and redefining of identity, and the romantic self-image examined through a heavily nostalgic slow dance at your high school prom.
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Conrad Marion’s Bad Moments—Forever
Conrad Marion’s Bad Moments—Forever | Image: Courtesy of Stride Gallery
New Balance #1

Until September 30, 2017
Untitled Art Society’s +15 Window

A backlit, macro image, Meghan Price’s New Balance #1 is a site-specific photographic work that depicts vibrant yet grimy layers of high tech textiles, foams, and rubbers. Price’s multidisciplinary practice figures relationships between human time and geological time, human-made materials and the Earth’s.
uascalgary.org

Does your body remember how to play?

Until September 30, 2017
TRUCK Contemporary Art’s +15 Window

Do you remember the first time you were at a playground, and wondered, exactly how does this work? Or, is this the right way of playing? Mabel Tan’s interactive installation positions play as a means of understanding environment where ceramics evolve into vessels.
truck.ca