January Exhibitions
Check out new visual art exhibitions around the city this January! Each month, we spotlight a new or outgoing visual arts exhibitions in the city, followed by a roundup of others you can see this month.
Closing this month at Christine Klassen Gallery is Glass Daydreams, Calgary glass artist Phillip Bandura’s first solo show. Featuring pieces from various ongoing series, this exhibition showcases his ability to push the limits of the medium, while offering a personal glimpse into his identity.
“I was taught to blow glass by working with the materials’ odd, strange, and magical qualities. I see the quality of glass as queer, a mirror of my own queerness,” says Bandura, who has exhibited his work internationally in Germany, Greece, South Korea and the United States.
You can check out the Glass Daydreams exhibition until January 18, 2025 at Christine Klassen Gallery located at 321 50 Ave. SE in the Manchester Industrial area.
More January exhibitions:
Retrospective — Greg Doherty
January 3 – February 1, 2025
cSPACE Marda Loop (1721 29 Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Celebrate a lifelong artistic journey in this retrospective exhibition by Greg Doherty featuring pivotal works spanning decades. From abstraction to representational pieces, the works showcased reflect the artist’s deeply personal connection to creativity and life.
cspacemardaloop.com
Yenny Foulston’s The Sixteen
January 4 – February 1, 2025
Level 4 Gallery, cSPACE Marda Loop (1721 29 Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Yenny Foulston is the founder of Valeca Studios. Her photography concentrates on natural landscapes and human architecture. In her landscape photography series called The Sixteen, Foulston features different landmarks of Alberta and different cities around the world.
cspacemardaloop.com
Accelerate Action
January 6 – February 2, 2025
Level 2 Gallery, cSPACE Marda Loop (1721 29 Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Artpoint Gallery and Studios Society proudly present Accelerate Action, a testament to their ability to organize with short notice and accomplish a goal as a group. The exhibition is a display of cooperation to Accelerate Action under limited time constraints.
cspacemardaloop.com
Coins of Islam
January 6 – April 26, 2025
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (410 University Ct. NW)
Free to explore
Coins of Islam explores the rich and diverse history of Islamic coinage. From the earliest coins inscribed with Arabic script and influenced by Byzantine and Sasanian designs, to the intricate calligraphy and bold patterns of later dynasties, these artifacts reveal a dynamic interplay of faith, culture and authority.
nickle.ucalgary.ca
⋆˚࿔ UwU 𝜗𝜚˚⋆
January 17 – March 8, 2025 | Opening January 17, 7 – 9pm.
The New Gallery (208 Centre St. SE)
Free to explore
Molly JF Caldwell explores the playful and whimsical world of cuteness through soft, interactive art. Featuring works by Michelle Le, Robyn Mah, Mantis Mei and Morgan Strom, the exhibition invites viewers to challenge ideas of identity, disidentification and ornamentalism.
thenewgallery.org
Knowledge Made Concrete
January 17 – March 8, 2025 | Opening January 16, 5 – 8pm.
Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta University for the Arts (1407 14 Ave. NW)
Free to explore
As Alberta’s two oldest cultural institutions, AUArts and the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) have enjoyed a century-long partnership. Knowledge Made Concrete draws from the AGA’s Permanent Collection, showcasing works by AUArts alumni and faculty. It also features new works by recent alumni, offering a reflection on the past, while looking to the future.
auarts.ca
Stride Editions Vol. 2
January 18 – March 14, 2025 | Opening January 17, 6 – 9pm.
Stride Gallery (Suite #220, 625 11 Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Stride Gallery invites you to its annual fundraiser, Stride Editions Vol. 2!, showcasing risograph prints from 15 artists. Help celebrate the emerging and established artists Stride has been in dialogue with over the past few years.
stride.ab.ca
Esker Winter Exhibitions
January 25 – April 27, 2025 | Opening January 24, 6 – 9pm
Esker Foundation (4th floor, 1011 9 Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Hangama Amiri: PARTING/فراق
Hangama Amiri creates intricately layered textile compositions that muse on home, kinship and memory. PARTING/فراق builds on an ongoing body of work that focuses on the artist’s personal history and diasporic experience.
eskerfoundation.com
Erika DeFreitas: and that break is the one that shows (to shift, a curve, to quiver)
This exhibition highlights Erika DeFreitas’ exploration of women’s overlooked contributions to art. Through illuminated manuscripts, collages and videos, she reclaims erased narratives, blending historical research with personal and cultural connections. DeFreitas’ work examines absence and memory, forging dialogues across time to honour women’s labour, care and creativity.
eskerfoundation.com
Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi: The blue of the sky depends on the darkness of empty space behind it
Interweaving family lore, mythology, science fiction and digital abstraction, Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi’s 2022 film Into The Violet Belly follows the collaboration between the artist and her mother, Thuyen Hoa, who fled Vietnam after the end of the American War via a near-calamitous sea journey.
eskerfoundation.com
Invisible Hands
January 31 – February 2, 2025
NVRLND Boutique (1048 21 Ave SE)
Free to explore
Invisible Hands by Vivian Smith explores the significant impact of social reproductive labour on women’s economic independence and its crucial role in supporting the broader economy. Through a variety of artworks, the exhibition examines the hidden costs of labour that is often unpaid, undervalued and primarily performed by women.
auarts.ca
For more visual arts events and exhibitions, head over to the arts and culture events section of yycwhatson.ca.
