January Exhibitions
Check out some of the new visual art exhibitions in Calgary this January — from group shows to figurative works, from abstract works to mini galleries and retrospectives. Each month, we spotlight a new or outgoing art exhibition in the city, followed by a roundup of others you can enjoy.
Feature exhibition
In Portraits of Belonging, Yu Chen focuses on portrait painting, cultural identity and personal stories, combining traditional Chinese painting and Western oil painting to explore ideas of heritage, belonging and the emotions connected to migration. Chen’s recent work has looked more to community-based projects, working with numerous local artists to create portraits of them in the traditional garb of their heritage.
“I invite people from different cultural backgrounds to share their stories with me and wear traditional clothing during live drawing sessions. Through this process, I hope to create portraits that not only show what someone looks like but also reflect their culture and personal experience.”
(Exhibition info adapted from The Werklund Centre)
More January exhibitions:
Chelsey Rice: Liminal Sunday
January 9 – February 1, 2026 | Reception January 9, 7 – 9pm
Crawlspace Gallery (Bsmt, 1336 9 Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Chelsey Rice’s Liminal Sunday explores themes of childhood nostalgia, memory, and undertones of a North American religious upbringing through liminal early 2000s digicam photography. The exhibition is curated by Yaiza Lopez Garcia San Roman.
crawlspacegallery.ca
An Alberta A(r)ttitude
January 16 – March 14, 2026 | Reception January 15, 5 – 8pm | Artist Talk January 16 from 1 – 2pm
Illingworth Kerr Gallery, AUArts (1407 14 Ave. NW)
Free to explore
In celebration of the AUArts’ centennial, An Alberta A(r)ttitude showcases eight exceptional graduates from the past two decades: Emily Promise Allison, Haley Eyre, Rhys Douglas Farrell, Lyndon Navalta, Mia Riley, Paityn Savoie, Julia Rose Sutherland and Sahar Te. These artists embody a collective community shaped by decades of creative education, experimentation and development.
auarts.ca
New Exhibitions at Esker Foundation
Anthony Cudahy: metronome yawned
January 23 to April 26, 2026
Esker Foundation (1011 9 Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Cudahy is a figurative painter whose tender scenes reveal the nuanced complexities of life. In masterful compositions, he creates a world for unspoken stories, intimate moments and romantic gestures. Personal and poetic, Cudahy’s figures coalesce with the atmosphere of their environments.
eskerfoundation.com
Magalie Guérin: Orange to Rattle
January 23 to April 26, 2026
Esker Foundation (1011 9 Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Magalie Guérin’s paintings often begin with what remains: she carries forward yesterday’s pigment, a trace of past works and decisions, as a provocation to begin a new composition. From this material residue she builds paintings that are both generative and iterative—they are works that remember and reference themselves even as they continually evolve, build, and refuse to settle.
eskerfoundation.com
Alexandre Pépin: Lavender
January 24 to April 26, 2026
Esker Foundation (1011 9 Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Alexandre Pépin is a French-Canadian visual artist born in Tio’tia:ke (Montréal) that draws from the legacy of Byzantine and Early Renaissance Frescoes, Post-Impressionism, Tonalism, The Viennese Secession, and Pattern and Decoration to portray moments of Queer intimacy and spiritual contemplation.
eskerfoundation.com
Justin de Verteuil: sie will / muse. zur marionette
January 24 to April 26, 2026
Esker Foundation (1011 9 Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Justin de Verteuil is a Düsseldorf-based artist whose oil paintings explore the dynamic between figure and space and their relationship to the viewer. Through a play of ambiguity and details his paintings act as vehicles for projection.
eskerfoundation.com
The Winter Edit: Group Show of Curated Selections for the Season
On display until January 24, 2026
Christine Klassen Gallery (200, 321 50 Ave. SE)
Free to explore
The Winter Edit is a curated selection of artworks that feature a wide range of smaller, approachable pieces alongside a handful of standout larger works, bringing together thoughtful, beautifully crafted art.
christineklassengallery.com
Northeast Mini Galleries: HOME/LAND
On display until February 2026
Various locations
Free to explore
HOME/LAND is the latest exhibition in the Northeast Mini Galleries series. Curated by Cobra Collins, the exhibition brings together 10 local artists exploring ideas of belonging, displacement and the many ways we define home and land in Calgary/Mohkinsstsis.
calgaryartsdevelopment.com
Current exhibitions a the Werklund Centre Window Galleries
On view until March 2026
Werklund Centre (the hall adjacent to the Max Bell Theatre lobby)
Free to explore
Matias Martinez: Como Se Dice La RAZA
An Indigenous Latin American artist of Mapuche/Maya descent exploring identity, memory, and mythology through glass, painting, media arts and sculpture, Martinez’s practice is rooted in emotion, experimentation and cultural reconnection. Como Se Dice La RAZA blends traditional Latinx and Indigenous mythologies with contemporary materials like upcycled objects, molten glass and projection.
Liss Febrero & aloT of Poetry: The Power She Holds
The Power She Holds is a collaborative reflection on memory, identity, and the quiet strength found in handmade craft. The artists bring their practices and cultures together through textiles, stitched literature and imagery into stories shaped by heritage, womanhood and community.
Erçan Tāmati Cairns: Tangata whenua, People of the Land
Ngāi Tūhoe – Erçan Tāmati Cairns is an emerging artist whose innovative approach has gained recognition in Tāmaki Makaurau’s dynamic art scene. Erçan bridges the gap between ancestral mōhiotanga and contemporary artistic expression through his distinct fusion of fluid acrylics and richly textured oil pastels.
Carrie Yap: We came here to settle, but we could not leave it all behind
Carrie Yap began exploring traditional Chinese crafts as a tribute to their ancestry, particularly focusing on Cantonese opera which was a familiar sound and sight in their childhood. The pieces on display trace the evolution of this art form, moving from the traditional Chinese craft of paper and glue to the refined techniques of couture millinery.
Tiny Wonders: A Wunderbriefs Retrospective
On display until April 2026
+15 Galleries, Werklund Centre (205 8 Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Presented by the International Festival of Animated Objects Society, this exhibition brings together intimate, imaginative works by evvie lightpirate, Tia DeLauria, Jennifer LeBlanc, Sara McNeil, r u home yet collective, Simulations, and Almendra Vergara.
werklundcentre.ca
For more visual arts events and exhibitions, head over to the arts and culture events section of yycwhatson.ca.
