May Exhibitions
Take in some visual art this month
May is jam-packed with visual arts for you to enjoy. Take advantage of the warmer weather to visit new or ongoing exhibitions at your favourite gallery, or to discover somewhere you haven’t been to yet. You’re bound for a treat either way!
SHED
April 27 – May 14, 2022
The New Gallery (208 Centre St. SE)
Free to explore
SHED / knowing each other as different and the same is a series of choreographed portraits by Pam Tzeng that examines and explores the experience of navigating existence as a body of culture living in Canada.
thenewgallery.org
View Loser
April 29 – July 2, 2022
The Bows (2001B 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
In View Loser, artists Amanda Boulos and Shannon Garden-Smith focus on built structure, initiating an intersectional conversation between the displacements that surround Palestinian land politics and housing justice. This conversation came together over several years of collaborative practice built on the artists’ shared themes of lack and loss.
thebows.org
Birds of a Feather
May 3 – May 28, 2022
Framed on Fifth (1207 5th Ave. NW)
Free to explore
The exhibition Birds of a Feather is chock full of whimsy and vibrancy with paintings by Pam Weber and Angie Rees. This imaginative duo creates wonderfully angst-free worlds, playful, colourful, and no, not only birds.
framedonfifth.com
Authentically Indigenous Craft Market
May 5, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Kerby Centre (1133 7th Ave. SW)
$5 – $8
Come for a shopping experience like no other! Featuring two days of over 50 different local Indigenous artists and craft makers, you can find handmade goods, crafts, art, beadwork, jewelry, and more at this local, grassroots market.
authenticallyindig.com
I Am Not Lost
May 5, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Residence Inn by Marriott Calgary (610 10th Ave. SW)
Free to attend, registration required
Tara Vahab’s upcoming event exhibits her most recent artworks, including the sculpture Inside the Heart and the mixed-medium painting series Unknown Places and a talk on art and wellness.
eventbrite.ca
Mother’s Day Market
May 6 & 7, 2022, 10:00am – 8:00pm
Southcentre Mall (100 Anderson Rd. SE)
Free to explore
Visit Southcentre Mall for a special shop local Mother’s Day Market presented in partnership with Collab YYC. Find the perfect local and hand-crafted gift for mom featuring 19 unique local vendors.
southcentremall.com
Spring Art Show and Sale
May 6 & 7, 2022
Uplands Recreation Centre (20 Hawkside Rd. NW)
Free to explore
Alberta Escape Artists invite you to their Spring Sale and Show to browse and buy art from local artists Janet Armstrong, Martin Cochrane, Linda Fundytus, and many more. All the while, enjoy live music and win fabulous door prizes.
facebook.com
Spring Market
May 7, 2022
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission
Etsy Calgary has partnered with Contemporary Calgary to bring you the perfect Mother’s Day weekend. Shop a great selection of local handmade and vintage sellers and explore Contemporary Calgary’s exhibits simultaneously. They’ll also have food trucks, workshops, and more! Get your tickets at the door.
facebook.com
See me. Hear me.
Opens May 7, 2022
Sparrow Artspace (36 4th St. NE)
Free to attend, registration recommended
Sparrow Artspace May residency, See me. Hear me., is a creative collaboration of artists sharing work relating to the theme of empathy. Through the gallery, workshops, and events, local artists and facilitators have the opportunity to show their work while bringing awareness to the healing power of the arts.
randwstudios.com
Memory Reels
May 12 – 14, 2022
Highbanks Society (317 19th St. NW)
Free to explore
The vintage Viewmaster toy inspires Stacey Walyuchow’s new series of work. This item became the perfect vessel by which Stacey’s subjects were to view their memories — in colourful, still, 3D pictures.
eventbrite.ca
Market Collective
May 13 – 15, 2022
BMO Centre Hall B + C, Stampede Park (20 Roundup Way SE)
$6
Visitors to this year’s family-friendly event can anticipate a weekend of live music, interactive workshops, galleries, food and beverage, the MC Skatepark, over 160 local vendors, and so much more. Kids 12 and under are admitted free.
marketcollective.ca
Artisan & Vintage Market
May 14, 2022
Balzac Community Hall (10075 Township Rd. 262, Balzac)
Free to explore
Just across the highway from the Balzac Costco, you’ll find a pop-up market with 40+ artisans and booths including hand-crafted original goods and awesome finds for your home and garden.
tangledtreemarkets.wixsite.com
Le Shi Solo Exhibition
May 14, 2022
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Take a vacation to Eastern Canada through the depiction of marshes, forests, and wetlands in a new series of acrylic paintings by artist Le Shi inspired by national and provincial parks in Ontario. Travel through seasons and experience symphonies of colour!
wallacegalleries.com
Spring Pottery Sale
May 14, 2022
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Mount Pleasant Potters’ Guild is a group of talented local artists with a passion for mucking about in clay. Delicate, fine, brutal, whimsical, and everything in between describes the range of wares you’ll find at this awesome pottery sale.
calgarypottery.com
Ongoing Exhibitions
Tower Migration
Until May 6, 2022
Studio Vazquez-Mackay (100, 441 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore, appointment required
This series of artworks originated in Mark Vazquez-Mackay’s interest in the biblical story of the Tower of Babel and parallel cautionary tales, and his curiosity about the motivations behind human migration ultimately led to the focal question: what circumstances are people moving away from?
studiovazquez-mackay.com
Cradle to Gravy
Until May 7, 2022
Norberg Hall (333b 36th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Norberg Hall presents Cradle to Gravy, a not-quite retrospective of the not-quite-done-yet beloved senior artist, John Will. The work in this exhibition spans 25+ years and serves as a glimpse into the mind of this Canadian art legend and an excerpt from his expansive career.
norberghall.com
up front w/ Billy McCarroll
Until May 7, 2022
Norberg Hall (333b 36th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Norberg Hall is pleased to introduce a new work by senior Lethbridge-based artist Billy McCarroll. Known for his procedural, mixed-media paintings, McCarroll continues to draw upon art historical and texted related references. This new series is an extension of McCarroll’s impressive 50+ year investigation into abstraction.
norberghall.com
Uninvited
Until May 8, 2022
The Edison (150 9th Ave. SW)
Free to explore, tickets required
The first exhibition in Glenbow’s new satellite location is a landmark exhibition of more than 200 works of art by a generation of extraordinary women painters, photographers, sculptors, architects, and filmmakers from the early 20th century. These pioneers opened new frontiers for women artists in Canada.
glenbow.org
Easter Group Show
Until May 11, 2022
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
The arrival of spring means new growth and more time spent outdoors. This group exhibition focuses on everything the beautiful countryside offers including warm weather, flowers, hiking, beaches, and mountain air.
wallacegalleries.com
Zones / Indicators
Until May 13, 2022
Alberta Printmakers Main Gallery (4025 4th St. SE)
Free to explore
Alberta Printmakers is pleased to present Zones / Indicators, a contemporary printmaking exhibition by Elizabeth Claire Rose. Rose creates work that connects geographically disconnected landscapes focusing on their shared ecologies: how each site is connected through climatic shifts, soil qualities, and habitat range.
albertaprintmakers.com
Falling with Uncertain Grace
Until May 21, 2022
ASA Gallery, Crossroads Art Centre (222, 1235 26th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
This exhibition by Yvonne DuBourdieu looks at the dichotomy between strength and weakness within ourselves and the unease that manifests when our vulnerabilities are laid bare through heightened uncertainty.
albertasocietyofartists.com
All is Water
Until May 21, 2022
ASA Gallery, Crossroads Art Centre (222, 1235 26th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
A collaboration between Danny Luong, Hesam Rezaei, and Twinkle Banerjee, this photographic exhibition aims to juxtapose the universality of water against the backdrop of their ethnic backgrounds and identities.
albertasocietyofartists.com
Our Alberta Wilderness
Until May 22, 2022
Art at the Landing (A122, 1600 90th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
How do we respond in times of uncertainty in a social and political moment where opinions are often divisive? In this exhibition, we see artists follow distinct paths toward subtle forms of resistance while exploring areas of connection that feel in opposition.
artatthelanding.weebly.com
Rerouting
Until May 22, 2022
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission
Rerouting stems from the Collider: In-Residence Artist Residency, an online program inviting 12 artists from around the world to consider new modes of practice in response to their experiences within a global pandemic.
contemporarycalgary.com
The Further Apart Things Seem
Until May 22, 2022
Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)
With admission
How do we respond in times of uncertainty in a social and political moment where opinions are often divisive? In this exhibition, we see artists follow distinct paths toward subtle forms of resistance while exploring areas of connection that feel in opposition.
contemporarycalgary.com
Money Zoo: Fantastic Beasts in the History of Money
Until May 27, 2022
Nickle Galleries, Taylor Family Digital Library, University of Calgary (410 University Ct. NW)
Free to explore
This exhibition highlights animals depicted on currencies and the historical use of animals as money to raise awareness of our complex bond and dependence on these fantastic creatures and their place in the modern world.
nickle.ucalgary.ca
20th Annual Juried Members Exhibition
Until June 5, 2022
Leighton Art Centre (282027 144 St. West, Foothills)
By donation
The Juried Members Exhibition is an annual curated exhibition, with every Leighton Art Centre artist member eligible to submit up to three of their best recent pieces for consideration. With 64 pieces by 38 artists selected from over 300 submissions, this 20th annual celebration of the centre’s member artists is a fresh and exciting visual treat.
leightoncentre.org
a rolled chord of sunlight unfurled
Until June 5, 2022
Esker Foundation (1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to Explore
The range of the sun’s luminescence is one of the most beautiful things about Mohkínsstsisi. Out of reverence for the sun’s refraction on our plot of rock comes a new body of work by artist Ashley Bedet dedicated to investigating and honouring the different intensities of our sun’s rays.
eskerfoundation.com
Daylight Cut-Outs
Until June 12, 2022
VivianeArt (1018 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
VIVIANEART presents Daylight Cut-Outs, a solo exhibition of large-scale paintings and photo collages by Canadian artist Julie Beugin. Her colourful abstract paintings begin with her camera as she explores the city using her camera, capturing moments of light. These photos inspire Beugin’s collages, which ultimately inspire her paintings.
vivianeart.com
YYC Bread Stories
Until June 26, 2022
Lougheed House (707 13 Ave. SW)
$4 – $8.50
YYC Bread Stories shows our city’s connection to bread, historically and today, and contains artifacts of bread making from early Calgary and mementos from Calgary families who have a strong connection to their culture’s bread.
lougheedhouse.com
otipemisiwak
Until June 26, 2022
Fort Calgary (750 9th Ave. SE)
With admission
Otipemisiwak, which translates from Cree to “people who live by their own rules,” showcases recent works by Daphne Boyer. Her practice combines plant material, high-resolution digital tools, and traditional handwork to create art celebrating her Métis heritage.
fortcalgary.com
Naked Excess
Until June 26, 2022
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Michelle Bui’s photographic images meet at the intersection between still life and commercial photography. Bui intuitively arranges objects, photographing them against colourful backdrops.
eskerfoundation.com
Fast Moving Sun
Until June 26, 2022
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Veronika Pausova draws on figurative imagery to tell short stories that mine the territory between animation and stasis. The implied movement of these recurrent motifs serve as a cast of recurrent characters and as a proxy for the viewer to feel the anxious energy.
eskerfoundation.com
Letters for Occasions
Until June 26, 2022
Esker Foundation (4th Floor, 1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free to explore
Farah Al Qasimi’s exhibition brings together new and recent photographs that consider the story of her family’s migration between the UAE and the US, the global circulation of pop culture, and the reflection of the idiosyncrasies of personal style and aesthetics.
eskerfoundation.com
The Boxed Stories Gallery
Until June 30, 2022
Loft 112 (535 8th Ave. SE)
$5
A truly unique experience for artists and viewers alike! Housed within a vintage card catalogue, visitors are encouraged to discover varied artworks as they open each drawer.
loft112.org
hypertext / chances are bigger in the sun
Until July 23, 2022
The Bows (2001B, 10th Ave. SW)
Free to explore
Lotte Van den Audenaeren makes works that illuminate the material dimensions of time as it takes shape in patches of natural sunlight, transient sounds, swathes of fluorescent fabric, or decaying natural objects. Check out her work on the The Bows Billboard!
thebows.org
Reflections: 10 Years Capturing Calgary’s Alt Music Scene
Until September 11, 2022
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (850 4th St. SE)
With admission
Music photographer Zoltan Varadi was inspired by the nice surprises he discovered as he began cleaning and scanning his old negatives during a year of pandemic lockdowns.
studiobell.ca
Have a visual arts event that’s not listed? Email us at events@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or fill out this form.
