Katie Ohe at Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary

Regional biases in Canadian art never cease to amaze me. Say what you will about the pitfalls or benefits of regionalism, it continues to surprise me that every time I move to new city I am introduced to a range of important, influential senior artists. Katie Ohe is one of these artists: a pioneering abstract sculptor who has lived and worked in Calgary for most of her nearly sixty-year career. She has been exhibiting internationally since 1960 and, having started in 1970, still teaches at ACAD.



Katie Ohe, Chuckles, 2015, steel, stainless steel

At Herringer Kiss Gallery, Ohe presents a range of works from the last thirty or so years in what is remarkably (almost unbelievably) her first exhibition in a commercial space. Ohe’s oeuvre is beyond the scope of this little blurb, but of the varied works exhibited most were sculptural and made of steel – a primary material in her practice and forged her own hands. What struck me most was the intense physicality of her work, not only how the body is clearly implicated in the making, but the way in which the viewer’s body is encouraged (subtly and strongly) to respond. Her wall-hung sculptural works posses a human scale and resonance that is hard to articulate – their armature-like forms somehow related to the skeleton we each posses. A brand new work endearingly titled Chuckles encourages views to press on floor-based orbs to elicit a response from a coiled steel spring resting below.

Ethos, Now and Then demonstrates that Ohe has an incredible depth and breadth of practice, and her teaching record alone makes her perhaps the most influential artist in Alberta. This modest commercial exhibition raises some questions. Where’s the travelling museum retrospective? Where’s the catalogue raisonné? Ohe is a regional treasure and deserves to be recognized as such.


Herringer Kiss Gallery: http://www.herringerkissgallery.com/
Katie Ohe: Ethos, Now and Then continues until November 14.


Sarah Todd is a curator currently based in Calgary. She has previously worked at Western Front, InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, XPACE Cultural Centre, and The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. She has also produced projects with a range of organizations including Vtape, Kunstverein München, The Goethe Institute, The Pacific Cinematheque, Glenbow Museum and The Illingworth Kerr Gallery. She is Akimblog’s Calgary correspondent and can be followed on Twitter @sarahannetodd.