The single best contemporary artwork I've seen in Calgary this year is Wally Dion's enormous hanging sculpture at the Esker Foundation's group show Fiction/Non-Fiction. From a distance the work looks like a giant rug with gold and bejeweled features shimmering amidst a weave of blue and green panels. In reality this portrait-format gem is fabricated from hundreds of small printed circuit boards, stitched together with wire, and supported by an intricate rear-mounted configuration of air-cord (wire rope) and pulleys. Upon closer inspection, myriad component holes punctuate the boards, allowing pinpricks of light to penetrate. The result is a quasi-celestial projection on the wall behind creating an abstract yet meditative constellation that at once critiques yet embellishes the fabric of our existence. UK Sculptor David Mach, who I took to see the show, noted, "It's the sort of thing I wish I'd fuckin' thought of and made!"
Wally Dion, I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know: everything that shines ain't always going to be gold, 2013, circuit boards, wire, found materials (courtesy: the artist and Esker Foundation; photo: John Dean)
Second on my list for this year is a historical figure. Otto Dix, curated by Laura Brandon into a two-person show with A.Y. Jackson, is part of Transformations at the Glenbow Museum. Although I'm not a fan of the large text panels in the exhibition, this project is noteworthy not just because of the importance of the upcoming centenary of The Great War. Be sure to direct your attention to four medium-size paintings by Dix that highlight a lesser-known oeuvre following his earlier overt social commentary canvasses. Landscapes that almost appear as sentimental folk art are actually part of a project undertaken by the artist in the later 1930s/1940s after being labeled by Hitler's regime as a degenerate artist. The paintings are actually encoded narratives with nuanced scenes depicting corrupting influences and dark portent. The works will be seen again this coming year at the Canadian War Museum.
Annie Martin at Pith takes my number three spot with her installation everything that rises. Comprising branches festooned with strands of throwaway readymades and detritus, and permeated with radio broadcasts, the work is beguiling yet lyrical. It reminds me of a saying by one of my undergrad peers, named Merlin, whose über-messy studio received regular visits from the health and safety folks. He used to say, "So many artists think they're making great art but only come up with a pile of crap, whereas my studio may look like a pile of crap, but it can still become great art." Here's to less crap and more great art in 2014!
Dick Averns is an interdisciplinary artist and writer whose exhibitions and performances have been presented internationally. He teaches at the Alberta College of Art + Design, and his writing has appeared in Canadian Art, Front, On Site Review, and many catalogues. He is Akimblog's Calgary correspondent and can be followed @DickAverns on Twitter.
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2013 Critic's Picks
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