I didn’t even bring my camera…so, no images except the scratches I made into my journal. I attended an artist talk by Jeffrey Gibson at the Esker Foundation yesterday afternoon and learned so much about the context of his work/beliefs. I am so grateful for having the time in such a magical environment, to hear Jeffrey speak. Thank you.
The exhibit Fiction/ Non-fiction is shouting out for your attendance. My readers will be floored! I am consistently amazed by the arts events happening in Calgary, but this particular collection breaths a different sort of air into our city.
Of identifying with a cultural identity, Jeffrey summarizes, as he did yesterday, in this New York Time’s article written by Carol Kino…
“If you’d told me five years ago that this was where my work was going to lead,” said Mr. Gibson, gesturing to other pieces, including two beaded punching bags and a cluster of painted drums, “I never would have believed it.” Now 41, he is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and half-Cherokee. But for years, he said, he resisted the impulse to quote traditional Indian art, just as he had rejected the pressure he’d felt in art school to make work that reflected his so-called identity.
“The way we describe identity here is so reductive,” Mr. Gibson said. “It never bleeds into seeing you as a more multifaceted person.” But now “I’m finally at the point where I can feel comfortable being your introduction” to American Indian culture, he added. “It’s just a huge acceptance of self.”
On exhibit at the Esker Foundation, a fascinating and challenging exhibit of installation work and paintings, a show co-produced with the Illingworth Kerr Gallery of ACAD. The curators are Wayne Baerwaldt, Steven Loft and Naomi Potter.
In brief, the Esker website describes this collection...
“The thirteen artists in Fiction/Non-fiction challenge mainstream cultural and political narratives by offering transcultural critique through works that propose counterpoints, rhetorical questions, and revisionist statements (often as increasingly abstract forms of representation) to official historical records or archives.”
Several different programs, both hands-on and curatorial talks/tours, will be given up until the end of December. These programs, based on my experience, are consistently engaging and a source for new questions and knowledge.
Not to confuse my readers, but this painting by Brenda Draney caught my gaze and held it…so I wanted to post it here.
Brenda Draney. Tent, 2013, oil on canvas, 3′ x 4′. Photo credit Sarah Fuller.