for the time being: 2017 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art

May 27 – September 10, 2017 

Art Gallery of Alberta


June 24 – September 10, 2017

Walter Phillips Gallery
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

Taking the position that a biennial organizes artists in addition to works of art, curators Kristy Trinier and Peta Rake invited Albertan artists to participate in collaborative workshops hosted in Banff nearly one year in advance of the exhibition opening. In addition to extensive studio visits across the province, these conversations greatly informed the development of the two-part Biennial. The title of the exhibition for the time being is an analogy of thinking about what it means to be in-between spaces and times. Specifically the exhibition focuses on our present and our relationships to perceptions of reality. for the time being approaches the political implications of self-organization and way-finding in new and unknown territories that may or may not be visible. The exhibition investigates the distribution of wealth and labour through language and provisional practices. In the conversations with the artists, common threads emerged relating to interstitiality and site—albeit physical or virtual—and a preoccupation with echoes that reflect the way in which artists see reverberations within larger discourses in their communities. 

The cohort of 24 Alberta artists met at Banff Centre in the summer of 2016 for the Alberta Biennial Sessions to further develop their artworks and expand upon the exhibition themes together with the curators. Two international guest curators, Kendal Henry and Lorenzo Fusi, led an intensive series of workshops with the artists and facilitated an open conversation on the status of biennials and their impact regionally and internationally. This was the first time that artists had been brought together in such a way prior to the opening of the exhibition. 

The Art Gallery of Alberta and Banff Centre’s Walter Phillips Gallery are jointly organizing and co-presenting the 10th Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art. The exhibition will exist in two parts and open first at the Art Gallery of Alberta in May 2017 and then at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s Walter Phillips Gallery in June 2017, with public programming at both sites throughout the exhibition’s duration.

Since 1996, the Art Gallery of Alberta has presented the Alberta Biennial as a survey of contemporary art from across the province. Since its inception, the exhibition has presented new and exciting works by 222 Alberta contemporary artists, serving to promote Alberta artists across the country and bringing national attention to Alberta’s art scene. In 2017, we are celebrating the Biennial’s 10th year.

The for the time being: 2017 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art is curated by Kristy Trinier and Peta Rake, and  jointly organized by the Art Gallery of Alberta and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and presented by ATB Financial. The exhibition at the Art Gallery of Alberta is supported by Artist Patrons: Bruce and Carol Bentley, Marie Gordon, John and Maggie Mitchell, Sheila O'Brien, and Allan and Marianne Scott. The exhibition at Walter Phillips Gallery is supported by the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program. We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Canada Council for the Arts, Edmonton Arts Council, and the City of Edmonton. 

For more information for the Art Gallery of Alberta portion of the exhibition visit: youraga.ca


Artists

Ashley Bedet
Devon Beggs
Andrew Buszchak
Roy Caussy
Mark Clintberg
Gerry Dotto
Craig Fahner & Neal Moignard
Svea Ferguson
Megan Green
Tia Halliday
Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal
Kristopher Karklin
Taryn Kneteman
Kristopher Lindskoog
Jay Mosher
Wil Murray
Justin Patterson & Stacey Watson
Paul Robert
Marigold Santos
Parker Thiessen
Justin Waddell
Nicole Kelly Westman


Events


Walter Phillips Gallery


Saturday, June 24


6 - 9 p.m.



Taryn Kneteman 
Walter Phillips Gallery


Sunday, June 25
12 - 5 p.m.



Walter Phillips Gallery


Sunday, June 25


2 p.m.




Taryn Kneteman 
Walter Phillips Gallery


Saturday, July 15
12 - 5 p.m.




Taryn Kneteman 
Walter Phillips Gallery


Sunday, July 16
12 - 5 p.m.



Taryn Kneteman 
Walter Phillips Gallery


Wednesday, August 9
12 - 5 p.m.



Walter Phillips Gallery


Wednesday, August 9
5 p.m.



Walter Phillips Gallery


Wednesday, August 9


6 p.m.



Walter Phillips Gallery


Friday, August 25


1 p.m.



Curator's Tour: for the time being
Walter Phillips Gallery
Friday, September 8
1 p.m.


Taryn Kneteman 
Walter Phillips Gallery


Saturday, September 9
12 - 5 p.m.


Taryn Kneteman 
Walter Phillips Gallery


Sunday, September 10
12 - 5 p.m.

About the Curators

Kristy Trinier is the Director of Visual, Digital and Media Arts at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Previously, as the Curator at the Art Gallery of Alberta, Trinier curated Future Station: 2015 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art, as well as exhibitions at the AGA and Enterprise Square Galleries. Her previous roles include Public Art Director at the Edmonton Arts Council, where she managed the City of Edmonton’s Public Art Collection, related exhibitions and public art programs and Grant Writer at Banff Centre. Trinier has written for Canadian Art, Momus and other arts publications. She holds a Bachelors degree in Visual Art and English from the University of Victoria, and a Masters degree in Public Art from the Dutch Art Institute (DAI, ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de Kunsten) as a Huygens scholar in The Netherlands.


Peta Rake is the Curator of Walter Phillips Gallery and the Banff International Curatorial Institute at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. She has curated exhibitions at ISCP (New York), Oakland Museum of California (Oakland), CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art (San Francisco), Luggage Store Gallery (San Francisco) and the Esker Foundation (Calgary). She writes regularly for C Magazine and her texts have appeared in Canadian Art, Fillip, and Blackflash among others. She has previously worked at California College of the Arts and Steven Leiber Archive (San Francisco) and the Institute of Modern Art (Brisbane). She holds a Masters in Curatorial Practice from California College of the Arts, a Bachelors degree in Creative Industries from Queensland University of Technology and was the 2014 Curator Award recipient from ISCP in New York.

About the Artists

Ashley Bedet – b. Calgary, based in Calgary

Ashley Bedet came back to Calgary, where she was born. Bedet is the product of many very different worlds reproducing, meeting difference, and then reproducing again. That makes her the product of at least four distinct separate paths. She graduated from NSCAD University in 2014 and has been slowly making and showing work since.

Devon Beggs – b. Edmonton, based in Edmonton

Devon Beggs was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1983. Beggs works predominantly with textiles and fibres, but also incorporates sound, video, performance and installation into his practice. Beggs completed an MFA at Concordia University in Montreal in 2011 and currently lives and works in Edmonton. He has exhibited his work in at Parisian Laundry and Art Mûr (both Montreal), Gallery Atsui (Vancouver) and was included in the Future Station: 2015 Biennial of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton).

Andrew Buszchak – b. Brantford, Ontario, based in Edmonton

Andrew Buszchak is an interdisciplinary artist working in video, print, and exchange, and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from NSCAD University. In 2015, he participated in the Art Gallery of Alberta’s Do It Yourself: Collectivity and Collaboration in Edmonton and his durational office light installation, Beacon, was produced for Edmonton’s inaugural Nuit Blanche. Other engagements of note with Edmonton’s arts community include his limited edition woodblock print accompaniment to the Society of Northern Alberta Printmakers’ spring 2014 edition of SNAPline, and his performance Custodial Walk (2014, in collaboration with Émilienne Gervais), presented by The Drawing Room.

Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal – b. Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, based in Saddle Lake Cree Nation/ Calgary

Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal is a multi-media artist, community activist, oskâpêwis, storyteller and life-long learner. Born and raised in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, she now lives in Calgary, Alberta and traces her ancestral roots to Saddle Lake Cree Nation. Since graduating from the Alberta College of Art + Design in 2015, she attended Culture Camp at Blue Quills First Nations University, participated in Emily Carr University of Art + Design’s Urban Access to Aboriginal Art Program, was awarded the BMO 1st Art National Award and has attended the Indigenous Visual + Digital Arts Residency 2016 in Banff, Alberta. Her artwork continues to be a reflection of the teachings she receives along her journey, inviting all people to become a part of the process.

Roy Caussy – b. Hamilton, Ontario, based in Lethbridge

Roy Caussy was born 1981 in Hamilton, ON. He received his BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD U) in 2006, and successfully completed his MFA at the University of Lethbridge in 2015. Caussy’s group exhibitions include Art Gallery of Hamilton (Hamilton), Cambridge Galleries (Cambridge), eyelevel gallery (Halifax), Southern Alberta Art Gallery (Lethbridge) and Centre A (Vancouver). Caussy has also attended residencies across Canada including Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity (Banff) and the Medalta International Artists in Residence (Medicine Hat). Roy would like to thank the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for their generous support in the production of the work for the Alberta Biennial.

Mark Clintberg – b. Edmonton, based in Calgary

Mark Clintberg is an artist who works in the field of art history. He earned his Ph.D. at Concordia University in 2013, and has also studied at Oxford University, the Alberta College of Art + Design, and the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. Solo exhibitions of his work have recently occurred at Artspace (Peterborough), Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain (Montreal), and the Illingworth Kerr Gallery (Calgary). He has contributed to group exhibitions at the Dunlop Art Gallery (Regina), Locust Projects (Miami), the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Halifax), and Centre des arts actuels Skol (Montreal).

Gerry Dotto – b. Edmonton, based in Sherwood Park

Gerry Dotto lives and works in Sherwood Park outside of Edmonton, Alberta. He attended the Alberta College of Art where he received his undergraduate in 1981. Dotto’s practice includes printmaking, mixed-media, collage and photography. His work has been shown in group exhibitions in New York, Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto and most recently, in the Salt Spring National Art Prize exhibition. His solo exhibitions include Flow of Traffic Theory at the Art Gallery of St. Albert (2016); Daffodil Gallery (2012) and Latitude53 (2010). His work is held in the public collections of Esso Petroleum Corporation, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Bruce Peel Special Collections Library. His work has been featured in publications such as Manifest Gallery 3rd and 5th International Photography Annuals, online – PrairieSeen Notes.

Craig Fahner – b. Calgary, based in Calgary

Neil Moignard – b. Adelaide, Australia, based in Calgary

Craig Fahner is an artist and musician from Calgary, Alberta. His electronic, video and sound-based works reimagine electronic systems, generating experiences that reflect on the role of technology in our culture. Fahner’s works have been exhibited in various venues internationally, including the 8-11 Gallery (Toronto), Museo de la Ciudad (Queretaro, Mexico) and the Device Art Triennial (Zagreb, Croatia). In 2010, he received the Disney Memorial Pausch Fellowship to pursue graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh), where he received his Masters of Fine Arts in 2013. He has been awarded project grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Fahner currently leads classes in Media Arts + Digital Technologies at the Alberta College of Art and Design and in the Art department at the University of Calgary.

Neal Moignard is an animator, visual artist, and musician based in Calgary, Alberta. His practice works across many disciplines and mediums, employing drawing, design, installation, CG, traditional animation, video, sound, performance, and cinema in attempts to subvert modern technologies in order to describe the ineffable. Moignard has exhibited works and screened his films at venues across Canada and internationally, including the 2012 Nuit Blanche festival in Toronto, the Atomic Testing Museum in Nevada, and the Beginning Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. His animated short, Mud, was produced through the National Film Board’s Hothouse program in 2014.  Moignard is currently pursuing his Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Oregon.

Svea Ferguson – b. Calgary, based in Calgary

Svea Ferguson is a Calgary-based sculptor and installation artist with a Bachelor of Fine Aarts from the Alberta College of Art amd Design (Calgary). Her work has been exhibited at Barbara Edwards Contemporary, Stride Gallery, Herringer Kiss Gallery and the Esker Foundation project space (all in Calgary and Division Gallery and Justina M. Barnicke Gallery (Toronto). She was named the provincial recipient for Alberta for the 2015 BMO 1st Art! Prize. Ferguson’s work is included in private and permanent collections of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and TD Canada Trust.

Megan Green – b. St. John’s, Newfoundland, based in Fort McMurray

Megan Green was born in Newfoundland, but like many migrated to Fort McMurray in the mid 1990s, where she spent her formative years. Following a diploma from the local college, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Alberta (Edmonton) in 2011 and completed her Masters in Fine Arts solo thesis exhibition The Jackalope in the Room, at the University of Waterloo in 2014. During studies at the University of Waterloo Green completed their ‘Keith and Win Shantz Summer Internship ‘in London (UK) with artist and taxidermist Claire Morgan; and in the summer of 2014 she was included in Art Mûr’s Fresh Paint New Construction (Montreal).

Tia Halliday – b. Calgary, based in Calgary

Tia Halliday was born in Calgary, Alberta. She received a Bachelor of Fine Art with distinction from the Alberta College of Art and Design, attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and obtained an Masters in Fine Arts from Concordia University (Montreal). Halliday has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions and performance projects across Canada and Europe. Her work has been highlighted in The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post, and Canadian Art Online. Tia is the daughter of the late Canadian abstract painter Richard Halliday RCA.  Tia Halliday is currently an instructor of visual art and theory at the Department of Art, University of Calgary.

Kristopher Karklin – b. Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, based in Calgary

Born in Manitoba in 1983, Kristopher Karklin grew up in rural Northern Alberta and completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2007. Karklin has been the recipient of several awards including the 2012 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award for an Emerging Artist. Karklin’s work has been included in major museum exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, (Calgary); Art Gallery of Calgary and the Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton) as a participant of the 2013 Alberta Biennial for Contemporary Art. His work is held in the public collection of the Art Gallery of Alberta and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts as well as in private collections in both Canada and the United States including the distinguished photographic collection of Sir Elton John.

Taryn Kneteman – b. Edmonton, based in Edmonton

Taryn Kneteman is an artist who uses photography, printed media, performance, that integrates both objects made and found. She works to create situations where the valence of certainty is thin, to challenge complacencies of seeing and invite curiosity, wonder, and conversation. Kneteman has participated in artist residencies and exhibited work in Canada, the USA, Germany, and China. Recent projects in Alberta include Everyday Rituals (survival tactics), an exhibition of photographs and video at SNAP Gallery in Edmonton, Common Opulence 2, an artist residency and sustainable building initiative in Peace Country and After Aurora, an unexpected structure and performance in Intersite Visual Arts Festival (Calgary).

Kristopher Lindskoog – b. Edmonton, based in Calgary

Kristopher Lindskoog is a multi-disciplinary artist who lives and works in Calgary, Alberta with his wife and two daughters. He is a graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design (Calgary) and has exhibited locally, nationally and in Europe.

Jay Mosher – b. Red Deer, based in Calgary

Jay Mosher is an artist based in Calgary. He received an Masters in Fine Arts from the Glasgow School of Art in 2013. Recent solo exhibitions include And There a Bronze Nail Stopped the Gush of Blood and Sent it Bubbling Back Inside, Harcourt House Gallery, Edmonton (2016), Brasília, Untitled Art Society, Calgary (2015). Group exhibitions featuring his work have included Future Station: The Alberta Biennial, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton (2015), …Landscape, dc3 Art Projects, Edmonton (2014), Comfortably Warm, Glasgow International Festival (2014), Talisman (collaboration with Rory Middleton), The New Gallery, Calgary (2012).

Will Murray – b. Calgary, based in Okotoks/ Berlin, Germany

Wil Murray studied painting at the Alberta College of Art and Design (Calgary) and lives and works in both Okotoks and Berlin (Germany). Recent solo exhibitions include On Invasive Species and Infidelity’, The Art Gallery of Alberta (Calgary); Please Boss Remember Me, VITRINE (London); Die Welt In Farben P|M Gallery (Toronto); and Last Summer I Build A 1:8 Scale Model of Your Vagina, Staatsgalerie Prenzlauer Berg, (Berlin). His group shows include A journey from a sweeping gesture to a lasting effect, VITRINE (Basel); NOT A PHOTO, The Hole (New York City); and The Painting Project, Galerie de L’UQAM in Montreal, CA. Murray received an honourable mention in the prestigious RBC Canadian Painting Competition in 2008, and previously exhibited in the Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art in 2015.

Justin Patterson – b. Brooks, based in Calgary/Vancouver, British Columbia

Stacey Watson – b. Washington, D.C., based in Calgary

Justin Patterson and Stacey Watson are a collaborative duo that formed in 2003. Alongside their individual art practices and work with the Arbour Lake Sghool, they have maintained an ongoing creative exchange. Both are graduates of the University of Calgary, where Stacey received her Masters in Fine Art in 2004 and Justin received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2005. Their collaborative work has been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Calgary (2003), Kulturpfeiffer, Berlin (2006), Salt Gallery, Cornwall, UK (2006) and at Kunstverein das weisse haus, Vienna (2008). They have exhibited sculptural installation work at IDEAL, Calgary (2008) and their immersive room piece entitled The Filthy Water Grotto was constructed at Art Gallery of Calgary in 2009. Leading up to the 2017 Alberta Biennial the duo the are creating video works in Calgary and Vancouver B.C.

Paul Robert – b. Calgary, based in Calgary

Paul Robert is a Canadian artist who works in a variety of media. His projects aim to reveal the hidden assumptions that allow technological modes of thought to seem self-evident. He received his Masters in Fine Arts from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Halifax) in 2005 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta College of Art + Design (Calgary) in 2002 where he currently teaches in the department Media Arts. His work has been exhibited in Alberta, Halifax, and abroad. His writing has appeared in publications such as Border Crossings and Fuse.

Marigold Santos – b. Manila, Philippines, based in Calgary/ Montréal, Quebec

Marigold Santos pursues an inter-disciplinary art practice involving drawn, painted, and printed works, sculpture, animation, and sound. She holds a BFA with Honours from the University of Calgary, and an MFA from Concordia University in Montréal. As a recipient of numerous awards and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, she continues to exhibit widely across Canada. She is represented by Jarvis Hall Gallery and Galerie D’Este. She currently divides both residence and practice between Calgary and Montreal.

Parker Thiessen b. Beaverlodge, based in Edmonton

Parker Thiessen is a filmmaker, musician and graphic designer originally from Beaverlodge, Alberta, with an interest in experimentation, DIY and exploring the bizarre or unusual. He attended the Design and Motion Image Program at MacEwan University Centre for the Arts (Edmonton). Through his work, Parker experiments with original and found sounds and visuals. Under various projects, he has released more than ten albums and he is co-founder of experimental label Pseudo Laboratories. He has previously exhibited with the Art Gallery of Alberta and Enterprise Square Galleries as part of SONAR: Sound Explorations by Edmonton Artists, and Do It Yourself: Collectivity and Collaboration in Edmonton.

Justin Waddell – b. Toronto, Ontario, based in Calgary

Justin Waddell graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design and received his MFA in Integrated Media from the University of Windsor in 2003. He has worked in various capacities at several Artist-Run Centers, Festivals, Galleries, and Magazines in Canada including Prefix Photo, Trinity Square Video, Lola Magazine, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the New Gallery, and the Gendai Gallery at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center. He has served as the Director of Programming at YYZ Artists’ Outlet, the Director of the Stride Art Gallery Association, and more recently as a Board Member of the Calgary Cinematheque, M.S.T. Performative Art Festival, and as a founding Board Member with the every-age art and music venue, Local Library in Calgary, Alberta. His work and research is rooted in the development of a personal narrative of experimentation and process. Right now, he is interested in escapism. Waddell currently lives in Calgary, Alberta where he is a Permanent Instructor in the School of Visual Art at the Alberta College of Art and Design.

Nicole Kelly Westman – b. Red Deer, based in Calgary

Nicole Kelly Westman is a visual artist of Métis and Icelandic descent. She grew up in a supportive home with strong-willed parents – her mother, a considerate woman with inventive creativity, and her father, an anonymous feminist. Her work culls from these formative years for insight and inspiration. Existing beyond the binary definitive of a specific medium, Nicole Kelly Westman, has had the pleasure and privilege to be curated into exhibitions by remarkable females including; Peta Rake, Kristy Trinier, Kimberly Phillips, Ginger Carlson, Leila Timmins, and cheyanne turions. Westman holds a BFA from Emily Carr University and is the current Director of Stride Gallery (Calgary).