Calendar
May 2013
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
6:30 pm: Dutch Landscapes
7:30 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
12:15 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
2 pm: Dutch Landscapes
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
1 pm: Ledcor Building Tour
2 pm: Dutch Landscapes
3 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
1 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
2 pm: Dutch Landscapes
3 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
6:30 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
7:30 pm: Dutch Landscapes
Murray Quinn
with Catherine Crowston
Wednesday, May 15, 7 pm
Ledcor Theatre, Lower Level
$15 / $10 AGA Members
Call 780.422.6223 to purchase tickets
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
12:15 pm: Dutch Landscapes
2 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
1 pm: Dutch Landscapes
2 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
3 pm: Dutch Landscapes
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
1 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
2 pm: Dutch Landscapes
3 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
Victoria Day
Your AGA is open for Victoria Day!
Visit us from 11 am-5 pm
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
6:30 pm: Ledcor Building Tour
7:30 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
12:15 pm: From Rembrandt to van Gogh
2 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
George Maciunas Piano Piece #13 (for Nam June Paik)
Manning Hall, main level
Free
During this 30-minute performance, a local musician will nail down all of the keys of an upright piano one by one. The result will then be displayed in the exhibition space of The Piano.
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
1 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
2 pm: From Rembrandt to van Gogh
3 pm: The Piano
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser
A film by Charlotte Zwerin
USA | 90 minutes | 1988
Saturday, May 25, 4 pm
Metro Cinema at the Garneau, 8712 109 Street
Tickets: Special Matinee Pricing $8 / $6 AGA & Metro Members, Students and Seniors
Tickets can be purchased through the Metro Cinema Box Office
From the 1960s on, the piano has become a subject of great interest to artists, who have approached it in unconventional and often surprising ways. A part of the social unrest and political upheaval of the time, many questioned the models of culture that had come to be associated with the piano, with the canons of European classical music, the idea of expressive subjectivity and the role that the piano played for a middle class aspiring to high culture.
The works in this exhibition, The Piano, can be seen to continue the experimental and iconoclastic tendencies of the post war avant-garde, with projects that interrogate the piano and its cultural and social associations. Some of the artists seek to produce new and innovative sounds, increasing the piano’s sonic capacity in unusual ways, while others transform it into a mute sculptural object, thereby negating its function as an instrument of music and popular entertainment altogether. The image of a silenced or even destroyed piano, may speak to the recent history of the piano and its loss of status over the latter part of the 20th century. Once a fixture of many middle and upper class living rooms, today, the piano, as an instrument made of wood and iron, is in great decline. It has been displaced by successive technological innovations including the phonograph, radio, electric keyboard and most recently the computer synthesizer and iPad keyboard.
The Piano features work by 13 contemporary artists, which take the form of video projections, performances and sculptural installations, and examine the image of the pianist, from the virtuoso to the DIY amateur, and the role of the piano, from a hub of bar room entertainment to an instrument of reverie and personal salvation.
Artists include: Dean Baldwin, Patrick Bernatchez, Stan Douglas, Rodney Graham, Carole Itter, Tim Lee, George Maciunas, Gordon Monahan, Katie Paterson, Rober Racine, Michael Snow, Charles Stankievech, Euan Macdonald.
The Piano is organized by the Art Gallery of Alberta and the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Hart House and curated by Barbara Fischer and Catherine Crowston.
Presented by 
and
Media Partners
As part of their support of the Art Gallery of Alberta’s New Vision capital campaign, the Mitchell family donated funds to establish ongoing acquisitions for the AGA’s permanent collection. Focusing on works of art by living Canadian artists, the Mitchell Endowment allows the AGA to build its collection while also supporting artists. This exhibition features the first works that were acquired in 2012 with funds from the Mitchell Endowment. The works in the exhibition are by five Alberta artists from across the province: Robin Arseneault, Calgary; David Hoffos, Lethbridge; Chris Millar, Calgary; Royden Mills, Edmonton and Laura St. Pierre, Grand Prairie—all of whom have contributed to the AGA’s exhibition history, but were under-represented in our collection.
The AGA thanks John and Maggie Mitchell for their contribution to the AGA’s New Vision capital campaign and for their initiative in establishing this important endowment, which will enable us to continue to build our collection for years to come.
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
1 pm: Family Fun Tour: The Piano
2 pm: Family Fun Tour: The Piano
3 pm: Family Fun Tour: The Piano
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
6:30 pm: The Piano
7:30 pm: From Rembrandt to van Gogh
May 30, 2013
Enjoy free Gallery admission from 6-9 pm
Brought to you by Servus Credit Union
All tours last approximately 25 minutes and are delivered by our knowledgeable Interpretive Staff.
Free with admission.
12:15 pm: The Piano
2 pm: A Story of Canadian Art
