Calendar
June 2013
The Bequest: Ernest E. Poole and the AGA Collection
with Ruth Burns
Thursday, June 13, 7 pm
Second Floor Gallery
$25 / $20 AGA Members
Call 780.422.6223 to purchase tickets
Joe Friday
with William Wood
Wednesday, June 26, 7 pm
Ledcor Theatre, Lower Level
$15 / $10 AGA Members
Call 780.422.6223 to purchase tickets
June 27, 2013
Enjoy free Gallery admission from 6-9 pm
Brought to you by Servus Credit Union
Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould
by Kevin Bazzana (2003)
Thursday, June 27, 7 pm
Orange Studio, Lower Level
Free; call 780.422.6223 to register
Conversation with the artist
Adam Waldron-Blain: does his best
with Adam Waldron-Blain and curator Ruth Burns
Friday, June 28, 6:30 pm
RBC New Works Gallery, Second Level
Free with Gallery Admission
In 1833, the pioneer of British photography, William Henry Fox Talbot, produced his first photogenic drawings. By 1841, Talbot announced his invention of the Calotype to the Royal Society in England. This invention would prove to be one of the most significant photographic developments of the time, as it enabled a person to produce a negative image from which multiple positive images could be made.
Although British photography in the 19th century began as a scientific endeavour, photographers soon trained their lenses on a vast array of subject matter, including leisure activities of the upper class and the documentation of foreign places, especially the ruins of ancient civilizations such as those of Rome and Egypt. Photography was also used a tool of social reform—revealing the conditions of those who lived on the streets.
Pulled from the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, this exhibition presents some of the most well recognized images and themes from the period.
The National Gallery of Canada at the Art Gallery of Alberta. Presented with the support of Capital Powered Art, an exhibition series sponsored by Capital Power.
“Feelings/ Feelings like I've lost you/ And feelings like I've never have you/ Again in my life./ Feelings/ Wo-o-o feelings/ Wo-o-o feelings/ Again in my heart.” - Louis Gasté and Morris Albert, Feelings, 1974
Adam Waldron-Blain’s practice exists in a space between overwhelming sentimentality and the clinical dissection of the role of the contemporary artist, the art object and—ultimately—heartbreak. Using durational performances, video and text, Waldron-Blain takes his broken heart and sends it up as the object of his art practice. While some may sing a sad song à la Adele, Waldron-Blain stretches it to an absurd end; his is an exhaustingly long operation that points to the packaging of feelings and the hyperbolic emptiness and simultaneous sincerity of sad pop songs. As he places the personal into the public realm, Waldron-Blain draws our attention to the inadequacy of the language of love.
When he started his performances, Waldron-Blain had not seriously played the violin since he was young; his rustiness is evident in the resulting video documentation. Over time he has become a better violinist. His professionalism as a musician has become intertwined with, and at times opposed to, his professionalism as an artist. Of late Waldron-Blain’s durational performances have been staged in gallery and studio settings with a scarcity of other objects: another artist’s post-post-minimalist painting or some booze for visitors. Here, Waldron-Blain positions the artist as a host, as a performer of the avant-garde, and as a sad sack. All that being said – he wants you to know that he is doing his best.
Over the course of this exhibition in the RBC New Works Gallery, Adam Waldron-Blain will undertake a series of durational performances. These will be accompanied by videos and a text-based installation.
The RBC New Works Gallery features new artworks by Alberta artists. Initiated in 1998 and named the RBC New Works Gallery in 2008, this gallery space continues the Art Gallery of Alberta’s tradition of supporting Alberta artists.
