September is here, the seasons are turning (in theory). A series of local exhibitions — some new, some nearing the end of their run — offer different perspectives on the natural world, from oceans to mountains to wide-open prairies. We’ve got your guide to visiting the galleries this weekend.
Like many artists of her generation, Heraa Khan is focused on the environmental impact human civilizations have had on the planet. Her new exhibition, Still the Grass Grows, currently on display at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, approaches this subject through a series of miniature paintings known as masavari, a traditional Indo-Persian form. Masavari are made by layering tiny brushstrokes, typically in vibrant jewel tones, to produce incredible depth and richness. Historically, the form has been used as a medium for storytelling. In Still, Khan is telling a contemporary story — the imbalance, the grief, the consequences.
Still the Grass Grows is on display at the Art Gallery of St. Albert from September 4 to October 18 | 19 Perron St, St. Albert
A pair of exhibitions at FAB Gallery at the University of Alberta take different approaches to the tradition of art en plein air (outdoors).
On the main floor, Sky, Stone, and Prairie: Plein Air Perspectives of Alberta by Samantha Williams-Chapelsky, offers viewers a series of “moments in time” created on location around Alberta. Across 100 works, Williams-Chapelsky, who received a BFA from the U of A in 2009, draws our attention to Alberta’s vast and diverse landscape — from prairie skies to rugged mountain ranges.
On the second floor, The Paris Sketchbook features a series of drawings by Robert Shannon, made on the streets of Paris. Like any sketchbook, Shannon’s work is part diary, recording moments when the work comes easy and when it is more challenging. The show is arranged so viewers can trace that progress, following in his footsteps, seeing the world as he sees it.
Sky, Stone, and Prairie and The Paris Sketchbook are on display at FAB Gallery through September 27 | 8807 112 St NW, Edmonton
We may live in a land-locked province, but until October 19 the Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) is home to Orcas, an extensive exhibition that unpacks the mystery — and the myth — that surrounds these rulers of the sea. In true RAM form, the multimedia installation includes life-size replicas, original Indigenous art and interactive displays, all designed to inform visitors about how orcas live, why they do what they do and what we get wrong about them. The exhibit is a re-introduction of sorts, giving guests who might know orcas best as “killer whales” a chance to meet the mammals anew.
Orcas is on display at the Royal Alberta Museum through October 19 | 9810 103a Ave NW, Edmonton
It is almost immediately apparent from Amanda Lilleston’s artist statement for perennial, her new exhibition at SNAP Gallery, that she is an artist interested in physiology, ecology and the intersection of the two. She begins by describing a holobiont — a term that describes a single entity composed of a host organism and its organic community. “I think of the body as a perennial holobiont — a living ecology that cycles through change, breakdown, renewal and return,” writes Lilleston. Her work — equally thoughtful and complex — reflects her thought process. In perennial she has created a series of collages made from drawings, prints and relief carvings that functionally map her body and her surrounding ecosystem — her holobiont. Her work questions the arbitrary divisions that separate one organism from another, inspiring a kind of connection and a new way of seeing. “We are not separate from nature,” she writes, “but active participants in its rhythms — bodies shaped by and shaping the living world around us.”
perennial is on display at SNAP Gallery through September 27 | 10572 115 St NW, Edmonton
