|
|
|
 |
SIZZLE AND SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE?? AKA presents AN EVENING OF BURLESQUE! Thank you to everyone who made our Burlesque fundraiser a tremendous success! A special shout out to the performers and artists who generously donated their time and effort to support the AKA!
|
view short video clips from the performance! Rose and Iris Hilton : Conjoined |
|
|
MAUREEN ELLIS - Making Pies Telling Lies Friday November 17 - Friday December 9 One day Tom hung over the fence and said, “I’m going
to be a pilot when I grow up.” Following on the heels of the tapdancing housewife and perfectpie.net (an in-progress web journal), Maureen Ellis examines the myth of nostalgia in her upcoming exhibition, Making Pies Telling Lies. Pies, family secrets, lard, and men – nothing is sacred as she rolls and kneads her way through the cult of domesticity. Drawing on her personal, domestic sphere, Maureen uses a unique and humorous approach to examine women’s experience, feminist discussion and cultural assumptions. Experiencing the realities of the prairie farm life first hand, Maureen was born and raised during the late 50’s to early 70’s on a modest farm in Saskatchewan. Dividing her farm duties between fieldwork and meal making, Maureen was aware, early on, of the inequities between the valuation of men’s work and women’s labour. Her recent projects employ the home baked pie as an icon of domestic accomplishment representative of traditional family values. Through pie making and web journaling, Maureen examines issues of domestic labour and identity, value, temporality and memory. Making Pies Telling Lies uses performance-based digital imagery to question the underlying tenets of these issues. Working as an artist since the early 90’s, Maureen is still emerging, having devoted the past several years to research and work within her domestic sphere. A mother of a 13-year-old daughter, Maureen is married to a local arts administrator. Maureen holds a BEd and a BFA from the University of Saskatchewan,
and an ATCL in piano performance from Trinity College of |
 |
WALLY DION - Red Worker Friday, October 20 - Friday November 10 |
Wally Dion: Red Worker Wally Dion received his BFA from the University of Saskatchewan in 2004. I would see Wally painting in the night as I came to and from a night class that I taught. Sometimes I would stop and talk to him about his work. He told me what he wanted out of University was the technical ability to paint well. Red Worker shows us that Dion not only paints extremely well but also gives us a body of work that is timely and thoughtful. By 2025, the Aboriginal population has been estimated to grow to
50% of the total population of the province of Saskatchewan. Racist
hate mongers have sounded the death knell for the province. Dion’s
work offers a rebuttal by presenting the Red Worker, who
will be more than ready to meet this challenge. Making reference
to the propaganda posters of the Chinese Revolution and Russian
iconography of the proletariat, Dion depicts the Native as the happy
worker looking forward to a brave new future. His subjects represent
the everyman, the working stiff. The pipe fitter, construction worker,
the nurse and even the artist (in the form of a self-portrait) are
all here ready to answer Dion’s call to work. Preparatory drawings also give a glimpse into the work that goes into making art. The viewer at a gallery seldom gives a thought to how an artist processes ideas. Dion’s drawings show how he has processed ideas for this exhibition, and helps to place himself in the role of the Red Worker. Watch for the Billboard of another Red Worker on Ave L and 20th Street, sponsored by TRIBE in conjunction with the exhibition No Word for Good-Bye at the Kenderdine Gallery on the University of Saskatchewan campus, curated by Felicia Gay. Ruth Cuthand, curator |
|
|
Artist Statement My work is primarily focused on portraiture and First Nations identity. Following university I found minor but steady work as a commissioned portrait artist. This work has allowed me to maintain a studio space while building/expanding upon my existing technical art skills. This practice has allowed me to fulfil one of my philosophical beliefs, that an artist needs to be prolific in his/her art creation, thus allowing for personal style to mature. The use of multiple smaller canvases combined to create a single large piece is one artistic tool that I am currently using in my portrait art. This technique started in university where I attempted to resolve a painting by adding sections/panels to the sides, top and bottom. Sometimes a painting would grow to enormous size, with ten or more panels. This technique has taken on more meaning and importance for my work today. Sometimes the panels are about combining the beauty of geometric line and shape with the organic subject matter. As well, the separating of the portrait into smaller shapes can reflect on the influence that the linear/measured world imposes upon people and their personalities. Finding the balance between a beautiful portrait and grotesque mutation caused by the panel division is sometimes difficult. The panels are also a reminder to us all that we have to adapt to society’s grid-like structure in order to survive. The malformations and lines cutting through the images are small traces of our compromises; the personal, spiritual, physical, and emotional are reflected back to the world in our portrait. The concept of panels dividing the portrait and personality is well-suited to my preferred subject matter; First Nations identity. It was by luck and welcomed coincidence that one of my first panel paintings, Epic Indian, depicted a First Nations man juxtaposed against the patch-worked wheat field of the prairies. The aerial view of the land depicted a visible grid of multicoloured crops. The lines created by the panels, through the man’s face and body, are references to the awkwardness and strife created between these two cultures that exists to this day. As I move forward in my art practice I begin to look towards the use of other materials to portray First Nations identity. The use of found materials in my work is the direction I am moving towards; this is the case with Star Blanket, a life-sized traditional First Nations quilt made entirely from printed circuitboards. Despite this shift in medium, I hope to continue my focus on a strong work ethic and affection for skilled labour in my work. Wally Dion |
|
Artist Biography Born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1976, Wally Dion graduated high school from Nutana Collegiate and graduated BFA in the fall of 2004 from the University of Saskatchewan. He is a member of Yellow Quill First Nation (Salteaux). Wally has worked for many years with youth at risk (young offenders, kids in foster care, and youth with mental health issues.) Recently, he has ended work as an art teacher with the Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Program to pursue painting full time. He has maintained work as a commissioned portrait artist following graduation from university, and has received 2 Saskatchewan Arts Board Aboriginal Bridging the Arts Grants in 2005 and 2006. |
|
CHELI NIGHTTRAVELLER - Binky Binky Bunny Binky Binky Bunny is a live performance by Montreal-based artist Cheli Nighttraveller that explores victimization through storytelling and the witnessing of a newly formed relationship between artist and companion. The artist will live in a gallery, set up like a petting zoo/home/workspace, with a live bunny for 7 days. During that time, a relationship between the artist and the bunny will develop. The gallery is open to the public who will be invited to interact with the environment and bunny in ways that will be negotiated on an individual basis. The audience will be able to witness the relationship with the bunny and the artist and also invited to document what they see and hear. One of the featured highlights and challenges of the performance will be for the artist to create an environment that encourages the animal to feel happy and secure enough to exhibit a behavior commonly referred to as “binky”. Binky is a term for when a bunny freaks out with happiness. It is like an attack of joy that overtakes the bunny, and it is an event that demonstrates that all is well with the bunny. It is these playful moments that will cue a pre-recorded power point presentation, revealing a darker side to the seemingly lighthearted event. As the artist is visited by the public, some of whom she may know very well, she may be related to, or members who are complete strangers to her, she must negotiate how much of her story to tell them & in what way she will tell them. Her stories will be ones of victimization; what she has learned about it, what it has meant to her, how it has changed her, and possibly, (if she feels secure enough), details of certain traumatic events that have shaped her understanding of herself. The artist will then ask the participants to document and interpret what they witness in the gallery. A LiveJournal will be kept and updated each day of the show by the artist. This will be used for journaling, dialogue, posting pictures and documenting the work as it progresses throughout the week. ARTIST STATEMENT “Until you learn how to treat your animals well, you won’t know how to take care of people.” Benjamin Nighttraveller, as related by Mervyn Nighttraveller My work is about what goes on in my life. It is my natural inclination to speak vulnerably, openly discuss, and document issues of great importance to me in my art practice. I recently suffered an extreme psychological trauma, and so naturally, I felt compelled to express some of the thoughts, reactions and questions arising from these life-changing events with my performance, ”Binky Binky Bunny”. I have referenced some of my previous work; from Bad Bad Bunny, the bunny as a symbol of the victim; from My Mother’s Smile, the suggestion of a petting zoo as an environment of exploitation on display; from my larger body of work, a questioning of my identity and my roles in real-life situations. Binky Binky Bunny is a new chapter in this work. - Cheli Nighttraveller ARTIST'S BIO Cheli Nighttraveller, born in the 70’s in Saskatoon Sk. to
a Caucasian mother and Aboriginal father, was raised in Atlanta
Ga in the 80’s. In the early 90’s, Cheli left the The
States and her abusive mother, to reunite with her father and his
family in Saskatoon. She found support and mentorship in the contemporary
Aboriginal arts community during the late 90’s where she developed
an interest in expressing herself through storytelling. She began
with the video, “Sailor Halfbreed” to characterize her
experiences and continued with this practice, exploring performance
with “Bad Bad Bunny” and several other shows to follow.
In 2001, Cheli moved to Montreal, Qc, where she experienced a great
deal of interest in her work which chronicles and documents issues
of personal importance such as Aboriginal and sexual identities
and, now, the effects of trauma on the understanding of herself.
She is currently recovering from an extreme psychological trauma.
As with her previous work, she feels compelled to document these
circumstances in a frank and vulnerable way despite dealing with
situations that many feel are best kept as private experiences. |
|
| |
Saskatoon Centennial Programming Series... HEATHER BENNING - Down time |
|
|
DOUBLE DATE! Saturday June 24, 2006 2PM During AKA¹s Saskatoon Centennial Year, all of our programming is designed to celebrate Saskatoon through contemporary art. This project was inspired by a performance where a group of artists, brought together by the South Asian Visual Arts Collective in Toronto and led by Tazeen Qayyum, created a live version of a seventeenth century Indian miniature painting in the style of the 19th century tableau vivant, in order to create a dialogue between historical art practices. SAVAC and AKA came together in the interest of creating a new project that could link artists and communities in Toronto and Saskatoon. For this project, a group of Saskatoon-based artists have been invited to create a tableau; the project will culminate when the 2 groups of artists meet in June to lead a three-day workshop and create a new tableau reflecting the dialogue and process that occurs during that time. Double Date will be the live presentation of these two tableau vivant performances. The Lady Excusing Her Love Bites As Cat Scratches is SAVAC¹s tableau of a 17th century Indian miniature painting. The Swing is AKA¹s tableau of a Rococo painting by Fragonard. The Saskatoon-based artists selected include Deanna Cuthand, Jackie Latendresse, Laura Margita, Megan Morman, Lana Palmer, Jon Vaughn and Mehta Youngs. The Toronto-based artists include Gayathiri Ganeshan, Faisal Anwar, Tazeen Qayyum, Jesus Mora, Gurninderpal Kaur, Frances J. Ferdinands, Rosina Kazi, and Nick Murrey. From April through June, AKA gallery will be open to the public to watch the collaborative process unfold and witness the creation of a new performance, from sets to costumes to choreography, and the Saskatoon-based artists will be available to talk to the public about their experience. Hoping to expand the conversation around racial issues in Saskatoon from the polarized issue it is often assumed to be to a larger multifaceted issue that involves many cultures and communities. Following the performance will be a public forum/question-and-answer session where the audience will be encouraged to meet and interact with the artists, further expanding the dialogue and learning potential of the project. |
| |
Mike, Eric, Dave, Mike Mike, Eric, Dave, Mike is a sculptural installation that showcases
four Canadian artists working in expanded sculpture. Curated by
Donna Wawzonek, the exhibition investigates the dichotomies of nature
versus culture, |
design by Troy
Gronsdahl