Oh, Canada: Calgary’s biggest art show ever
Spanning four venues and showcasing over 100 pieces, this show is the art lover’s dream
Kari Pedersen
Arts Editor
An exhibition so big that it spans four venues, the Oh, Canada exhibit is turning the city into one giant art venue.
Taking place at the Glenbow Museum, Esker Foundation, Nickel Gallery and the Illingworth-Kerr Gallery, the show represents Canadian art at its finest, with pieces from over 62 outstanding artists from our home and native land.
Curator Denise Markonish, who spent three years criss-crossing Canada to find the perfect art for the show, made careful choices and consulted with artists, gallery owners, museums and studios.
“What started out as a quest to find art has turned into an exploration of a whole country,” Markonish said to the Glenbow.
Markonish says this Canada-only exhibition has been molded into one of the most talked about art shows in Calgary’s history.
On the website for the giant showing you can view the artists whose works are featured and filter them by location.
The amazing part about the decision process for who would house these pieces, when each gallery (and museum) put in their request, was that there were no overlaps, no disagreements and every gallery wanted different pieces, which would represent their gallery and the show the best.
With four distinct venues coming together and over 100 different pieces, it is remarkable that there was no conflict in the decision making process.
With each space putting in their request, the separate spaces have pretty distinct works at each. The more craft-based art is at the Illingworth-Kerr Gallery, while the Glenbow stays true to its museum quality housing most of the history pieces. Nickle galleries at the University of Calgary is housing a lot of the media-based work and the Esker foundation has no shortage of sculptural pieces for art lovers to gawk at.
This exhibition is truly Canadian down to its roots. It has true culture running through it and something for everyone to enjoy. There is plenty of time to visit one of the four galleries as the show runs until April 26. For more information on artists and pieces visit ohcanadayyc.com.
