This morning, the Art Gallery of Alberta and the Banff Centre’s Walter Phillips Gallery released the list of 25 artists to be featured in the 2017 Alberta Biennial.
Based in centres from Fort McMurray (Megan Green) to Lethbridge (Roy Caussy), the artists range from those who have done installations on Rocky Mountain golf courses (Miruna Dragan) to those who have created digital scenes based on their day-job experiences in the Alberta oilsands (Kristopher Karklin).
For the first time ever, the biennial will be preceded by a series of workshops for all the artists, to take place at the Banff Centre in summer 2016. This series, called the Alberta Biennial Sessions, will allow the artists to further develop their artworks and expound upon the exhibition themes.
Here is the complete list of artists to be featured in the 2017 Alberta Biennial:
Ashley Bedet b. Calgary, based in Calgary
Devon Beggs b. Edmonton, based in Edmonton
Andrew Buszchak b. Brantford, Ontario, based in Edmonton
Roy Caussy b. Hamilton, Ontario, based in Lethbridge
Mark Clintberg b. Edmonton, based in Calgary
Gerry Dotto b. Edmonton, based in Sherwood Park
Miruna Dragan b. Bucharest, Romania, based in Calgary
Craig Fahner & Neal Moignard b. Calgary, based in Calgary & b. Adelaide, Australia, based in Calgary
Svea Ferguson b. Calgary, based in Calgary
Megan Green b. St. John’s, Newfoundland, based in Fort McMurray
Tia Halliday b. Calgary, based in Calgary
Tamara LeeAnne Himmelspach b. Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, based in Saddle Lake Cree Nation/Calgary
Kristopher Karklin b. Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, based in Calgary
Taryn Kneteman b. Edmonton, based in Edmonton
Kristopher Lindskoog b. Edmonton, based in Calgary
Jay Mosher b. Red Deer, based in Calgary
Wil Murray b. Calgary, based in Okotoks/ Berlin, Germany
Justin Patterson & Stacey Watson b. Brooks, based in Calgary/Vancouver, British Columbia & b. Washington, D.C., based in Calgary
Paul Robert b. Calgary, based in Calgary
Marigold Santos b. Manila, Philippines, based in Calgary/ Montréal
Parker Thiessen b. Beaverlodge, based in Edmonton
Justin Waddell b. Toronto, Ontario, based in Calgary
Nicole Kelly Westman b. Red Deer, based in Calgary
These selections were based on more than 260 applications and 4,500 kilometres of research travel.
The upcoming biennial is based in partnership between the Art Gallery of Alberta and the Banff Centre’s Walter Phillips Gallery—the curators are Kristy Trinier of the AGA and Peta Rake of the Walter Phillips.
The exhibition will exist in two parts and open first in the summer of 2017 at the Walter Phillips Gallery and at the Art Gallery of Alberta on September 22, 2017.
Since its inception in 1996, the Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art has served to promote Alberta artists across the country and brings national attention to Alberta’s art scene.
Kristy Trinier curated “Future Station,” the 2015 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art, while Peta Rake has curated exhibitions at the Oakland Museum of California, the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art in San Francisco and the Esker Foundation in Calgary, among other shows.
