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Women's History Month
October is Women's History Month: a time to celebrate the achievements of the women and girls from our past and present. We encourage Albertans to celebrate women in the arts by engaging with local organizations and artists.
To celebrate this month, we are pleased to highlight three current Alberta-based exhibitions curated by women, and featuring a few artworks from the AFA's very own collection.
Installation view of Shirley Rimer: A Chronicle in Clay.
Images provided by Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery.
About the exhibition
A longtime Red Deer resident, Rimer is one reason why the city shines as a centre for ceramic art. A Red Deer College (Polytechnic) graduate, as an instructor, curator and cultural community builder, Rimer’s own artistic accomplishments are the highlight of this special exhibition of ceramic sculpture.
Featuring over 30 artworks made in the past 40 years, a chronicle about their making and Rimer’s personal discovery of clay traditions in other countries: Greece, Turkey, Mexico, India, France, Italy, China and America. They are about handbuilding in clay, reinterpreting the vessel, communicating with colour and reflecting on subjects like family, culture and heritage here in Alberta and abroad.
This exhibition features four Shirley Rimer artworks from the AFA Art Collection:
- Body Language
- Village Life
- Red Fish
- Purple Flowers
Photo credit: Andy Nichols, LCR PhotoServices., courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
Red Dress, 2008, nylon, cotton, metal and paper tags, glass beads.
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
The Art of Faye HeavyShield, organized and circulated by the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
Financed by the Government of Canada. Curated by Felicia Gay.
About the exhibition
The Art of Faye HeavyShield will present work that spans forty years of her practice. The exhibition situates HeavyShield as a major contributor to contemporary Indigenous art through her creation of a new aesthetic vocabulary. While bearing a resemblance to conceptual installation, her work is rooted in the deep art history of the Canadian prairies and in personal/communal experience.
This exhibition features Faye HeavyShield's artwork Red Dress, which is from the AFA Art Collection.
Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta
Left: Caitlin Thompson, Rhizome (Hot Gossip), 2017, Fabric, thread, fake nails, decoy eyes, rhinestones, tassels, cording, buttons, plastic, paint, Velcro. Collection of Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Installation view of Second Skin, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2023.
Right: Pamela Norrish, Outfit for the Afterlife, 2015. Glass beads, nylon thread. Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Installation view of Second Skin, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2023
About the exhibition
The works in this exhibition trace the boundaries of the body and reference garments and adornment in many forms. These literal and symbolic objects of attire allow their ‘wearer’ to explore a myriad of issues including identity and representation, objectification and empowerment, mythology and history, imagined futures and the afterlife.
This exhibition features two artworks from the AFA Art Collection:
- Outfit for the Afterlife - Pamela Noorish
- Rhizome (Hot Gossip) - Caitlin Thompson
