Strange Jury #2 asks the viewer to challenge their perspectives by seeing nature through a different lens. The artwork is intended to depict a trial in the forest. The viewer is the defendant. The jury is Nature.

This artwork is part of a series of five works. When installed in a gallery, five giant prints are hung in a circle off the ground to depict five characters of the forest with animistic faces. The AFA acquired one of these prints through the Art Acquisitions by Application to be a part of the AFA Art Collection.
 

About the artist

Dwayne Martineau is an Edmonton based visual artist and musician. He is a treaty member of Frog Lake First Nation, descended from Plains Cree, Métis, and early French and Scottish settlers.

He enjoys seeing the world like a child full of discovery. Also, he approaches the world with a critical mind, seeking both truth and wonder. His visual arts practice began with experimental landscape photography, and has evolved to include videography and immersive large-scale art installations.

Art Acquisitions by Application

The next deadline for the AFA’s Art Acquisition by Application program is April 1! Read the guidelines if you’re interested in submitting your artwork to have it be considered for acquisition to the AFA Art Collection.

Image description

The artwork is an abstracted photograph on backlit film that suggests an animistic creature in a forest. A black, insect-like face with large antennae floats on a faded yellow background, with black trees and bushes in the background. 

February is Black History Month. It is an opportunity to showcase the vibrant culture and heritage of Black Albertans and celebrate their contributions every day. It is also a chance for everyone to learn about their history and stand up against racism.
 

Our Work of the Week, Searching for Freedom features a still-life of a painting on a canvas sitting on an easel in a studio that depicts a football player kneeling. Although the painting only features the player from the shoulders down, it is intended to portray Colin Kaepernick who began kneeling during the American national anthem before the start of National Football League (NFL) games in 2016 to protest against racial injustice and police bruatlity.
 

Artist Fetsum Teclemarium draws attention to Kaepernick's captivating gesture that started a movement. To this day, attention still needs to be drawn towards issues of equality and civil rights worldwide.

The artwork was featured at the Art Gallery of Alberta in 2021 in the Black Every Day exhibition. AFA acquired the thought-provoking artwork through the Art Acquisitions by Application program in 2021.

Prints are available for purchase through the artist’s website. 

Take part in a variety of Black History Month events to learn more about their rich culture, including dancing, poetry and drumming. Should you wish to promote events or exhibitions featuring black artists on the AFA’s website, submit a story to our News feed.

About the artist:

Fetsum Teclemarium depicts his paintings to communicate his cultural heritage and experience. His artworks express frustrations, anger, joy and beauty.

Art Acquistions by Application

The next deadline for the AFA’s Art Acquisition by Application program is April 1! Read the guidelines if you’re interested in submitting your artwork to have it be considered for acquisition to the AFA Art Collection.

Our Work of the Week, The Blues Singer, by Patrick Keenan, features a painted, earthenware sculpture of Clarence Horatius "Big" Miller. Miller was an American jazz musician, Kansas City Blues singer, trombonist and instructor.
 

While most artists typically start out in smaller cities and move to larger international hubs, Big Miller did the reverse. Miller was a popular performer in the United States and appeared at New York’s Birdland Jazz Club, Chicago’s Cotton Club, and the Newport Jazz Festival.
 

He preferred touring outside his home country, however, due to racial hostility. He toured in Toronto and Vancouver, and eventually made Edmonton his home.

Miller is remembered by his legacy in music and commitment to community. He believed, "We should learn to equalize feelings and equalize understanding. And be together."  

One of Miller's accomplishments included recording the 1979 Juno award winning album Jazz Canada Montreux 1978, with Tommy Banks. Miller's talent went beyond music, as he also dabbled in acting and appeared in a sci-fi film, Big Meat Eater.

About the artist and sculptor:

Patrick Keenan grew up in Calgary and was mentored by his mother, Gwen Hughes, in his artistic practice. Prior to attending the Alberta College of Art and Design (now the Alberta University of the Arts), he worked in the oil industry.

During his lifetime, he created over 700 individual figures. Patrick's works have been displayed in exhibits throughout Canada and the United States.

Image description

A photograph of a painted sculpture that depicts a heavy set, black singer seated in a wooden chair and holding a microphone to his mouth. The singer has thick, curly white hair and a thin black moustache, and wears a golden coloured, long-sleeved golf shirt with black trousers and black shoes. 

Family Day is an opportunity to appreciate what makes family special and to spend quality time with your family and loved ones. Having positive personal connections can help with overall health and well-being.

Every family make up is different. The definition of family can be much broader than the traditional picture of a mother, father and their children. Our featured work, Family of Three by Stanford Perrot, takes this traditional concept of family and abstracts the image to express feeling through shape, line and color.
 

Let us recognize and honour the many different types of family units there can be: the best building blocks to happiness are healthy relationships.

Enjoy Family Day and we encourage you to take part in art and explore the province with your loved ones:

• AFA's virtual museum: check out our online collection of Albertans' artwork from the comfort of your home
• Alberta license free Family Fishing Weekend: see if there is an opportunity to photograph the moments or sketch your experience afterwards 
• Alberta historic sites and museums: selected museums and sites are offering free admission. Contact each heritage facility first prior to attending to check on the opening hours, advanced registration and COVID guidelines. See if there are any artwork there that sparks your inner creativity.

About the artist

Stanford Perrott was an influential art educator and watercolourist. His collection also includes mid-century abstract work.

He was born in Claresholm, Alberta and studied in New York. He also attended and taught at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art, where he eventually became the head of the college. He learnt from Hans Hoffman and was strongly influenced by abstract expressionism and cubism.

In the 1960s, Perrott convinced the government of Alberta to expand the arts section of the institute to have its own building. Perrott and his associates made his wish come true in creating the Alberta College of Art and Design (which has since further transformed into the Alberta University of the Arts). 

Although he did not raise a family of his own, he was an excellent educator and mentor to his students and colleagues – his extended family.

Image description

The image is an abstracted form of a family of three, represented by simple curvilinear forms. The adult and child figures are depicted through black and white shapes, accented with red and green tones. The artwork is lithograph on paper.

Did you know Lunar New Year is celebrated by various cultures including Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other East and Southeast Asian cultures? Every year, the date changes depending on the first new moon to mark the new year. 
 

While each culture and ethnicity celebrates with differing foods, duration and traditions, each culture shares the same goal of reunion and well wishes of prosperity for the coming year. We hope the Year of the Tiger brings you a year full of good health, success and happiness!
 

About the artist:

Peter Greendale started his residency at the Banff Centre in 1984/85. He is inspired by the common everyday object and the culture's origin.

This week's Work of the Week is Elephants Chiefly Series by Illingworth Kerr in honour of World Elephant Day, which was on Wednesday, August 12.
 

This conte crayon sketch of of an elephant is just one of 21 sketches of elephants by Kerr in the AFA's collection! You can see all the elephants sketches here.

Did you know: Elephants and humans share a long history throughout our civilization? The Asian elephant has lived alongside humans for over 4,000 years and is imbued with reverence, tradition and spirituality across many cultures. 
 

About the Artist: Illingworth Kerr (1905-1989)

llingworth Kerr studied at the Central Technical School, Toronto in 1924. From 1924 to 1927, Kerr studied under Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, Frederick Varley and J.W. Beatty at the Ontario College of Arts. Kerr also studied at the Westminster School of Art, London, in 1936, as well as with Hans Hoffman in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1954. In 1955 and 1957, he attended Emma Lake Workshops.

He taught at the Vancouver School of Art from 1945 to 1946 and was head of the Alberta College of Art (now the Alberta University of the Arts) from 1947 to 1967. There he was a great influence and friend to many artists of that era. From 1952 to 1953, he was president of the Alberta Society of Artists. Kerr was also a member of the Canadian Authors Association; he wrote many short stories and illustrated many publications, including his autobiography, Gay Dogs and Dark Horses, in 1946. He received a Canada Council Award in 1960.

He painted portraits, the life of Indigenous peoples, urban views, wildlife, and the prairie and Ontario landscape. He used the media of oil, acrylic, watercolour, charcoal, and ink, as well as woodblock, linoblock, monotype and silkscreen prints.

 

We can't let this week end without celebrating National Dog Day, which was on August 26, so this week's Work of the Week is Good Dog by Lori Lukasewich!
 

About the Artist: Lori Lukasewich
 

Lori Lukasewich has been painting and exhibiting since 1984. She often paints intimate scenes with domestic objects, like a porcelain figure or a silver tea set. In this age of immediacy and urgency, her work slows things down and contemplates stillness and focus, and reflects on perceptions of value, particularly on domesticity and the woman’s role in creating a home. She shines a light on the beauty of everyday home life as a common and necessary antidote to the difficulties and stress of the modern-day world.

Lukasewich paints in oils and alkyd mediums, using modified traditional techniques of underpainting, overpainting and glazing. While clearly influenced by realism and the painting techniques of the Old Masters, her work owes more of a debt to the practice of meditation. Her realist paintings often express an ethereal light and singular focus that is at once calming and pleasurable.

Lukasewich studied art at the Alberta College of Art and Design (now the Alberta University of the Arts), and has applied her skills to painting, graphic arts, jewelry design, palaeontological restoration, and film and television. She has also written and illustrated three children’s books.

Lukasewich has been teaching painting for 20 years, much of that time in the Extended Studios program at the Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts). She has exhibited extensively, and her work can be found in many public and private collections.

This week's Work of the Week is Cold Night at the Yards by Stan Phelps. 
 

Brrr! It's cold out there! A polar vortex has settled over much of the prairies bringing icy cold temperatures for the next few days. 
 

This artwork by Stan Phelps really captures the feeling of a cold, dark night with the exhaust from industrial buildings hanging in the frigid air. 

About the Artist: Stan Phelps

Stan Phelps is a Calgary-based artist and teacher, known for his prints, paintings and murals.

He earned a BFA from the University of Calgary in 1974. After graduation, he worked as a graphic artist and freelance writer and photographer, as well as teaching art, for the City of Calgary. He also taught for the Calgary and the Catholic School Boards. After five years with the City, he travelled widely in Europe, mostly to Spain. There he lived for a year, sketching, painting and visiting art galleries. He was a visiting artist at several international studios, including in Murcia, Spain and Urapan, Mexico. His artwork is often inspired by his travels.

In 1978, Phelps and his partner, artist Carole Bondaroff, founded The Heart Studio in Calgary’s Kensington area. This multi-disciplinary art facility holds exhibitions, and offers classes and workshops for adults and children. Phelps’ teaching work extends to positions such as Artist in Residence in various Alberta schools, where he introduces students to making art including murals, cartoons and inflatable sculptures. He has also served as Director and Artist in Residence at the Perrenoud Homestead Historic Site and Art Centre, near Cochrane, Alberta.

Phelps’ art works comprise oils, acrylics and watercolours, mostly of landscapes, historic buildings and figures in urban settings. He has also produced etchings, such as the Muses series (2010), lighthearted depictions of the Greek goddesses of culture. His murals can be seen throughout Western Canada, especially in Southern Alberta, and feature scenes from local history. They are also on display at the Calgary Stampede, the Calgary Public Library and at Calgary’s International Airport.

His works have been purchased by the Canada Council Art Bank in Ottawa, and are held in private and corporate collections nationally and internationally.
 

This week’s Work of the Week is Wisdom Trail by acclaimed Indigenous artist Alex Janvier in honour of the master artist’s birthday, which was this past Sunday on February 28!

Happy to birthday to Mr. Janvier!
 

About the Artist: Alex Janvier

Alex Janvier was born on the Le Goff Reserve, Cold Lake First Nations, Alberta, in 1935.

He was raised in the Chipewyan tradition until he attended the Blue Quill Residential Indian School at the age of eight. Janvier graduated with Honours from the Alberta College of Art in 1960 and since then has built an international reputation as a painter, muralist and printmaker. He has influenced a younger generation of native artists through his paintings and advocacy work with arts organizations and land claim committees.

Janvier's imagery is a combination of traditional native decorative motifs such as medicine wheels, floral designs and symbolic colour combinations. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, his work became more representational and concerned with specific social and political issues.

Janvier has been the recipient of many accolades throughout his career. Since 2007, he has received honourary doctorates from both the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta, was appointed to the Order of Canada, received a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts and was the first ever recipient of the Marion Nicoll Visual Arts Award from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Alex Janvier continues to live and work in Cold Lake.