UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Main Gallery

Lasting Images - Rita McKeough

trevor.kenney — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:29:36 +0000

Rita McKeough was born in 1951 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. She received a BFA from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and a MFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design before settling in Calgary, where she currently teaches at the Alberta College of Art and Design.

Rita McKeough, Two Urban Scroungers, 1984. From the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Collection; Gift of the artist, 1994.

McKeough has been a committed multi-disciplinary artist for over 30 years, and has exhibited extensively in group and solo exhibitions across Canada and internationally, including exhibitions at the Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff), Plug-In Gallery (Winnipeg), Nuit Blanche (Toronto) and the National Gallery of Canada. In 2009, McKeough was the recipient of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, and the following year was selected for the Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Alberta.

McKeough's practice is informed by her interest in social issues, idealism and a belief in art's ability to spur social change. Her performances and installations – often complex, collaborative efforts – touch on issues such as displacement, domestic abuse and ecological damage. Though her subject matter is often politically charged, McKeough opens a dialogue with the viewer through a disarming sense of humour and play.

Rita McKeough, Urban Uprising, 1984. From the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Collection; P.U.L.P. print gift, 1984.

McKeough's Urban Scroungers multi-media piece creates an interactive environment for the viewer through sound and sculptural objects, and points to McKeough's concern over urban sprawl and the voracity of corporate expansion.

McKeough's newest installation, The Lion's Share, is on view in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Main Gallery until Jan. 5, 2012.

This story first appeared in the December 2011 issue of the Legend. If you'd like to see the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Lasting Images - October

trevor.kenney — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:45:04 +0000

art + people = x

Dr. Mike Mahon

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Collection continues to grow each year through the generosity of artists and art collectors. Most recently, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ acquired a gift of over 200 artworks from Jim Coutts, a southern Alberta art collector, politician and philanthropist. Coutts is well known as a supporter of prairie artists, and many of the works comprising this gift depict plains landscapes.

New ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President, Dr. Michael Mahon, was interested in selecting some works from Coutts' gift for the art + people = x project because of his ties to Canada's prairies.

Mahon grew up in Manitoba and is a long-time Alberta resident, moving to Lethbridge after spending the last decade in Edmonton at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta.

As a lifelong physical activity enthusiast and proponent, Mahon has formed strong bonds to the Canadian prairies, and is anticipating excursions into the coulees that surround our campus.

Selected works from Jim Coutts' gift will be displayed as part of 'A Little History on the Prairies', an exhibition at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Main Gallery, Jan. 14 to Feb. 25, 2011.

Tanabe captures essence of landscape

trevor.kenney — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:08:55 +0000

Takao Tanabe is one of the many outstanding artists featured in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's renowned Art Gallery. The Gallery, located behind the Sorel Etrog Moses sculpture in the Centre for Fine Arts on level 6, houses one of the finest art collections in the entire country.

Takao Tanabe

Born in Prince Rupert in 1926, Takao Tanabe spent the early part of his life interned with his family and other Japanese-Canadians in the B.C. Interior as a result of the Second World War. After the end of the war and having worked several menial jobs, Tanabe decided to go to art school. Sixty years later, Tanabe's work can be found in more than 50 public and 120 corporate collections around the world.

Tanabe was known throughout the '50s and '60s as an abstract painter, studying with such well-known abstract expressionists as Hans Hofmann. Tanabe's artistic development underwent a dramatic shift in the late 1960s when he began to move away from abstraction towards a concentration on landscape painting. The artist sought a simple landscape form, which he could execute in a spontaneous manner . . . one 'go' or one application of paint.

Throughout his career, Takao Tanabe has received numerous awards, including Doctor of Letters (Hon.) from the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, Doctor of Fine Arts (Hon.) from The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, and the Order of British Columbia. His work and the example set by an esteemed career as an artist, art educator and administrator were recognized by the Governor General in April of 1999 when Tanabe was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2003, Tanabe was the recipient of The Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Since 1980, the artist has lived and worked in Errington on Vancouver Island.

Tanabe will be one of the featured artists at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Main Gallery in A Little History on the Prairies, opening in January 2011.

Lasting Images - Takao Tanabe

trevor.kenney — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:14:52 +0000

Born in Prince Rupert in 1926, Takao Tanabe spent the early part of his life interned with his family and other Japanese-Canadians in the B.C. Interior as a result of the Second World War. After the end of the war and having worked several menial jobs, Tanabe decided to go to art school. Sixty years later, Tanabe's work can be found in more than 50 public and 120 corporate collections around the world.

Tanabe will be one of the featured artists at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Main Gallery in A Little History on the Prairies, opening in January 2011.

UNews - ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Main Gallery

Lasting Images - Rita McKeough

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UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Main Gallery