The perception that modern art is cold, distant and inaccessible to all but the artistic elite is going under the knife next week as over 30 artists strive to demonstrate that modern art can actually be a passionate representation of what is most important to them.
As part of the upcoming Ninth Annual Canmore artsPeak Arts Festival, Elevation Contemporary Art Gallery is hosting Sacred/Modern, a group show that seeks to open modern art for the average viewer, pulling it back to a point where it is possible to feel connected to the art and the artists, according to gallery owner Cheryl Baxter.
“There’s a lot of preconceptions of what modern art is. There is always an expectation that modern means disenchanted or remote or clever or distant, and it isn’t. There are incredible artists expressing themselves in very modern ways, but expressing passion for something,” Baxter said.
“Being disenchanted is not modern, but there is that perception and the fear is that we have lost all touch or the public thinks modern art has lost touch with what they are passionate about.”
Instead, Sacred/Modern, which evolved after Baxter began to understand that modern or contemporary art galleries had little space for the objects and ideas artists consider as sacred.
“Each of the artists is informed by their surroundings, by nature, their families, experience in the world or history, and those are sacred things. So the idea was to give free, absolutely free reign, to express whatever concept or idea or image or object that you consider sacred and the responses have been beautiful,” Baxter said.
In total, over 30 artists from the Bow Valley – including Janice Tanton, Peig Abbott, Wanda Ellerbeck and Conrad Habing – and from across Canada responded to Elevation Gallery’s submission call asking them to answer the question: what is sacred to you?
Even though Baxter said Sacred/Modern is not a commercial show, the number and variety of responses surprised her.
“That is why we are thrilled to have this opportunity. Most artists are pressed to do the work that sells and produce the work they know is going to support their families and I think this was a real refreshing opportunity to take a break and just express for the sake of sharing with this community,” she said.
“There are some really amazing ideas and very expansive ideas and literal translations,” she said, adding submissions range from installations, wood and stone carvings, paintings, ceramics and photography.
“It gives artists the space to consider what is sacred in this world and what is sacred to each of us and why people produce art.
“I want to summon the audience for works that resonate and the festival (artsPeak) gives us a very broad and diverse audience to engage.”
Everyone, Baxter said, knows what is most precious to them, but the ability to share that through a visual artistic expression is rare.
As a result, the benefit of a group show such as Sacred/Modern is it gives viewers an opportunity to see a diversity of ways artists are capable of expressing themselves in the context of exploring modern art with passion, as opposed to distance and disenchantment.
“There’s a lot of proponents of that idea, there is a want to make something exclusive so in creating exclusivity, we create remoteness, and for me, the whole modern art gallery approach of being, that sense of hospital sterility and that approach to it is very difficult for the general public to participate in. It is very rarified.”
Sacred/Modern opens Friday, June 17 from 5-8 p.m. and a number of the artists will be in attendance.
As part of the show some of the artists will be on hand during the artsPeak weekend (June 17-19) to present their thoughts behind the work.
For a full listing of artsPeak events go to www.artspeakcanmore.com
