The featured exhibit runs July 1 – 31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

Artist Reception: July 13 at 5:30PM.⁠

Artist: Laura La France

Artist Statement:

I started taking photos with 35mm disposable cameras in 2016—in part to prove to myself that I was an artist, and in part to seek a sense of identity as a settler on the Canadian prairies. I feel as temporary and fragile on this land as the abandoned homesteads and chewed up fields, and as fast-paced and thoughtless as the cities. I love this land and I love capturing it on film. My work with photography was largely replaced by Super 8 film in 2019. The same pursuit, the same drive, but with a different medium. Now, I look at my work and I can see who I was and who I am now; how differently I feel about myself and about my home, but that sense of fragility has never gone away.

Laura La France is a self-made director, editor and cinematographer based in Amiskwaciwâskahikan / Edmonton, Alberta. Laura works in a variety of styles and formats, with a specialty in Super 8 film production and editing. With her own documentary projects in the works, Laura shoots film for musicians, poets, weddings, breweries, tattoo parlours, film societies, and other artists’ movie projects.

The featured exhibit runs June 1 – 30, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

Artist Reception: June 1 at 5:30PM.⁠

Artist: Craig Talbot

Artist Statement:

Instinct, raw emotion, honesty and courage are some of the themes that weave their way through my work. My paintings are always a reflection of my life. I believe it is the duty of an artist to tell the truth. I do this in a flurry of paint and washes left to drip down the canvas, combined with bold solid brushstrokes and elaborate patterns. I wish to express myself by using bright colours, text, collage and both realistic and sculptural elements in my work. More recently I have been inspired in my life and in my work by the fact that I suffer from chronic pain. I find inspiration in the strength and courage it takes to go on with another day of pain. I also developed a sense of spirituality from the experience. These occurrences brought a true purpose to my work. Like a quest or a mission, I vowed I would not let pain and other ailments affect me negatively any longer.

My work is often a reflection of the past as well. Good and bad. Art helps me keep a balance when I get lost in negative feelings from the past. It keeps me grounded. But many of the things from the past are things that make me happy. These things are music, album covers, skateboard graphics and comic books. Currently I am influenced by the neo-surrealist artwork happening in Los Angeles and the pop art of Tokyo.

Although an abstract painter, I am heavily influenced by hyper-realistic art. I often use realistic elements in my paintings, usually still life. Presently I am making realistic drawings and abstract paintings I try to push the boundaries between the limits of a canvas and the walls of the gallery itself. There are 3 themes that are present in my work: pain, happiness, and spirituality. I use scissors and patterns and trees as vehicles of my expression. Scissors symbolize a spiritual world. Essentially when the blades are open, the world is revealed. When they are closed only reality is present. Trees are a theme that started in art school. I used to make huge sculptures of trees. They have appeared in many drawings and paintings. Working with trees is a redemption for me, and this new work brings things back full circle. I also create paintings that are based on repetitive shapes, often dots or circles. They represent the presence of pain. The shapes and textures are a symbol of the rigid order of pain in its many forms. Finally, I like to create narratives about the work as a serious but lighthearted expression of life as it occurs. Ultimately my work is a self portrait of sorts.

Art reveals to me what I need to know about myself, and that is how I find my truth.

Craig Talbot was born in 1974. He has lived in many places in Canada and the US. Even above the old and contemporary masters, Talbot is most influenced by comic book art, album covers and skateboard graphics. He currently resides in Cardston AB where he thrives in the peaceful beauty of southern Alberta. His work is part of many private collections, and he has shown his work locally in Alberta, and nationally at the True Patriot Love Fundraiser in Toronto and internationally at Modart Gallery in Miami. He was also the curator for the exhibition: “Mechanical vs. Organic” at Untitled Art Society in Calgary.

The featured exhibit runs May 1 – 31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

Artist Reception: May 20 at 5:30PM.⁠

Artist: Finn Phillips

Artist Statement:

‘Extractor’ is a self portrait and stream-of-consciousness rumination on our various roles as creators, consumers and destroyers of social and biological systems. The works use canvas, paint, welded metal, thread, and 3D-printed polymer filament in multi-layered, fluid compositions which invite the viewer to contemplate exploitation, resilience, and the connections between township roads, geometry, memory, planarians, drilling rigs, and feathers. What does it mean to take what we need?

Finn Phillips was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He studied painting and printmaking at Red Deer College and received a Visual Art diploma in 2004. His work includes paintings in oil, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas, printmaking, and sculptures in fibre, concrete, and welded metal. Finn’s work has been displayed throughout Alberta in group and solo shows, and his work is held in various private collections.

The featured exhibit runs April 1 – 30, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

Artist Reception: April 8 at 2PM.⁠

Artist: Beth Pederson

Artist Statement:

The phrase kicking tires or kicking the tires is derived from the automobile industry and generally means to assess the quality of something before buying it. For this exhibition, the title references my interest in observation of mechanical objects from the past and in some cases their history in pop culture.

I am drawn to these everyday objects of the past for their aesthetics: simplicity of form, colour, and character. I enjoy painting machines like farm tractors because they are painted with fun, bright colours that make them pop out in their surroundings, and farmers can often identify a brand of a tractor by the colour they are painted. The tractor also represents an era where mechanical objects were less complicated and easier to repair by their owners, providing farmers with greater independence.

In the case of the Ford Pinto, I was interested in the story of how a simple adjustment of the mechanical design of the car could have easily prevented the horrific accidents that the car became known for in 1970’s pop culture. The painting that I developed from the story of the Pinto, reflects a bright orange, popular in the 1970s and a drawing schematic that shows how the safety of the car could be improved by moving the fuel tank.

These paintings are a continuation of my exploration of identifying beauty in everyday objects and their place in society’s past.

Beth Pederson began her studies in Fine Art at MacEwan University where she earned a Fine Arts Diploma. Determined to continue her studies, Beth transferred to NSCAD University (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2003. Since graduating from NSCAD, Beth has continued to work as a practicing artist and has exhibited predominantly in the Edmonton area. She has participated in a several group shows in Edmonton and St. Albert, at both commercial galleries and artist-run-centres. Her work is in many private collections in Alberta and is also in the public collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

The featured exhibit runs March 1 – 31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

Artist Reception: March 10 at 5:30PM.⁠

Artist: Jimmy Golden

Artist Statement:

Making art is a curious and often wonderful occupation. It can also be frustrating and infuriating, but all in all it does make for an interesting life. It can engage the deep belly of the soul, and aid in the self discovery that is inherent in the creative process. In my earliest years at elementary school, I spent so much time and energy drawing in the margins of my scribblers that my teachers took note. They called my parents to suggest that I enrol in Saturday morning art classes at the Art Gallery of Edmonton which was in a house on 105th Street at the time. I took to it like a duck to water, attending Saturday morning classes for many years. My education and most of the work that I have done has always been meant to enhance my art, and ultimately my enjoyment and the quality of life. Enjoying and delving into the infinite fascination of “the chemistry of colour” and the observation of the natural rhythms of Nature has been at the core of my entire life, and practice.

Our local universe is filled with an unending pageant of form and colour that I have always used as source material for my art. The myriad variations of animate life provide me with more than ample inspiration to reflect the infinite wonder that we are witness to in this finite existence. I have long been drawn to the ancient Chinese philosophy called Taoism. It is based on the observation of the natural opposites that comprise this world and indeed our lives. Life is created when these opposites meet and dance. In almost all art, there are both positive and negative spaces. The empty, or negative, spaces are of the same importance as the solid, or positive spaces. Their value is identical. Yin equals Yang. “Insalata Mista” is Italian for “mixed salad”. The paintings that I present here are indeed a mixed bag of my response to living here in this amazing world. There is always something new to witness and experience, amidst all that is old and familiar to us. For me, making art has always been a personal reflection of the mystery and majesty that we are all heir to.

The featured exhibit runs February 1 – 28, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

Artist Reception: February 4 at 4:30PM.⁠

Artist Statement:

This is a collection of photographs and artwork from over the past two years. The photographs are of basketball hoops from around Edmonton. I’m very interested in the various energies possessed by hoops, as well as their iconic presence and ubiquity on planet Earth. The collection was influenced by lo-fi idealism and sports.

Bradley J. Sime is a multi-disciplinary artist from Edmonton. This is the first exhibit of his work. The continuing photographic documentation of hoops from Edmonton can be followed via @edmontonhoops on Instagram.

The featured exhibit runs January 1-31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.

Artist Reception: December 11 @ 5:30PM

Artist Statement:

I focus on colour relationships that evolve from an external inspiration to a meditative landscape, open to chance and change.

A colourist by nature, David Shkolny has been an active artist for over 30 years, finding inspiration in the magic Albertan landscape. A frequent instructor both locally and abroad, his studio is located on the second floor of the downtown farmers market in Edmonton. IG @daveshko