A new year means you have a chance to check out a bunch of fresh visual arts exhibitions around town. From IKG LIVE 2’s unique showcase of live art and performances, to your last chance to explore Lawren Harris’ soaring depictions of mountains and icebergs, it’s a great time to get out and about.

Happy New Year

January 2 – 24, 2018
Wallace Galleries (500 5th Ave. SW)
Free

Kicking off 2018 with this group show, head to Wallace Galleries to see works by Alain Attar, David Alexander, Nancy Boyd, Camrose Ducote, Ted Godwin, Greg Hardy, Robin Smith Peck, Robert Marchessault, and more.
wallacegalleries.com

Free First Thursday Nights

January 4, 2018, 5:00 – 9:00pm
Glenbow (130 9th Ave. SE)
Free

Start your new year off right with a free evening at Glenbow. It’s your last chance to explore Higher States: Lawren Harris and His American Contemporaries and One New Work – DaveandJenn: The Wellspring so don’t miss out.
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Surface to Surface

January 5, 2018, 7:00pm
Alberta Printmakers (4025 4th St. SE)
Free

An exhibition of works by Katie Bruce and Christie Kirchner, paper is both subject and medium, with each print existing on the threshold of object and image. Check out the show at this reception and get a unique insight thanks to an artist talk scheduled for 8:00pm.
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Lines Drawn

January 6 – 27, 2018
Herringer Kiss Gallery (709A 11th Ave. SW)
Free

Mark Ollinger’s work is made up of Nordic and Celtic knots combined with a contemporary graffiti style. Each individual piece is based on words that are then turned into an unbroken, interwoven line. Explore the show at its opening reception on January 6 from 2:00 to 5:00pm.
herringerkissgallery.com

Contemporary Kids: Calligraphy from Around the World

January 7, 2018, 2:00 – 4:00pm
Contemporary Calgary (117 8th Ave. SW)
Free, registration required

Focusing on one specific artwork, artist, or theme found in its current exhibition, Calligraphy from Around the World gives children the opportunity to learn and practice calligraphy from different cultures.
eventbrite.ca

Lunch Hour Author Readings

January 10, 2018, 12:15 – 12:45pm
Contemporary Calgary (117 8th Ave. SW)
Free, registration recommended

Held over the lunch hour, this series invites Calgarians to enjoy their lunch while listening to talks and presentations by artists whose work blends modes of writing with the visual arts. January sees Nikki Reimer share two books of poetry, DOWNVERSE and [sic].
eventbrite.ca

Out for Lunch Tour: Eye of the Needle

January 11, 2018, 12:00 – 1:00pm
Glenbow (130 9th Ave. SE)
Free – $5

Take a mid-day art break and join curator Mary-Beth Laviolette for an insightful look at the diverse range of art and crafts in Glenbow’s Eye of the Needle exhibition.
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Print(ed) Word Opening

January 11, 2018, 7:00 – 10:00pm
Loft 112 (112, 535 8th Ave. SE)
Free

Join Alberta Printmakers and Loft 112 along with 12 writers and 12 print artists as they present the results of 12 months of work. Get a close up look at these works of art in ‘book’ form and you can even place a bid on Deep Cold On 11a, a beautiful limited edition piece created by Eveline Kolijn based on a story by Aritha van Herk.
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IKG LIVE 2

January 11 – 13, 2018, 1:00 – 8:00pm daily
llingworth Kerr Gallery, ACAD (1407 14th Ave. NW)
Free

A unique showcase of live art and performances, head to the Alberta College of Art + Design’s Illingworth Kerr Gallery for this three-day festival. Organized by Lorenzo Fusi, up to 15 Alberta artists or artist collectives have been selected to take part in this weekend that is part seminar, part conversation, and part workshop. And this year, each day is capped with a keynote performance conceived by three international artists.
acad.ca

Ways of being

January 12, 2018, 12:00pm
Calgary Chinese Citizens Elderly Association (111 Riverfront Ave. SW)
Free, RSVP required

In lieu of an opening reception for Aislinn Thomas’ Dup-boug-a-dad, check out this dance/movement workshop, facilitated by Tia Halliday and Kara Nolte. A chance to lightheartedly explore movement and stillness, action and interaction, expression and receptivity, be sure to RSVP by emailing claire@thenewgallery.org.
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Northern Reflections Celebration

January 12, 2018, 7:00 – 11:30pm
One 18 Empire (110 9th Ave. SE)
By donation (suggested $20)

Celebrate the artwork created by local Calgarian artists and animators at this fun evening honouring the Northern Reflections Window Exhibition.
eventbrite.ca

Print(ed) Word Salon Series, The First

January 13, 2018, 7:00 – 9:30pm
Loft 112 (112, 535 8th Ave. SE)
$5

Hear the journey of collaboration and inspiration of the artists and writers featured during three Print(ed) Word Salons. First up are the writers and artists of Deep Cold on 11a, When a Warm Wind Blows off A Mountain, Isobars, and The Night will be Long but Beautiful: The Life and Death of Jeff Lake.
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Dup-boug-a-dad

January 13 – February 10, 2018
The New Gallery (208 Centre St. SE)
Free

Aislinn Thomas translates one individual’s experience of cheerleading and song through video and vibration. An interdisciplinary artist whose practice includes video, performance, installation, and text-based work, Thomas’ work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
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Fall Fell Felt

January 13 – March 29, 2018
Untitled Art Society (343 11th Ave. SW)
Free

A bridesmaid in a flowing silk dress descends a set of steps, misses her footing, and takes a spill. Anna Hawkins’s most recent project dissects, remixes, and re-enacts the popular online genre “girl fails” in an exploration of schadenfreude, voyeurism, and empathy. Check out the show at its opening reception at 7:00pm on January 12.
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Matinée du Film: La Nouvelle Vague

January 14, 2018, 2:00 – 4:00pm
Contemporary Calgary (117 8th Ave. SW)
Free, registration recommended

Join Contemporary Calgary for its first French Connections film screening—François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, a defining film of French nouvelle vague cinema. Hear Director and CEO Pierre Arpin provide an introduction to the film, touching on the revolutionary style of nouvelle vague cinema and how the film relates to the current exhibition, extratextual.
eventbrite.ca

Late Night Thursday: The Art of Writing Lyrics

January 18, 2018, 7:00 – 9:00pm
Contemporary Calgary (117 8th Ave. SW)
Free, registration recommended

Celebrate the final Late Night program of extratextual with a stage show by Selci, featuring dancers from Trip The Light contemporary dance crew, visuals by artist Sebastian Jarmula, and a stage installation. The evening begins with an introduction by Selci highlighting her process of writing lyrics.
eventbrite.ca

Launchpad @ DIALOG

January 18 – February 14, 2018
DIALOG (300, 134 11th Ave. SE)
Free

Hosted by DIALOG, this popup show features works from Indefinite Arts Centre artists that will be travelling to exhibitions in Hong Kong and Seoul later in the year. Check out the show at its opening reception at 5:30pm on January 17.
indefinitearts.com

Print(ed) Word Salon Series, The Second

January 19, 2018, 7:00 – 10:30pm
Loft 112 (112, 535 8th Ave. SE)
$5

Hear the journey of collaboration and inspiration of the artists and writers featured during three Print(ed) Word Salons. The second evening features Elena Schacherl and Heather Urness, Barb Howard and Sally Reesman, Richard Harrison and Barbara Sutherland, and Jani Krulc and Ryan Statz.
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After Weather

January 19 – February 2, 2018
Stride Gallery (1006 Macleod Tr. SE)
Free

A series of images, sculptures, and videos, Justin Waddell and Rick Silva explore weather as source material and metaphor. Check out the show at its opening reception at 8:00pm on January 19.
stride.ab.ca

Winter Garden

January 19 – February 24, 2018
VIVIANEART (1114 11th St. SW)
Free

Part of the 2018 Exposure Photography Festival, VIVIANEART presents this group exhibition organized by acclaimed Calgary-based curator, Katherine Ylitalo. Informed by her knowledgeable support of the arts, Ylitalo has selected recent works by five Western Canadian artists who incorporate photography as part of their practice.
vivianeart.gallery

Reservoir

January 20 – March 3, 2018
Parkade, TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary (2009 10th Ave. SW)
Free

Part of The City of Calgary’s Watershed+ Dynamic Environment Lab, Peter von Tiesenhausen commissioned sound artists Jen Reimer and Magnus Tiesenhausen to record an improvised collaborative work within the Saddleridge reservoir, and cinematographer Dave McGregor to capture the visual space. Drained and dried for scheduled maintenance in the spring of 2017, the immense subterranean chamber had been sealed for 40 years. Explore the work at its opening reception at 7:00pm on January 20.
truck.ca

Duet

January 20 – March 3, 2018
Main Space, TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary (2009 10th Ave. SW)
Free

Created in collaboration with Erin Schwab and Shane Brown, William Robinson’s Duet combines and distorts the Canadian and USA national anthems through compositional re-arrangement and redaction.
truck.ca

Uncommon Blends

January 20 – March 17, 2018
Alberta Craft Gallery – Calgary, cSPACE King Edward (1721 29th Avenue. SW)
Free

Through Uncommon Blends, Sam Knopp, Sean Kunz, Noriko Masuda, Mynthia McDaniel, and Juliana Rempel investigate the various routines, rituals, and relationships centred on coffee and tea. An artist reception and talk is scheduled for 2:00 to 4:00pm on March 3.
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Marathon Reading Weekend

January 21, 2018, 10:00am – 4:00pm
Contemporary Calgary (117 8th Ave. SW)
Free, registration recommended

This January, join Contemporary Calgary as it brings the community together to read, listen to each other read, and enjoy hearing words spoken aloud. A reading marathon of Gertrude Stein’s Three Lives, read, sing, whisper, read in chorus, and generally have fun with this groundbreaking text.
eventbrite.ca

Print(ed) Word Salon Series, The Third

January 21, 2018, 1:00 – 3:30pm
Loft 112 (112, 535 8th Ave. SE)
$5

Hear the journey of collaboration and inspiration of the artists and writers featured during three Print(ed) Word Salons. The third evening features Lee Kvern and Carole Bondaroff, Caitlynn Cummings and Wendy Tokaryk, Doug Neilson and Heather Huston, and Rona Altrows and Carolyn Qualle.
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Journey of a Lifetime

January 23 – April 22, 2018
Gasoline Alley Museum, Heritage Park (1900 Heritage Dr. SW)
With admission

A piece of Canadian history is returning to Heritage Park this January. Presented by BMO Financial Group, Journey of a Lifetime shares the stories of the people, places, and journey involved in the largest wave of immigration in Canadian history.
heritagepark.ca

Recognition, Validation, Reassurance Workshop

January 23, 2018, 5:00 – 8:00pm
AB 685, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free

How do you create a framework for mental wellness? Create a personal framework for mental wellness through collage, drawing, and text at this public workshop. No artistic experience is required and healthy snacks are provided.
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Art Now: Renellta Arluk

January 26, 2018, 10:00 – 11:30am
Art Building 672, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free

Reneltta Arluk shares insight from being a young Indigenous girl growing up in the Northwest Territories to finding her way into the arts using nothing but gut instinct and a naive determination to see what’s out there. Part of the University of Calgary Department of Art’s visiting artist and scholar series, this lecture explores how life experience and identity can bring us to places we never thought possible.
art.ucalgary.ca

Welcome to 2018 Glass Sale

January 26 – 28, 2018
Bee Kingdom Glass (427 22nd Ave. NW)
Free

With glassblowing demonstrations and a glass sale, explore Bee Kingdom Glass’ studio shop and find colourful drinking glasses, assorted vases, scotch glasses, decanters, and decorative sculpture.
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Each Painted Document

January 26 – April 7, 2018
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (410 University Ct. NW)
Free

A visual manifest of Mark Dicey’s travels into and out of his workplace, this show features recent large works on canvas, mid-sized works on paper, a Swarm, a wall collage of notations, a site-specific installation, and a suite of vitrines housing his dedicated sketch-book-works.
nickle.ucalgary.ca

Open Studio: Pamela Norrish

January 29, 2018, 5:30 – 7:30pm
CAAF Studio, cSPACE King Edward (1721 29th Ave. SW)
Free

Pamela Norrish’s favourite writers have the ability to put their experience into a text so fully that it makes the reader feel like it happened to them. She hopes to do this in her artwork, to share something private and without shame. Her CAAF residency has been used to explore ideas surrounding abundance, emotion, and repose, and you can get an inside scoop at this open studio.
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Recognition

January 29 – February 2, 2018
AB 621, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free

Featuring more than 100 artworks created through social practice community workshops as part of the public art project Recognition… Validation… Reassurance… Art + Mental Wellness, this popup is presented in conjunction with Bell Let’s Talk Day. Led by art instructor Dick Averns and curated by art student Jacob Huffman for the Pop-up Gallery Society, check out the show at its opening reception from 4:30 to 6:30pm on January 31.
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Paradise for an in-between time

January 29 – April 29, 2018
Project Space, Esker Foundation (1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free

Known for creating multi-layered resin paintings, DaveandJenn’s sculptures play with light, shadows, and reflections. Their latest piece brings us back to the forest, a landscape often depicted in their earlier work, and can be found in the Esker Foundation’s Project Space.
eskerfoundation.com

Lecture with Visiting Artist Dayna Danger

January 30, 2018, 12:00 – 1:00pm
Gallery Hall, Taylor Family Digital Library, University of Calgary (410 University Ct. NW)
Free

In this visiting artist lecture, Big Racks, Black Masks, Dayna Danger questions the line between empowerment and objectification. Utilizing photography, sculpture, performance, and video, Danger claims space with her larger than life scale work.
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Behind the Scenes Tour: Indigenous Studies Textiles

January 31 – February 2, 2018
Glenbow (130 9th Ave. SE)
$10 – $12

Join Glenbow’s Indigenous Studies Curator Joanne Schmidt for a look at a wide range of textiles from the museum’s Indigenous Studies collection.
glenbow.org

Ongoing Exhibitions

Higher States: Lawren Harris and His American Contemporaries

Until January 7, 2018
Glenbow (130 9th Ave. SE)
With admission

After Lawren Harris’ soaring depictions of mountains and icebergs became quintessential Canadiana, the iconic landscape painter and member of the Group of Seven turned to abstraction. Also featuring an important presentation of Harris’ American counterparts—Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Raymond Jonson, and Marsden Hartley—over 60 works make up this exhibition that shows another side to one of Canada’s greatest artists.
glenbow.org

DaveandJenn: The Wellspring

Until January 7, 2018
Glenbow (130 9th Ave. SE)
With admission

The fourth piece in the One New Work exhibition series curated by Nancy Tousley, Calgary artists DaveandJenn showcase their first installation work, an immersive environment that transforms the gallery into an undersea grotto populated by an enigmatic presence.
glenbow.org

Beautiful Mess

Until January 13, 2018
Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art (730 11th Ave. SW)
Free

A solo exhibition by Calgary-based artist Colleen Philippi, Newzones celebrates its 25th anniversary with Beautiful Mess. With a sense of existential mysticism, don’t miss this show.
newzones.com

Jennifer Wanner: Second Nature

Until January 14, 2018
Glenbow (130 9th Ave. SE)
With admission

An exhibition of exquisitely created collages and a stop-motion animation, Calgary artist Jennifer Wanner upends traditional botanical art by splicing images of endangered Canadian plant species together to create new hybrids.
glenbow.org

extratextual

Until January 21, 2018
Contemporary Calgary (117 8th Ave. SW)
Free

An international exhibition of contemporary art informed by modes of writing, head to Contemporary Calgary to see this show curated by Lisa Baldissera and Joanne Bristol. The project explores writing techniques, as well as concepts of textuality and narrative, that have informed artistic production and is linked to international symposium Never the Same: what (else) can art writing do?
contemporarycalgary.com

Maxwell Bates and Fellow Expressionist William Leroy Stevenson

Until January 25, 2018
Gallery 505 (505 8th Ave. SW)
Free

This window gallery features exceptional works by both Maxwell Bates and William Leroy Stevenson including pieces from both Glenbow and The City of Calgary Public Art collections.
calgaryalliedartsfoundation.ca

This+That

Until January 27, 2018
Christine Klassen Gallery (200, 321 50th Ave. SE)
Free

A playful alternative to the thematic holiday show, This+That is made up of unconventional groupings of artworks by seemingly disparate artists including work by Diana Thorneycroft, Ulrich Panzer, Madeleine Lamont, Michael Schreiner, and more.
christineklassengallery.com

Eye of the Needle

Until May 13, 2018
Glenbow (130 9th Ave. SE)
With admission

Looking at how needle and thread, the shiny bead and sequin, the porcupine quill and tuft of moose hair have all been used to create objects of incredible beauty, explore intricate works found in Glenbow’s historical textile and fashion collection.
glenbow.org

The Black Gold Tapestry

Until May 21, 2018
Glenbow (130 9th Ave. SE)
With admission

Organized by Glenbow, make sure you explore Sandra Sawatzky’s hand-embroidered illustrative tapestry that tells the story of how oil has impacted human civilizations around the world. The Black Gold Tapestry took nine years to complete with Sawatzky spending an average of eight to ten hours a day—every day—on the project either researching, drawing, planning, or embroidering.
glenbow.org

Have a visual arts event that’s not listed above? Email us at events@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or fill out this form.