Stumbling up three flights of stairs and through the welcoming doors to Harcourt House, I was colourfully greeted by the mixed media members exhibition sale Twenty:20. Ranging from professional to amateur artists, I was expecting to see more of a professional show than being immediately confronted with pieces that didn’t say much to me. Some of the art seemed rough and not really “done”. I felt that a lot of studies members had done in classes ended up for sale.
Walking through, I noticed a few stand-alone cases that appeared finished, but found it difficult to find them amidst the mish mash of bright colleague-y bits. For example, I couldn’t stop staring at the fine details in Edie McIntyre’s two wax-based portraits. As the two faces followed me through the second room, my eyes were guided to mix media pieces using wood, wax, paint, and found items. I was grounded by the fact that Harcourt House celebrates continuous education in the arts, but I found that the majority of art pieced on the unmatched puzzle of walls leaned on the side of artists in progress.
Harcourt House is a major supporter of home grown artists and it’s nice to see the opportunities they give out to their members, i.e. an art sale and a chance to get their work into the public eye. The majority of the prices for some of the compositions were arguable, but there were a few diamonds in the rough.
Erin Carter is Prairie Artsters 2008 summer intern
I purchased an Edie McIntyre wax portrait from last year's show, but unfortunately it has started to "bloom" with white foggy patches.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading Prairie Artsters' reviews of PETER HIDE @ THE RAM, at the Royal Alberta Museum until Oct. 5; and MITCHEL SMITH PAINTINGS FROM 2008 at Common Sense, until Aug. 9. Plenty of time for Fung or one of her 'interns' to cover both shows, I'd reckon...