Past Exhibitions

Against the Grain: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the University of Alberta Art Collection


May 22, 2008 -
June 28, 2008

<i>Hamano masago makie no takashima</i>, from the series, <i>New Plays of the Meiji-za</i><br/ >Toyohara Kunichika<br/ >1897<br/ >University of Alberta Art Collection
View Details
Experience the art of Japanese woodblock printmaking. Against the Grain is "an intimate, beautiful, and revealing exhibition that explores the aesthetic, cultural, and technical developments of woodblock printmaking in Japan," explains exhibition Curator Jim Corrigan.

Featuring approximately 70 prints spanning from the Edo period (1603-1868) to the present day, this exhibition showcases the beauty, complexity, and range of this intriguing art form.

Themes explored in the exhibition include the development of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") leading into the 20th century developments of shin-hanga ("new prints") and sosaku-hanga ("creative prints").

View objects from the collection included in this exhibit.

Gallery hours:
Thursdays from 3pm to 8pm
Fridays and Saturdays from 12pm to 5pm

Contact:
780.405.4394

Location:
The University of Alberta Museums' Gallery A, TELUS Centre, Edmonton (87 Ave and 111 St.)

Special Events:

Against the Grain: Family Fun Day


May 24, 2008

<i>Hamano masago makie no takashima</i>, from the series, <i>New Plays of the Meiji-za</i><br/ >Toyohara Kunichika<br/ >1897<br/ >University of Alberta Art Collection
View Details
Help us kick off our first weekend by taking part in our Family Fun Day. For children ages five and up, this free day of fun will have your kids creating and learning about Japanese art, culture, and traditions. (Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.)

Featured activities include:
  • Origami: 12pm to 3pm
    With members of the Edmonton Japanese Cultural Association
  • Japanese Calligraphy: 12pm to 5pm
    Children will learn and practice "the art of writing beautifully"
  • Dress up Like a Samurai: 12pm to 5pm
    Children will learn how to dress in a kimono. Don't forget your camera!
  • Make a Kimono Card: 12pm to 5pm
    Children decorate their own paper kimonos (will make a great Father’s Day card)

Family Fun Day is located in the atrium of the TELUS Centre at corner of 87 Avenue and 111 Street on the University of Alberta Campus.

Against the Grain: Learn the Art of Woodblock Printmaking


June 14, 2008

<i>3 Women</i><br />Utamaro, Kitagawa<br />circa 1801<br />University of Alberta Art Collection
View Details
Take part in a unique, hands-on printmaking experience in conjunction with the exhibition Against the Grain. The University of Alberta Museums is pleased to host half-day woodblock printmaking workshops led by professional printmaker Kyla Fischer.

Participants will:
  • Learn about the woodblock printmaking process from an experienced printmaker
  • Be given beginner-level instruction by a local printmaker
  • Design their own print
  • Carve a block using traditional, safe tools and materials
  • Produce and go home with their own hand-made woodblock print
All materials will be provided. Though water-based inks will be used, it is recommended that participants wear clothing that they don’t mind getting a little dirty.

Registration is $10 per person. Payments can be made by cash or cheque by Friday, June 6. The workshops will take place in the Print Studio in the Fine Arts Building on the University of Alberta campus. We are running two workshops, one from 10am to 12:30pm, and the other from 2pm to 4:30pm. Participants must be 8 years or over, and children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

For more information and to register, email museums@ualberta.ca, or phone 780.492.5834, or visit the exhibition during gallery hours, Thursdays 3pm to 8pm, Fridays and Saturdays 12pm to 5pm.

Against the Grain: Haiku by You Contest


May 26, 2008 -
June 16, 2008

<i>Chapter 35: Wakana 2 (New Herbs)</i><br />Kunisada II<br />1857<br />University of Alberta Art Collection
View Details
Calling all Edmonton junior high students: Do you have a winning haiku in you? We’re sure you do!

We invite young writers to submit a haiku inspired by one of the artworks on display in the exhibition Against the Grain. The artworks can be viewed online or in person at the U of A Museums' Gallery A in the TELUS Centre.

View Contest Poster (pdf)

View Contest Rules (pdf) (doc)

Entries must be mailed, emailed, or delivered in person by June 16th, 2008. See contest rules for details.

The top three winning authors will be contacted no later than Monday, June 23rd.

Winning poems will be presented on the University of Alberta Art Collection web site.

The contest is now closed. View the winning poems.

human/nature: portraits painted and created


April 8, 2010 -
May 8, 2010

View Details
U of A Museums Gallery A
Main Floor, TELUS Centre
87 Avenue and 111 Street
University of Alberta Campus
Edmonton, Alberta

Gallery Hours:
Thursday 12-8pm
Friday and Saturday 12-5pm

Admission is free.

human/nature: portraits painted and created is the first of a two special exhibitions featuring acquisitions to the University of Alberta Art Collection over the past seven years. For this first exhibition, Curator Jim Corrigan selected works of art and artifacts that explore the human condition: from prints by renowned Canadian artist Helen Kalvak, to historical works by William Hogarth, and an intricately carved Japanese hair comb from the Edo period (1603-1868).

View objects from the collection included in this exhibit.

Part two, human/nature: landscapes real and imagined, June 3rd to July 3rd, 2010, will feature works of art that examine perceptions about landscape, from traditional oil-paint sketches to idealistic works drawn from the imagination.

Both exhibitions are part of our year of celebration in honour of the Friends of the University of Alberta Museums' 25th Anniversary.

For more details:
780-492-5834

human/nature: landscapes real and imagined


June 3, 2010 -
July 3, 2010

View Details
The University of Alberta Museums present
human/nature: landscapes real and imagined
Featuring new acquisitions from the University of Alberta Art Collection

June 3 to July 3, 2010

This exhibition features works of art that examine diverse perspectives about landscape, ranging from traditional oil sketches painted on site, to idealistic and unusual prints created from the imagination.

Included in this exhibition is a significant recent acquisition, the ethereal oil sketch 'Robertson Bay, Greenland' by Lawren Harris, once owned by Emily Carr.

Gallery A, TELUS Centre
University of Alberta Campus
Edmonton, Alberta

Gallery Hours:
Thursday 12-8pm
Friday and Saturday 12-5pm

Admission is free.

For more details: 780-492-5834

View objects from the collection included in this exhibit.

Featured Programming


Opening and Talk - The Landscape of Art Collecting in Canada
Featuring David Silcox, President, Sotheby's Canada
Monday, June 7th
Reception – 6:30pm
Talk – 7:00pm
TELUS Centre Atrium and Theatre

David Silcox, President of Sotheby's Canada, will provide an experienced and enlightening analysis of the current status of collecting art in Canada. He will explore the value of work by Canadian artists, both historic and contemporary, the importance and the development of private and corporate art collecting in this country, and the overall effects of the recent recession.

Talk - From Lawren Harris to Emily Carr: a gift in the collection of the University of Alberta
Lecture by Charles Hill, Curator of Canadian Art, National Gallery of Canada
Tuesday, June 15th, 7:00-8:00pm
TELUS Centre Theatre

The only photographs of Emily Carr's studio were taken in January 1934 and provide us with a wealth of information on Carr’s world and working procedures. In one photo hanging on the wall is an oil sketch by Lawren Harris given to Carr in Toronto only two months previous. This painting, now in the collection of the University of Alberta Museums, symbolizes a friendship that indelibly marked and inspired Carr from 1927 to her death in 1945, a friendship to be explored by Charles Hill in this lecture.

Talk - Making a Scene: Landscapes Then and Now
Maria Whiteman, Professor, Art and Design, University of Alberta
Tuesday, June 22nd, 5:30-6:30pm
Fine Arts Building, Room 2-20

Photography has been connected to the city and landscape over its entire history. In this talk, Maria Whiteman will explore urban photographers such as the Bechers, who photographed industrial landscapes in Germany, Edward Burtysky, whose work deals with Canadian landscapes and industry, and Jeff Wall, an significant chronicler of contemporary urban experiences.

Workshop - Shooting the Urban Landscape
A Summer Solstice Photography Workshop
Maria Whiteman, Professor, Art and Design, University of Alberta
Tuesday, June 22nd, 7:00-9:30pm, Fine Arts Building, Room 2-24
$20 per person, pre-registration required, space is limited

In this workshop, participants will discover new ways to look at the city and think about photography. They will learn how to capture images that link to a narrative of the urban experience.

Travelling Exhibition - Against the Grain: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the University of Alberta


January 27, 2011 -
August 14, 2011

<i>Hamano masago makie no takashima</i>, from the series, <i>New Plays of the Meiji-za</i><br/ >Toyohara Kunichika<br/ >1897<br/ >University of Alberta Art Collection
View Details
Experience the art of Japanese woodblock printmaking. Against the Grain is "an intimate, beautiful, and revealing exhibition that explores the aesthetic, cultural, and technical developments of woodblock printmaking in Japan," explains exhibition Curator Jim Corrigan.

Featuring approximately 70 prints spanning from the Edo period (1603-1868) to the present day, this exhibition showcases the beauty, complexity, and range of this intriguing art form.

Themes explored in the exhibition include the development of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") leading into the 20th century developments of shin-hanga ("new prints") and sosaku-hanga ("creative prints").

View objects from the collection included in this exhibit.

Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
January 27, 2011 to March 26, 2011

Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario
May 9, 2011 to August 14, 2011

Transcendence: Four Artists, Four Cultures


January 20, 2011 -
February 19, 2011

untitled, Stanislaw Fijalkowski, 1983 © Department of Art and Design, University of Alberta
The University of Alberta Museums, the Prince Takamado Japan Centre and our community collaborator, the Art and Life Foundation are proud to present the exhibition

Transcendence: Four Artists, Four Cultures


Stanislaw Fijalkowski (Poland), Ryoji Ikeda (Japan), Walter Jule (Canada), Maurice Pasternak (Belgium)

Transcendence: Four Artists, Four Cultures features the work of internationally-renowned print artists, united in their exploration of the myriad forms of transcendence. Through their international collaborations and interactions, the artists influence each others’ ideas and practices, causing borders and barriers to recede. “Though these artists come from distinct cultures, their collective interest is the focus on the intangible and impermanent qualities of life, concepts that are both universal and highly personal,” says exhibition co-curator Jim Corrigan.

Transcendence features prints from the University of Alberta Art Collection complemented by prints from the artists’ personal collections.

View objects from the collection included in this exhibit.

January 20 – February 19, 2011
University of Alberta Museums’ Gallery A
Main floor TELUS Centre
87 Avenue and 111 Street
University of Alberta campus
Edmonton, Alberta

Gallery Hours:
Thursdays 12-7pm
Fridays 12-5pm
Saturdays 2-5pm

Admission is free

For more details:
780-492-5834

UofA Museums

Prince Takamado

Art and Life Foundation

AFA

Global

Fairmont Hotel

Experience Master Printmaking with International Artists


January 22, 2011 -
January 22, 2011

untitled, Stanislaw Fijalkowski, 1983 © Department of Art and Design, University of Alberta

Experience Master Printmaking with International Artists


The University of Alberta Museums is pleased to host a half-day master printmaking demonstration by three internationally-renowned print artists. Join Ryoji Ikeda (Japan), Walter Jule (Canada), and Maurice Pasternak (Belgium) as they demonstrate their techniques (mezzotint, photo-etching, and offset lithography), revealing details of their creative and technical processes. Works by these artists from the University of Alberta Art Collection will be viewed during a tour of the University of Alberta Museums’ Print Study Centre.

Note: No previous printmaking experience is required. Participants must be 18 years or over.

Program:
10am to 12pm – Mezzotint (Maurice Pasternak) and photo-etching (Ryoji Ikedia) demonstrations
12pm to 1pm – Lunch with the artists
1pm to 2pm – Offset lithography (Walter Jule) demonstration

Date and Time: Saturday, January 22, 2011, 10am to 2pm
Cost: Registration is $50 per person (catered lunch included). Payments can be made by cash or cheque by January 17, 2011
Location: Print Studio, Room 2-40, Fine Arts Building, University of Alberta campus. Map
Registration: To register or for more information, contact 780-492-5834 or museums@ualberta.ca.

This Master Printmaking event is hosted by the University of Alberta Museums, in collaboration with the University’s Department of Art and Design.