Dirtying the Paper Opening Reception

Join us for a special exhibition, dedicated to the art of drawing, July 9-August 1

Opening Reception: July 9th (5-8 pm)

We are thrilled to present “Dirtying The Paper: A Celebration of Drawing”. This exhibition featuring both gallery artists and invited guest artists showcases the wonderful act of drawing in the artist’s studio. The precursors, the aftermaths, the happy accidents are all a part of the process whether it leads to a finished product or simply paves the way for a new direction. Often overlooked in the gallery space, drawings can be offer great insight into an artist’s body of work or be beautiful works on their own. Come explore this celebration of drawing on July 9th for our opening reception. Many artists will be in attendance.

Participating artists:

Garfield Morgan, Mark Dicey, Drunken Paw, Brenda Kim Christiansen, Keith Harder, Jayda Calon, Leanne Shapka, Kim Fletcher, Sayeh Taheri, Lori Sokoluk, Grant McConnell, Kim Atlin, Claire Lamb, Noni Boyle, Linda Craddock, Jane Everett, Les Graff, Helena Hadala, Barbara Hirst, Mary Joyce, Riki Kuropatwa, Paddy Lamb, Gisa Mayer, Neil McClelland, Sharon Moore-Foster, Margaret Witschl, Marlena Wyman.

“Out of the Shadows: A Rare Celebration of Drawing” by Agnieszka Matejko

When John Ruskin wrote that “All art is but dirtying the paper delicately,” he brought art crashing down from its pedestal. With a single pithy phrase, the unconventional Victorian writer, critic and social thinker made art seem at once accessible and profound. His famous quote gives not only its title but its spirit to Dirtying the Paper, an exhibition celebrating the humble, spontaneous and often private practice of drawing.

Drawing is where art begins. It starts with our first childhood scribbles, but it is also among humanity’s oldest art forms, stretching back to prehistoric images traced onto cave walls. Despite its deep roots and vital role in nearly every artist’s practice, drawing is rarely the focus of commercial gallery exhibitions.

Curators Claire and Paddy Lamb—a daughter-and-father duo—have assembled a kaleidoscopic collection of works by 24 prairie artists. Alongside artists represented by the gallery are guests drawn from the curators’ own encounters and artistic connections. The result is a remarkably intimate exhibition that moves effortlessly between whimsical humour, anguish and wry political commentary, revealing the astonishing range of what drawing can express.

Among the exhibition’s many surprises is work by the Calgary-based Drunken Paw trio, Mark Dicey, Leslie Sweder and Janet Turner, whose collaboration began in a pub and went on to become a fixture of Calgary’s alternative art community. Drawings such as Goat Mountain Road, featured in the exhibition, blur the boundaries of individual authorship. In a field where artistic identity is often inseparable from personal reputation, the trio’s shared practice feels quietly radical.

Iranian-born Sayeh Taheri’s charcoal drawing, Grief, hangs just a few steps away, but it strikes a markedly different emotional note. Ominous swirls of dust fill the sky, billowing as far as the eye can see. Beneath, like a mountainous horizon, a woman’s profile emerges from a grassy mound. The power of this image lies in its multiplicity of meanings: it evokes death, danger and loss, yet it is suffused with uncanny stillness and serenity.

Like much of Taheri’s internationally exhibited work, Grief addresses the trauma of displacement and migration. She is a newcomer to Canada, and this show marks her Edmonton debut. Judging by the haunting works on display, her arrival will enrich the city’s cultural landscape.

The exhibition takes another unexpected turn with the work of Saskatchewan artist Grant McConnell, who teaches Canadian art history. While Taheri’s drawings are emotionally charged, McConnell’s are marked by wry social commentary. At first glance, his Most Excellent Field Trip with Madeline resembles an illustration from a children’s storybook: a group of cheery schoolgirls emerges from the legendary Cartier jewellery store in Paris. It seems innocent—until we look again.

Each girl proudly displays a sparkling jewel balanced on her outstretched hand. Only one, a red-haired child reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables, breaks ranks. Instead of a diamond, she gleefully dangles a spider rescued from the famed luxury boutique. Her unaffected wonder punctures the glittering spectacle, exposing the absurdity of luxury and status.

The exhibition’s deeper themes are offset by works that capture the pure joy of plein-air drawing. Among them are four artists—Keith Harder, Jayda Calon, Leanne Spendelow Shapka and Kim Fletcher—who regularly meet to draw in the areas surrounding Camrose. Their spontaneous studies of nature seem to extend an open invitation to join them outdoors and rediscover the simple pleasure of keeping a sketchbook.

This welcoming spirit is one of the exhibition’s greatest strengths: the sense that drawing is an unpretentious, accessible art form, open to all manner of expression. Even a scribble or a wandering line on a page is enough when you have a sketchbook in hand. After all, the materials are inexpensive, and there is no pressure to produce polished, gallery-ready work.

The exhibition ultimately affirms Ruskin’s idea that art begins with the simple act of “dirtying the paper.” Yet his word “delicately” reminds us that the simplest mark can carry extraordinary care, sensitivity and depth. The works on view make that truth beautifully visible