L.A. Beat

Casa presents several different perspectives on painting with five new exhibits opening tonight, April 29 with an opening reception from 7-9 p.m.

“The exhibits are all paintings, but they are all very unique, so what I hope  people will take away from them is that they take a moment to see all of the different possibilities  painting offers,” said Casa curator Darcy Logan.

In the main gallery, Pauses and Transitions features paintings from Montreal born artist Anne Laure Djaballah. She earned her MFA from the U of L two years ago and has been working out of the McNally School studios.

“These paintings are more abstract. They represent landscapes and alleys she has seen while walking and reflecting,” Logan described, indicating an abstract painting of a pile of trash in an alley.
“ She also asks the view to explore the  nature of painting with brush strokes and colours,” he continued.

 The adjacent gallery features “The Castle River & Porcupine Hills featuring the works of Lethbridge artist Blake Wilson and  Mike Judd, who lives in the Castle River area.

“These paintings  capture  the poetry of natural environment,” Logan said, adding Blake Wilson is an active member of the Lethbridge art community.
“ He’s been involved in multiple group exhibits here,” Logan said.

“ And Mike Judd is an outfitter and dogsled musher and a conservationist. He was part of an exhibition at the Yates several years ago. I’ve always admitted his work because he’s primarily self-taught. It about the idiosyncratic  appreciation of nature,” he said.

 

 Local artist Alexis Bialobzyski features “Icons & Curiosities” in  the Concourse Gallery upstairs.

“It’s a series of paintings  reflecting her interest in dream and myth and symbolism,” he said.

 The Lethbridge  Weavers also have a new exhibit in the concourse showcase  called ‘Weaving Lethbridge landscapes.”

“They’ve  focused on significant local landscapes and  produced a communal weaving project,” Logan said.

 Last, but not least, Casa reached around the world  for the exhibit  on the wall next to the information desk.
“For “I Have Something To Tell You— a postcard to a friend I haven’t met yet,’ we asked people to design, write a message  and mail a postcard and send it to the gallery. At the end everybody gets back somebody else’s postcard — a friend they haven’t met yet. We  got postcards from all over North America, Africa and Europe,” Logan said.
The exhibitions  run from April 29-June 10 at Casa.
 The opening reception for the exhibits is 7-9  p.m. tonight, April 29.