Mann Art Gallery’s newest exhibition Remix had its opening reception on Saturday Sep. 19, which featured different pieces from the gallery’s permanent collection, carefully picked and curated by four local artists.
The collection consisted of four different sections, with some overlap, each unique to the different curators, Heather Benning, George Glenn, Ace Denzel, and Studio Q, represented by Alex Powalinsky and Lisa Halsall, with the goal to bring art pieces from the over 4,000 gallery collection at the Mann to see and breathe in a new light from the perspective of the artists.
“When a piece of art leaves an artist studio, the piece of art is just an object. The piece is a kind of communication,” Glenn said.
“There is no communication without, in this case, the viewer. The viewer brings the piece to life, and without that component of the viewer’s energy, intelligence, the perception, the life experience that they bring to the viewing of the piece, there is no art there, it’s just another object. So it’s hugely important, the role that the viewer plays in the life of the artwork.”
A common theme in a discussion with Glenn and Denzel, was bringing the art from the vault of the Mann Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection out to be shown again to people, through the lens and perspective of the different curators, and again to be perceived by the viewers of the exhibit.
“I made a story and made my own interpretation in this selection, which is very different to the artist’s own interpretation, but that’s the beauty of art, you can make your own interpretation,” Denzel said. “Remix in the Mann Art Gallery, they want to show their collection, but not just one from the 4,000 artworks. The Mann Art Gallery hired some curators to show artworks to the people so people can see the artworks, and the stories behind the artworks, especially the artists.”
Glenn said that was a preliminary meeting with the four co-curators, and Jesse Campbell, the Artistic Director for the Mann Art Gallery, to talk about entering the artwork vault, where the stacks of different art collected by the gallery permanently reside, which is not accessible to the public. He said that there were only a few pieces that were prominent, due to their three dimensional characteristics or larger stature.
Glenn came to Prince Albert in 1975 on a short-term arts board grant, and has stayed since as a practicing artist and teacher. He said that the experience as a co-curator for the project has been very positive, and it’s important to have the presence of a professional non-profit gallery in the community to create a place to gather, exhibit and see different artwork.
“It’a kind of like a centre of my artistic community, it was a privilege and great interest of mine to actually see the works in the permanent collection,” Glenn said.
Glenn said that after only spending 30 minutes in the vault, observing the different pieces, despite being stacked or in boxes, he had a very strong idea of what kind of selection he would add to Remix.
He mentioned three pieces in particular that stood out to him, ‘Give me your word’ by Catherine Blackburn, ‘Sister Anastasia’ by Joe Farfard and an untitled portrait from Alex Moy.
“To me, besides the integrity of those pieces of single objects, they also were the impetus for a conversation that the viewer might have,” Glenn said. “I chose on the basis of a conversation that I imagine might take place between the viewer and those works. The other works that I selected were based on much the same principle, sometimes relating to that first group of three, and other times having their own relationship with other pairs of works in the collection.”
Glenn said that he was excited to get to know the other curators through conversation and the energy they bring, mentioning Studio Q as young curators, different from his lower energy levels as the oldest co-curator of the group. Glenn added that both Heather Benning and Denzel have done some fabulous work, and have been very open minded to looking at different works.
Remix is Denzel’s first experience as a curator for an art exhibit, and he says he is very excited and grateful to have the new experience under his belt. He said he never imagined to create an exhibit, coming from his background from paintings, murals and street art, but curating has been another form of art for him.
Denzel said that his selection was based on the transition of earthy-toned colours, like green, and brown, but also vibrant colours, with inspiration coming from his own work where he often used neon colours like orange and blue. He said he was also largely inspired by nature, and the landscapes that he saw in the artworks, across different mediums and artists like painting, weaving, printmaking, and pottery.
“I didn’t choose the artworks in my collection simply because I liked them, but I was amazed at the amount of time, skill, patience, and dedication that I imagined went into creating each piece,” Denzel said.
He also mentioned a weaving piece that was made 15 years ago, and it was interesting to him because it was made before the influence of the internet; but the viewer could look at the piece and think that it was made recently. It was special to him to see and appreciate the talent and skills of artists without using the internet as a tool, especially in the age of AI.
Denzel explained that at first it was overwhelming to choose from over 4,000 pieces, but he eventually chose 15 works, which he later scaled down to 6, and then 8. He said that it was a great experience working with the other co-curators from their kindness, and from how they interpreted the works from the collection.
Both Glenn and Denzel said that this exhibition has been a way to mix the diverse artworks from the collection and breathe new life to the works in the gallery’s permanent collection. Glenn said this exhibition in the gallery provides a safe space to have different conversations with people, which is most important in this day and age. Denzel said the collection brings everyone, of all ages together to see art and appreciate it, and he hopes there are more opportunities to show the art in the vault.
Remix will be at the Mann Art Gallery until March 6, 2027.
