It has been said that the best way to appreciate the work of Fernando Botero is to understand the life and history of Columbia.  No doubt this helps tremendously, as much of his art is steeped in historical, political and social insight.  But this show travels internationally, indeed it was in Tel Aviv, Israel where Glenbow staff first experienced his current show and subsequently brought it to Calgary.  So perhaps it’s a bit of a chicken and an egg debate.  Do you study Columbia before seeing Botero’s art, or will he inspire you to get to know this Central American country better?

It is a debate worth weighing in on with a visit to the Glenbow this fall.  The Baroque World of Fernando Botero contains 100 works of paintings, sculptures and drawings from his own private collection.  Botero is a Columbian artist who has studied in Spain, Italy, Mexico, Europe, New York and Paris.  His paintings are colourful, exotic and sometimes satirical in approach.

Immediately upon arrival you’re greeted by a 4,000 pound sculpture of a smoking woman.  Special rigging was brought in from B.C. to place her in the middle of the exhibition, although the room barely had the vertical height to fit her.  She’ll lay, prone and gloriously smoking, greeting art lovers until November 14, when the exhibit will close.  Sculptures of various sizes continue throughout the rooms.  Pay attention to how they are placed.  A cat looks at a bird who doesn’t take his eye off the cat; a women looks longingly over her shoulder at a male who returns her look.

These deliberate details continue on in the paintings as well.  Hanging series together that contain political figures or death are obvious, but also look for the less typical relationships among groups of paintings, like the ones that all contain twinkling lights or have a female figure with a red flower in her hair.

Regardless, what strikes you immediately is the corpulent aspect of Botero’s figures. Heavily influenced by Baroque artists, Botero paints with volume.  He fills up his canvases with individual and family portraits, nudes, equestrian figures, bullfighting scenes, and still lifes. And then later in his career, a more empathetic look at life in a time of violence as drug-fueled guerrilla warfare raged in Columbia, when his work became much darker (though unchanged in style) as he created paintings and drawings of the period’s kidnappings, massacres, torture, and death.

Fernando Botero’s paintings are mostly full of colour and magic realism.  They are not what they seem at first, insisting you stop inviting you into the painting to figure out exactly what is going on.  The stories he tells are haunting and empathetic, not preachy.

Do you need to understand life in Columbia to truly appreciate Botero’s work?  Go.  And decide for yourself.

The Baroque World of Fernando Botero runs until November 14, 2010

John Will, Lana and the Js, 1986, Collection of Glenbow Museum

Also featured at the Glenbow is the the considered named The Broken World of John Will which features prints from influential Canadian lithographer John Will, who among other boasts, taught for 27 years at the University of Calgary.

A satirical, subversive, even slanderous critique of society, anyone could be Will’s target, including himself.  Not in a malicious way, but with humour, intelligence and extraordinary craftsmanship.  Each of his prints are labour intensive. They read like a book witnessing sex, war, wit and racism.  Stand back and look close up, there is much to appreciate from both stances.

Also, as part of the exhibit is the catalogue from Will’s large Glenbow show in 1980 after which, he mostly gave up printmaking in favour of photography, video, performance and painting.  The exhibit includes a student-made documentary on the artist.  I hear it’s a candid, raw look, but the museum was crowded and noisy and I couldn’t catch the commentary, so I’ll have to return another night to listen.

The Broken World of John Willruns until November 14, 2010

Today was the first day of the Calgary International Children’s Festival.  I am of course somewhat biased being a member of the board, but I have just come home from Opening Night which was a performance of The Man Who Planted Trees.  This was one of the best performances I have seen at the Festival since I started going when my son Finlay was 2 (he’s 9 now).  It was a magical story that was also hilarious!  The show is from Scotland and has sold out numerous times at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  This is great for anyone 5 and older.  There are still tickets to the Saturday performances at 11:30am and at 2:00pm.

Purchase tickets for only $12.50 each.

Guest Post Written by Carri Clarke

Our family had the honour of getting to know spoken word artist Sini Anderson here in Calgary from New York City for the Spoken Word Festival.  We gave Sini a place to stay for a few nights as she prepared her material for the festival.  More than a poet, Sini is also a filmmaker about to embark on a film documentary about the musician and feminist Kathleen Hanna.  This worked to my advantage as her and I met Victoria Slam Champion Missie Peters at the Plaza to watch the final film in the Underground Film Series.  This film, Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers was a perplexing cinematic encounter and I was pleased to have Sini explain it to me after and free my night from an after-movie night of terror.

Sini Anderson and Missie Peters are in Calgary with 60 contemporaries from all around the world.  The Spoken Word Festival, in its 8th year, will run from April 20-April 20 in a variety of venues at different times of the day.  This festival appeals to the young and old, to the Francophone and the curious.  This year it  boasts the theme The Penultimate Cabararet.

So, what exactly is Spoken Word?  According to the website, the term “Spoken Word Artist” refers to and encompasses all artists/poets working in the oral tradition. This includes all Jazz Poets, Dub Poets, Hip Hop Poets, Sound Poetry, Slam Poets, Storytellers and Folk Poets. Spoken Word also includes poetry bouts. Spoken Word poetry encompasses word, language,rhythm, sound, music, and beat. It is written and presented in the voice and tone of the people. It is for the people. It represents the community.

So come and see what poet and creator Sheri-D Wilson has organized for Calgary this year.  She promises an eclectic and exotic collection of Spoken Word artists and venues.

Tickets and information can be found at calgaryspokenwordfestival.com

Check out Sini Anderson’s trailer for Melissa Febo’s memoir, Whip Smart

Unfortunately not all my ventures out in our fabulous downtown are great.

A short time ago I got a call for volunteers for The Art Gallery of Calgary’s annual fundraiser AGCcooks, The Art of Cuisine.  They were looking for people to tend bar, hang coats, look after the judges and generally help out as five restaurants cooked using a secret ingredient while 200 Calgarians paid $250 a plate to support the gallery and eat fine food with well-selected wine and beer pairings.  I have vowed to volunteer more and this night spoke to two of my passions: art and food.  I signed up.

Told to dress in black, semi-formal wear I donned my high-heeled boots and black sheath dress and called upon the gallery at the appointed time for what I anticipated to be a mutually beneficial night.  I would give freely 7 hours of my time to help out with their fundraiser and in return I would be surrounded by happy, noshing people in a beautiful gallery space.

I was quite wrong.  Yes, the space was beautiful.  I have always loved the gallery  and the tables set up that night were especially pretty.  But I didn’t witness much smiling that night, at least not from the gallery staff.  Instead of being treated as a invaluable volunteer, appreciated for giving up her time , I was treated like a juvenile delinquent guilty of defacing the gallery’s art and sent against everyone’s will to pay back my dues.  It was a long night for me, full of hauling heavy crates of dirty dishes in my good dress, getting yelled at by gallery staff and then ultimately, after taking a moment to sit down without permission, being told to get up and start cleaning the oven and the stoves.

I did not honour my full seven hours.  Myself and another volunteer left leaving the gallery staff to clean their own ovens.

This is one downtown (volunteer) experience I do not recommend.

The first thing you should do immediately after making a reservation for lunch at Rush is cancel your dinner plans.  You will not need to eat again for many hours after enjoying the three course set menu offered at Rush during the ten days of Dine Out Calgary.  And if you have the time, you may find yourself still enjoying both the restaurant and the food close to the dinner hour.  It’s a place where you want to sit back and enjoy.

Photo by Lisa Murphy-Lamb

Photo by Lisa Murphy-Lamb

The restaurant is beautiful and elegant with a contemporary feel.  Dark wood, interesting lighting, glass walls and lush drapes offer a sense of luxury.  We were seated at an intimate booth built in a semi-circle fashion.  Instead of sitting across from each other we sat beside one another and looked out over the dining room.  Behind us were more traditional booths and private tables.

Complimentary still and sparkling water is offered and replenished throughout the meal.  The restaurant creates their own sparkling water.

The first course was an apple and celery root soup garnished with smoked ham hock.  It was a creamy bowl of soup with a fantastic flavour.  The ham hock balanced the creamy soup nicely.

It was when the second course, spring creek braised short rib served in a bowl of polenta topped with braised greens was served that I knew my family was on their own for dinner.  The polenta, also creamy, was a perfect accompaniment to the short rib which was tender and delicious.  The portion was more than ample for a lunchtime meal.  I was happy and satisfied when I finished and there was still dessert to go.

Photo by Lisa Murphy-Lamb

Photo by Lisa Murphy-Lamb

Dessert was a lemon tart topped with raspberry sorbet with plenty of tartness to balance the creaminess of the preceding two dishes.  If I had the luxury to linger, I would have held off on the dessert and enjoyed a coffee with it as the first two courses were very filling.

Dine Out Calgary  was an excellent excuse to check out Rush, a restaurant I knew very little about.  The very satisfying three-course lunch experience ($25) with a good friend has left me eager to return and check out the regular menu.

Call ahead for free valet parking at night.

www.rushrestaurant.com

Dine Out Calgary starts this Friday, March 5th and runs until Sunday, March 14th. There’s over 90 restaurants participating this year and that means a lot of great dining choices. To help you with your decision our blog writers have chosen their top picks for the 10 days. Next up Lisa Murphy-Lamb

Here is our problem:  My husband is away on business travel a lot.  This means most of his meals are eaten out while I am at home cooking for the family.  When we are together in the same city at the same time, he looks forward to some home cooking and I look forward to him taking me out. Unless I’m prepared with a solid suggestion for a restaurant that is enticing and easy to get to, his business-travel weariness takes over and he begs to stay in and nosh on something homemade and healthy.

Here is one solution:  Dine out Calgary which begins Friday, March 5 and runs until Sunday, March 14. During Dine out Calgary, participating restaurants offer a 3-course menu at a set price point especially for the event.  This is a great enticement to come and try out some local restaurants, but better than that for me is the website which lists the restaurants and what they are serving.  With access to menus, location and price I am well prepared for when my husband returns from Rio and Buenos Aires (I know, right?) next week.

So with a little research by way of my computer perched on top of my cookbooks, here are my top three picks for Dine out Calgary week.  Fingers crossed I talk him into at least joining me at one of them.

The Belvedere used to be the placed we’d go into for a drink when we were dressed up for a company party or a wedding.  We loved what the Belvedere refers to as the New York atmosphere, with high backed chairs and deep bench seating.  Scotch, martinis and then, cigars, were what we stayed for.  In all the times we went into drink, I only ate in the dining room once. I am aware of  The Belvedere’s reputation for superb cuisine.  It has been considered one of Calgary’s best restaurants for many years boasting fresh ingredients and impeccable service.  During Dine Out Calgary week there is only one dining option: gourmet with wine pairings ($85) and I think with The Belvedere that is all they need to offer.  The menu is both exotic (truffles) and local (Alberta beef tenderloin).  This applies to the wine pairings as well.

Bistro Piq Niq offers two dining choices in this intimate downtown restaurant.  Lunch is offered for $25 and dinner  for $35.  Both are three course meals but unlike The Belvedere where the menu is set, Bistro Piq Niq’s chef Andrew Trinier offers a small choice for entrees both at lunch and dinner.  Both dining experiences begin with the chef’s soup and end with Callebaut Mousse au Chocolat.  Check out their website to see what the chef has in mind for entrees.

Rush is a restaurant I know nothing about which is truly the best kind of restaurant, in my opinion, to try out during Dine Out Calgary week.  Having moved out of the country for two years, Rush is one of the many talked about restaurants which opened up while we were gone.  I know very little about this place except by what my friends have said, and all reports have been favourable.  Having only driven past it once, I was struck by the glass exterior and am personally drawn to contemporary places, both in architecture and food.  Rush fits the bill. Executive Chef Justin Leboe creates an innovative contemporary North American menu.  The set lunch menu is not up yet for perusing but the gourmet dinner menu ($85) is.  I took a look, and not completely understanding all the ingredients on the menu, having it set and served without me having to order will suit me, and my travel wearied husband just fine.

Please leave a comment if you have a recommendation to add or you want to share your Dine Out experience. You can also fill out the Dine Out Calgary survey for a chance to win a gift certificate to one of the amazing Dine Out Calgary restaurants.

The best silent auction bid I won in 2009 was my season’s pass to the Docsoup film series.  Each one of these films has been outstanding and when I leave the theatre I am already anticipating the next film.  My wait is nearly over. This month’s film shows Wednesday, March 3rd at Eau Claire Market.

LAST TRAIN HOME explores the chaos resulting when millions of migrant factory workers return to their families and rural villages from the coastal cities where they’ve gone to work.  Focusing on one family caught up in this commute, this film explores China’s struggle with keeping to traditional ways while establishing itself as a modern  global economic power.

LAST TRAIN HOME
Wednesday, March 3 @ 7:00 pm
Cineplex Odeon Eau Claire Market, 200 Barclay Parade, S.W.
Admission with Doc Soup subscription
Single tickets: $12 in advance at Bird Dog Video (1333 16 Avenue SW) or $14 at the door

One of the best things about moving back to Calgary is rediscovering how many festivals take place here.

February is EXPOSURE, the Calgary, Banff, Canmore Photography Festival. Running February 1-28, 2010, there will be a number of lectures and educational events throughout Calgary and the Bow Valley corridor with nearly 40 photography-based exhibitions by Canadian and international artists.

The Triangle Gallery offers Counter-Photography: Japan’s Artists Today.  Over 60 images by 11 leading Japanese contemporary photographers are on display.  Still images flank the wall and the floor and there is one looped video with an accompanying on the second floor.

Uniquely Japanese in style and theme, this photography has been shaped by the cultural, economic and social factors during four decades of Japanese life.  Diverse in subject matter and approach, the exhibition is nevertheless divided into two sections.  One section, “To Distill  Another Appearance” is, according to the brochure available at the gallery, the artist’s intent to “extract the essential spirit of the subject-be it plant, stone, or any other item”.  In the second section, “To Reverse:  Another Relationship”, the photographers attempt to “depict the relationships between people from an entirely new perspective.” (Yuri Misuda, curator of the Shoto Museum of Art)

Photo by Lisa Murphy-Lamb

At a very reasonable $4 entrance fee (adults, free on Tuesday) this is an enjoyable part of your photography festival experience or a destination all on it’s own.  Counter-Photography: Japan’s Artists Today will run until February 25th, 2010.

For a full listing of EXPOSURE’s events and venues, look for its brochure by the same name with the beautiful black and white photograph Kamaitachi #8 by Japanese contemporary photographer Eikoh Hosoe on its cover.  EXPOSURE is available at newsstands throughout Calgary where free publications are stocked.

Considering I enjoy both art and walking, I’m looking forward to the 6th Annual Winter Stroll this Saturday, January 16, 2010.  Art Stroll is a series of Satellite Art Presentations in conjunction with the Triangle Gallery’s Exhibition Beyond Printmaking: Images in Objects-Experimental Printmaking in Western Canada.  That’s where I began on Friday, to get my feet wet, so to speak.

Eight leading contemporary artists from Alberta and Western Canada are featured in this exhibition and each approaches printmaking in a wholly unique way.  After looking at the moving human forms on fields of colour by artist Ewa Tarsia, the violence and insects in the fantastic 3-D ‘wounds’ by Jill Ho-You and the cement blocks by artist Marjan Eggermont, I had to go back to the beginning and buy myself an exhibition guide ($10) so I could understand how these diverse and inriguing installations and images relate to each other as a form of printmaking.  I continued both floors of the series, enjoying the remaining five artists, with much more appreciation and understanding.  For those who prefer listening to reading, catch the curator Jacek Malec at 1:00pm Saturday, January 16 for a gallery talk and tour.

Malec’s talk is one of many events happening throughout the day at a number of galleries between 10:00am and 6:00pm (although each gallery does vary, so check before you stroll).

Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts

#104 Macleod Trail SE (adjacent to the Muncipal Building)

Admission is free.

Intergraphia: Art Stroll

I was listening to CBC’s Homestretch radio program one day last  month and host David Gray was inviting listeners to call in to share the best places in Calgary to go to for a few hours to park and let their car warm up.  One suggestion was the parkade at Eau Claire Market. If this cold wintery weather is getting to you and your car, may I suggest doing just that and take in a documentary while defrosting?

Presumed Guilty, the third screening of the Doc Soup series will be shown this Wednesday at 7:00 pm at the Cineplex Odeon Eau Claire Market.  Part of  the Calgary International Film Festival and Hot Docs, Doc Soup screenings are held on the first Wednesday of each month.

Presumed Guilty chronicles the story of an incarcerated man who gets a second chance to have his case re-tried.  Arrested for murder in Mexico City, José Antonio Zuñiga, breakdancer and rapper, was nowhere near the scene of the murder yet was sentenced to 20 years in jail for it, 48 hours after a boy pointed him out to police officers and without the presiding judge having had heard him speak. Zuñiga’s retrial was to be heard by the same judge but this time the trial would be captured by two lawyers with cameras.

Shot with hand-held cameras and accompanied by raw hip-hop beats, this film shows the retake of  Zuñiga’s trial from beginning to end exposing not only the flaws of an unsound legal system in which someone is presumed guilty but offering the promise of  hope for change.

PRESUMED GUILTY

D: Roberto Hernandez & Geoffrey Smith

Wednesday, January 6 @ 7:00 pm
Cineplex Odeon Eau Claire Market, 200 Barclay Parade, S.W.
Single tickets: $12 in advance at Bird Dog Video (1333 16 Avenue SW) or $14 at the door