Contemporary Calgary Unveils Two Captivating Spring Exhibitions Featuring Toronto-based Artists, Derek Liddington and Winnie Truong
Contemporary Calgary Unveils Two Captivating Spring Exhibitions Featuring Toronto-based Artists, Derek Liddington and Winnie Truong
Calgary, Alta (April 8, 2024) - Contemporary Calgary is thrilled to invite the media and Calgary community to witness nature and art intertwine seamlessly in two exciting solo exhibitions this spring featuring Toronto-based artists. Winnie Truong’s work has been featured in installation collaborations with world-renowned brands such as Canada Goose, while Derek Liddington is an award-winning artist, supported by the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Derek Liddington's exhibition, ‘the trees weep, the mountain still, the bodies rust’, unveils an intricate tapestry of layered forests, complemented by the detailed studies of female naturalist Winnie Truong in her exhibition Curious Nature. These distinct exhibitions challenge the audience’s perception of traditional landscapes and encourage Calgarians to explore their relationship with the natural world. The senior curator of Contemporary Calgary, Kanika Anand and artists Derek Liddington and Winnie Truong are available for interviews on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at Contemporary Calgary between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. To book interviews with key spokespeople please email nikita@parkerpr.ca
“We were drawn to show Derek and Winnie’s practices as they both expand and challenge our understanding of landscape art, in very different ways. To see the exhibitions side by side is a journey that unravels and animates rich landscapes, that are alive, and are constantly evolving with time and our imagination. The works offer a wide and microscopic lens to our natural world, flitting through traces and details of the human form, sensuous and surreal,” says Senior Curator Kanika Anand.
“These paintings come from my time spent walking through Kamloops in British Columbia and the Scottish Highlands searching for land masses, trees, stone and lichen resembling the human body's forms and decay. Over four years, I produced hundreds of drawings and watercolours, a collection of forms and patterns then used for the larger paintings in this exhibition. The resulting works bring together local giant folklore, Scottish folk song, individual stories of love and loss, the sculpture forms of Auguste Rodin, the scenes of the devil’s work in Francisco Goya, as well as, current social affairs are blended into narrative paintings that weave time, body, landscape and storytelling. Sticking true to the tradition of the giant hiding amongst the trees and natural forms in our landscapes, or the smuggler moving through the harsh stone and rock valleys at night, the figures and narrative elements in my paintings are concealed through forms of rolling hills, sprawling landscapes and natures natural decay,” says Derek Liddington.
“My work in Curious Nature pushes the boundaries of what drawing can do beyond a tool for sketching in two dimensions. My drawing practice is a means to invent new worlds. The processes combine versions of paper cutting, drawing and collage, to craft increasingly dimensional viewpoints of fantasy environments. Through wall installation, animation, dioramas, and my new exploration into 3-D floral sculptures; each branch of my practice allows an ever-deepening view into supernatural environments and the creatures that exist within. I will be unveiling my latest animation in the projection space titled Seed Vault, a perpetual stop-motion piece that imagines a permanent relationship between growth and decay protected deep inside the inner cavity of a world that is strange and familiar,” says artist, Winnie Truong.
The exhibition opens on April 10, 2024, and runs until August 25, 2024. Learn more at www.contemporarycalgary.com