Little Panda

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The opening reception for Renata's show went very well - so many people were here for First Thursday! We have temporarily sold out of her book, but I am expecting more on Tuesday so we will contact you if you signed up on the waiting list. We have three different Little Panda prints and the book available for purchase in the online shop. I'll be posting pictures of the show later today.

You can read more about Renata in an article on Things of Desire.

Pandas!

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Renata Liwska's show opens tonight from 5-9pm in UPPERCASE. (It is also Art Central's 4th birthday party and the wearable art fashion show, so many great reasons to attend this First Thursday.) In honour of her artwork and new children's book, Little Panda, today I will post some Panda-related articles.

Did you know you can adopt a panda? (photo credit)

"Giant pandas are one of the world’s most threatened species – as few as 1,600 remain in the wild and face continual threats to their survival. These reserved creatures are found only in remote areas of the Upper Yangtze forests, where they feed on bamboo shoots. A newborn cub is about the size of a stick of butter, weighs only three to five ounces, and is totally dependent upon its mother for the first few months of life. For over four decades the Panda logo has been a recognizable symbol of WWF and its efforts in wildlife and habitat conservation."

Elegant eyeballs

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Eyeballs are pretty awful or awful pretty, depending on  how you look at them of course. The images above demonstrate how their strange beauty sits at the crossroads of art and medical science. 

The top image is a piece from our Nightmares exhibition entitled, "Optic Macula." It's actually a polaroid image of my friend Carolyn's eyeball captured by laser.  In person Carolyn's eyes appear kind, and they are a striking shade of midnight blue in color.  Here the technological effect is haunting - to me her eye looks like the planet Mars on fire.

The second "Eyeball" is a painting by the Brooklyn-based artist Hollister Hovey which she did as part of a Healthcare campaign.  Don't eyeballs appear nude without lashes? To see more of Hovey's lovely portrait painting you can visit her website.  To take home Carolyn's otherworldly eyeball ($28, framed), please contact the gallery.

Hallowindow is here!

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Here's a great way to make your home spooky for Hallowe'en: Mark Gervais's Halloween-themed animations for window projections or TV. With moody animations and sound effects, Hallowindow is a fun addition to parties and trick or treating. For a sneak peek at some of Mark's animations check out his Hallowindow website. He's no longer shipping the cds, but you can get yours in person at UPPERCASE.

A+ for ACAD Artists

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UPPERCASE is proud to showcase the exceptional work of several Alberta College of Art and Design students who participated in our Nightmares exhibition. We encourage the public to visit the gallery and experience in person, the darker fruits of our local artistic talent pool. ACAD dark dreams have their own feature wall in the show.

Roxanna Wang's 'Portrait of Grace Marks' pictured below, is a fantastic representation of the ethereal macabre. The piece is on sale in the gallery ($350 framed).

 

Haunted Hitchcock

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UK-based artist, Paul Farrell contributed select pieces from his 'Murder 1' and 'Crow Man' series of graphic bird imagery to our Nightmares exhibit. Inspired by his own childhood nightmares, these posters are spooky and stunning works of art. His line of bird and tree images are remarkable for their use of simple forms and brilliant color.

Fade to black & white and they become eerily reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds.'

If you would like to purchase one of Paul's bold cinematic nightmares for your personal collection, please inquire at the gallery for prices and availability. To see more of Paul's work which features a vast line of magnificent trees and menacing birds on greeting cards, canvas bags, t-shirts and wallpaper, keep an eye on his upcoming website.

Nightmares begin...

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Nightmares is a new gallery exhibition and it opens this weekend, with an opening reception from 2-4pm on Saturday. As I write this on Friday evening, the finishing touches are being applied (and Glen is putting together new cabinets for the space - thank you times four!) I was so happy with the Old School exhibition design and wasn't sure how we'd top that one, but this one is pretty great in its own gothic way. Pictures will be forthcoming for all of you who can't make it to Calgary. You can read more about the theme and our artists by clicking here.

Until tomorrow... sweet dreams my pretties.

Our he{art} on your walls

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Here's a shot of Mike Kerr and Renata Liwska's art collection. Visit each of their blogs to find out more about about their artwork. Many of these are from UPPERCASE! Mike and Renata are regular contributors to our shows. We're looking forward to an exhibition of Renata's exquisite drawings for her upcoming children's book, Little Panda. That show opens the first Thursday in November. 

Old School is up for just a few more weeks and the artwork would LOVE to find a home on your walls. The artwork is very accessibly priced, ranging from $30-$100 for most handmade collages on paper and $100 - $600 for original paintings and sculpture. For those of you unfamiliar with how artwork is priced, in our gallery 60% of the purchase price goes directly to the artist and the remaining 40% contributes to the gallery rent, utilities, display costs and publicity.

The artwork is available for sale online if you're not able to see the show in person. In addition to our Canadian customers, Old School artwork has already been shipped and received by happy customers in San Francisco and New York City. Thank you for supporting the creative endeavours of our artists.

Vince Vaughn in Old School Uniform

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The Chicago Sun Times gave our Old School exhibition a kind mention and we wanted to send a special thanks back to the windy city for helping put UPPERCASE on the map. Turns out that my favorite Chicagoan and fellow Old Schooler, Mr. Vince Vaughn is doing his part to put Calgary on the map by romancing a local Albertan.  Lucky girl... Old School is in session until the end of September so if you happen to be in town to visit your new sweetheart Vince, drop by the gallery: we've got an open desk with your name on it. School uniforms are optional. 

Book by its Cover

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We're happy that Old School is included on Julia Rothman's fabulous site "Book by its Cover". Ok, she might be a bit biased... her illustrations are included in the book!


This artwork is available for purchase in our shop. (Just $75 each for authentic notebook pages from her childhood with new illustrations drawn on top!) They each come on our Old School hand-gocco'd clipboards for easy display.